I have got a GREAT post for you guys today. Not one, not TWO, but THREE updates on former fosters! (I was running late this morning, so it took me a while to put together – let me know if you notice any egregious typos!)
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Brolo.
Brolo and his siblings – Chemda, Keith, Khalili and Patrice – were our fosters way back in 2007, before Love & Hisses even existed. I don’t remember offhand how long they were with us, but judging by the low number of pictures in their photoset on Flickr (only 75!) – it was probably only a few weeks.
This is what Brolo looked like back then:
and here he is with his sister, giving you an idea of his gorgeous markings.
He was adopted not long after he and his siblings went to Petsmart, and then he was returned last Fall due to allergies. He was at the shelter for a few months, in the cat room.
A few weeks ago, he was adopted – and I heard from his new mama, Susie!
I just wanted to let you know that Brolo has been doing really well here at his new home! π We all love him to pieces! It only took one night and now he’s exploring all over the house. The two girls are almost back to normal too. Dusty is staying in her own room for the most part which is the usual. Sassie and Brolo kind of follow each other at a distance now. They get a little closer each time they eat. We have played with Sassie & Brolo with two separate cat toys near each other, so they’re starting to have fun together! He is the sweetest boy, we are so happy to have him here.
I took a picture of him on my bed. This is definitely his favorite spot! ~ it looks like he’s dancing π
He has a “girlfriend” now, Sassie. I don’t have pictures of them together yet, but here’s a link to the video of her playing that I took recently. She’s such a cutie pie!
Thanks, Susie, for the update and the great pictures! It sure is good to see Brolo’s happy (gorgeous!) face again after all these years. π
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Lilybet.
(Now Artemis!)
I know you guys remember Lilybet. It was just a little over a year ago that she was with us, first pretending to be pregnant (or at least laughing at the dumb humans who thought she might be pregnant), and then just being a zany little goofball. This is what she looked like last February:
Silly girl.
Last week, I heard from Chloe, who said:
This is the human that Lilybet adopted about a year ago. I went by petsmart today to bring Lilybet (now Artemis) to have her last rabies shot. I was approached by a couple of lovely ladies from Challenger’s House who told me that I should REALLY email you some pictures.
Lilybet is doing just fantastic. She’s extremely cuddly, but I also appreciate her “wild side”. I just had a quick read-through your blog and I noticed the pictures from February 22nd (wow, exactly a year ago!) – let me tell you, she hasn’t changed a bit.
I bought her a dog toy to attack, mostly because cat toys are too small and my arms were getting tired… She still gets that wild look in her eyes and really loves to hunt!
Attached are a few pictures I was able to snap of her in the past 10 months. You’ll see her favorite past-times are hanging out by the windows, on the porch and “helping” with puzzles.
Thank you so much for the update and the pictures, Chloe! Something about her sweet profile just kills me dead. I love her sweet face, and seeing her so happy!
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Reacher.
A lot of y’all weren’t reading way back in early 2010. Fred was working in Huntsville at the time, and called to let me know that there were kittens under a bush near the office of someone he worked with. It was the exact same location where the Wonkas had been found the previous summer. He left them there overnight in hopes of trapping their mother, but the next morning when he went to check the trap, there was no mother cat. Fred was concerned that the kittens would go out into the parking lot, so he brought them home, and they became the Bookworms – Reacher, Bolitar, Rhyme, and Corbett (you know him now as Corbie.)
Here’s a picture of all four of them:
And one of just Reacher:
Annnnd Reacher and Alice, back in her tiny stage:
When tested, the Bookworms were FIV positive, but ultimately converted to negative. They were with us a little longer than kittens tend to be while we were waiting for enough time to pass so we could have them retested, and when they finally went to Petsmart, none of them reacted well at all. Corbie and Reacher were so terrified, that finally I gave up and brought them home. At one point I had resigned myself to the fact that all four of them would be here permanently, but Rhyme actually did okay at Petsmart, and was adopted. In early 2011, Kathy (who had adopted Maura, who passed away unexpectedly) indicated that she was ready to adopt another cat. I don’t remember now whether she specifically said she was interested in Reacher, or if I basically said “Hey, you should adopt Reacher!”, but either way Kathy adopted him. She picked him up and drove home in a snowstorm.
Poor Kathy!
Reacher pretty much reverted to a feral cat, and it took months before he really came around. Both Kathy and I confessed, later, that we had doubts that it was going to work out, but finally it did (Kathy’s probably tired of me saying this, but I am SO grateful that she was willing to give him the time he needed!)
Last week I happened to check my Hotmail account, and found an email from Kathy that had been languishing there since last summer (can you tell I never check my Hotmail account?). Kathy said:
Ok these are crappy, but Reacher is sooooooo adorable. I was laid up sick with some sinus crap and slobbed out in the recliner with my pink leopard print neck pillow, and Reacher was positively wallowing all over me and pressing his paws into my face. He does that sometimes. Loud loud purring and biscuit-making and it usually ends with him trying to dig his nose into my armpit to “nurse.” YUCK.
But you know, sometimes he is still a skittish FREAK. He still runs when Rod walks around the house (because he stomps like the Jolly Green Giant) or when he hears him park halfway up the street and walk to the house – he’s like my “Rod is home” alert! More tuned in than the dawgs for cryin out loud. He knows the sound of Rod’s car doors, Nissan and taxi!
And to this day, sometimes out of the blue, he will lapse into crazy feral cat and hiss, spit or swipe at me. But mostly he is a crazy little love bug. He and Beau are constant companions. They go thundering up and down the stairs after each other, with occasional cartoony feet-running-no-moving on the wood floors. Adorable! He stands his ground with the dogs, and will play with Rosey now until she gets all leapy and jumpy and he gets scared. Rosey has gotten super good at reading his signals, which has taken some time, but when his ears start to go flat, she backs right off. A non-stop WILD KINGDOM around here, I tell ya. I’ll try and get some video.
And then she posted pictures of him on Facebook, and was kind enough to allow me to post them here!
Reacher would like to say HI AND GOOD MORNING to the foster family who cared for him before he came to our home, Robyn Anderson and Fred Anderson via Challenger’s House, Inc. – Official. He wants everybody to know that he kind of liked that big barky snappy black and white long-haired dog, but now that she’s gone, a whole new world has opened up, full of unbridled midnight romping and furniture clawing – with no crazy dog to interfere! Not to mention playing with the other dog, you know, the chill one, Rosie. But right now he’s busy watching whatever that is over his mama’s shoulder. Spooooky!
Thanks for the pictures and the update, Kathy! And I can’t help it, I have to say it again – thank you so much for being willing to work through Reacher’s ISSUES, even though he’s a little freak with his occasional feral moments. π
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Previously
2013: Lilybet Entertains a Gentleman Caller.
2012: Emmy’s alien belly, and Emmy has those babies!
2011: Corbie ear floof.
2010: No entry.
2009: βHere, let me get that for youβ¦ ::SLURRRRP::β
2008: No entry.
2007: Smackdown Stage 1: The Taunting.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
YAY! just Yays all around! Great start to the weekend. Thank you! Happy Caturday!
SO lovely to see all the updates!
I remember the Bookworms, all those cute tabbies. π
Reacher’s family is the best, and it’s so great to see Lilybet again (I got her on the banner too) and to meet gorgeous Brolo! Many thanks for these wonderful updates.
I know Corbie is super beautiful but I was always enamored of Reacher, he was so cute!
I LOVE updates!!! Especially when they include pics of the gorgeous cats your fosters inevitably become. Brolo is just STUNNING!!
Oh no! I didn’t know Maura died π The “fakers” are my favorites (next to Stompers and Tony Rocky Horror Pickle, of course), and your posts about them always crack me up. Love seeing these updates!
Oh, that does make me so happy to see wee little kittens turn into such beautiful and happy cats!
Those Bookworms were a cute bunch of monkeys! Look at Reacher’s little fluffy head!!!
Daffy Lilybet! So good to see all the alumni again.
awwww – what great updates. Love hearing about those families that are willing to work with the cats they take home – no matter what. π
Great news all around! I think the Bookworms were in residence when I first started checking in…Loved Reacher! And so pleased to meet handsome Brolo!
But my heart is warmed seeing Lilibet looking so settled and happy! She tugged at my heartstrings during her time at Crooked Acres. Adopters, thank you all for sharing these pictures and stories!!!
Love updates! And those are all wonderful!!
Has it really been that long since the Bookworms? Wow! I’ve been reading since the Truebloods.
Wow, life is hard.
I’m not sure who’s more relaxed in those pic’s:
Brolo lazing and rolling around, Lilybet’s smug napping, or Reacher passed out on his mother.
Well, maybe Reacher wins this round.
Wow Reacher has a fan club! Love the updates! Brolo & Lilibet are gorgeous! I need to decide how to spell Rosie’s name. And I will come back with a link to at least one shot of Reacher snuggling with his big brother, Beau.
OK let’s see if I can post links to a shot or two of Reacher & Beau being all lubby dubby: http://flic.kr/p/kB7ddX and http://flic.kr/p/kB6Wbg. And who can resist Reacher in a box? http://flic.kr/p/kB7H1t Fingers crossed that the links work!
Those kittens looks so snuggly. I bet they fight over the chairs.
They are SO sweet – and I swear, they look like they could have come from the same litter!
Such sweet updates! I didn’t know most of these lovebugs (started here a few yrs ago now with the award kitties.) Newberry is still my favorite. π
I love updates on fosters!
Isn’t it funny, I remember Reacher and the bookworms, but didn’t remember that Corbie was one of them. Seems Gorgeous Corbs has been around longer.
What an awesome post!!! Lilybet and Reacher!! So great to see updates on two of my top three Love and Hisses kittens (Hydrox, could we hear from you please?). Those three really tugged at my heart.