“Lady, you is WEIRD.”
I love the way Debi is looking at Oksana, all “I hope when I’m ALL GROWED UP I’m as fabulous as Oksana!”
Can I interest you in a slice of Katarina pie?
Brian Boitano, checkin’ out the tree.
And running for his life!
Oh that boy and his giant paws, always on display.
Debi gets her goatee washed.
Scott gets comfy on his favorite kitten bed.
“That’s right, I knocked it over and I’d do it again!” (Katarina)
Deanzilla on the move.
“Comin’ for you, lady.” (Brian Boitano)
Giving his mama a hug.
Katarina, hanging out with Granny.
Katia, headed for the crate.
Katia’s all “Wait a minute. I was sharing with my own kids, I’ve gotta share with this little ornj guy, too?!”
Oksana and Katarina have not, despite the many times I’ve tried, been the slightest bit interested in the canned food I bring into the room; they’ve been subsisting on kibble and the milk bar. And then yesterday, as I had done just the day before, I picked up Oksana, put a little canned food in her mouth, and the light went on over her head, she dove onto the plate, and ate and ate. Same thing with Katarina. For some reason the exact same food they turned their noses up at the day before was suddenly AMAZING. I stepped out of the room to grab my phone to take a picture of them eating, and when I walked back in, I found Brian Boitano at the plate with them. I mean, it’s no Andouille eating at 18 days, but still. Brilliant Brian Boitano!
For those who have asked about Katia: You won’t see Katia with kittens nursing because she doesn’t do that when I’m in the room. I can see that she has nursing sessions in the middle of the night, but I think that’s too vulnerable a position for her when the humans are in the room. She prefers to stay hidden most of the time I’m in there, but as soon as I leave the room she comes out, examines the kittens, and snuggles with her mother. If I’ve been in the room for a long time without too much moving around, she’ll come out and hang out (those of you who watched the live stream I linked in yesterday’s post saw her), but she does keep an eye on me. She is not warming to me, but she’s not super freaked out by me, either. I think she knows I’m not going to mess with her. I would like to be friends; she’s decided she’s got enough friends, thank you.
Kristi, on the other hand, while shy and will scurry away from me if she has the room to do so, isn’t shy about letting the kittens nurse when I’m in the room (as long as I don’t get TOO close) and will allow petting (she’s even allowed it from strangers.) I don’t know that she’ll be a lap cat and may not ever request attention – but then again, she might. It’s hard to know how cats will be in the future when they’re busy caring for and raising kittens. I do know that I do NOT want to separate Kristi and Katia, because I think that Katia would die of a broken heart. She absolutely adores her mother.
So what’s going to happen with those two, you’re wondering. Honestly? I don’t know. They could go back to the colony they came from, but even though they’d have food and shelter, that’s a pretty rough life for these two girls. In a perfect world someone who would like to have cats as companions, who knows that it’s a long road to befriending them but is willing to make the effort, and who is willing to let them be who they are and understands that they might not ever come around would fall in love with them and want to adopt them.
Know anyone like that? Feel free to have them contact Forgotten Felines at info@ffhsv.org and discuss.
(Before you go suggesting that the obvious solution is that we should keep them? No. We have 10 cats, half of whom are 8 or older (ie: aging) and if we were to keep Kristi and Katia, that would be the end of fostering for us. They are beautiful girls, and we will not be keeping them.)
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Video! In the first, Scott gives Tessa a bath.
In the second, Dean gets BOOP’d.
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He’s loonified.
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Previously
2017: The little explorerer (Beignet) is busy exploring!
2016: “Whatever THAT means.”
2015: #Belushi don’t need no stinkin’ eyeballs.
2014: “What? Was nappin’!”
2013: “WHAT GOIN’ ON OVER HERE, MAMA? OH, THAT’S BIG KITTY FOOD. I’MA GO EAT SOME LITTER!”
2012: DarWednesday!
2011: Rufus, fangin’ it.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: Kara’s birth story.
2007: Hatehatehate.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
I love these kittens.
And Jakey. He’s just so adorably clueless.
Oh, Debi honey, you are absolutely fabulous and you have no idea. I was right — she is a smoke tabby. Check out the stripes on her legs in that photo with Oksana.
Maybe there’s a business like a factory or a lumberyard that needs natural pest control and could care for a pair of semi-feral cats? Or a farm? Maybe Forgotten Felines can help find a place.
As a voice of experience of someone who has adopted a scared former feral colony cat. Our Julie was much like Katia when we first got her in the fall of 2014 (and happens to also be an all black beauty). After about 3 months of catching glimpses of her as she flitted from safe space to safe space she started coming out a bit more But it was still nearly a year before she allowed us to touch her, and then it was just for brief moments. That took extreme patience in always meeting her terms and limits of what she felt safe with. I also think her observing our interactions with our other cats was a big help in building her trust. She’s been with us for 4 years now and still is very skittish and you’ve got a 50-50 chance of catching/touching her if you walk up to her. But sometimes she surprises us and joins us in bed, even walking and snuggling up to us at night. When she feels safe and comfortable she purrs up a storm and is very loving and affectionate. She’ll probably always be skittish but every day she grows to trust us more and more and shows her love for us in her own special ways. Julie’s adaptation to indoor living might not apply to Katia, but there may be hope that through an adoption where she sees Kristi learn to trust and share affection with a family she might in her own time and way do the same. (not gonna lie too: one of the first times I was able to touch Julie was when I’d made a roast chicken for dinner and was eating and my husband noticed her sitting nearby drawn by the scent and watching me intently. I offered her a piece and while she didn’t take it from my hand she did move a couple of steps forward and clearly wanted to come closer so I dropped it at my feet and continued eating, sure enough she was at my feet a few moments later, snatching it up and running away. But she kept coming back for more and after a few more pieces she stayed while she ate and eventually I was able to touch her. Then I started working on moving her feeding bowl to the communal area of eating when we fed the other cats. After a few months of her waiting until I was out of the kitchen before coming in she started to eat while I was in there, then eventually she would be sitting with the others waiting for the bowl to be put before her and I’d be able to snatch a few pets as I set the bowl down. It’s a process. But food helps a lot lol. Especially fresh roasted chicken :-D)
Ha – I find that food always helps a lot! 🙂
We have a cat that was abandoned and became feral. She now lives in our sun room with access to the cat-fenced yard. She knows her name Nikita, and comes when I call to get food or to come in. In the winter she decides to come into the house and sleep on the couch or even sometimes at the foot of my bed. I can pet her head on occasion, and every 3 years we trap her and take her for her rabies shot and an examination. I hope she never gets seriously ill, cause she would probably not let us take care of her. She is friends with my other cats, and roams around the back yard. We are happy enough to watch her and know that she is safe. I hope that Katia and Kristi can find a similar situation.
How sweet!
What about a barn that needs a mother -daughter tag team?
Dean gets BOOP’d video – *squeeeeee*
Also, people could consider these two beautiful mama’s as barn cats. They help you….you help them!