Throw Back Thursday: the Wonkas!
The Wonkas came to us in September 2009. Someone near Fred’s office saw a mother cat lurking around, and when they looked in the bushes, found four kittens laying there. They were in such good shape that I thought they’d been dumped, but six months later the same guy found another litter of kittens in the same location – and those kittens were the Bookworms, also known as Corbie’s litter. So the Wonkas are (we think) half-siblings to Corbie and his brothers.
Veruca Salt (Fred called her “the Worrywart.”)
Mike Teevee.
Violet Beauregard.
Augustus Gloop (Gus.) Check out that fabulous ear floof!
Fred bottle feeding Mike. Mike was hissy at first, but it didn’t take him long to figure out that we brought food to him, and then he turned into a lovah.
The Wonkas initially tested positive for FIV and having never dealt with that situation before, I was freaked OUT. They ultimately converted to negative.
Look, it’s been almost five years, so I have a confession: Mike was my favorite Wonka. I ADORED him.
“You was misguided, lady. Have you SEEN the floof?”
Sweet, sweet, sweet Mike.
A month after we got the Wonkas, we got the Cookies, so at one point we had both litters running around the house at the same time, and it was delightfully insane.
The Wonkas and a Cookie.
Violet and Veruca went off to Petsmart and were adopted (separately, I believe). Gus and Mike were adopted together, and went off to Portland, Oregon to live. I can guarantee you that if the people who wanted to adopt Gus didn’t also decide they wanted Mike, Mike would still be here with us. So THANK GOD for them.
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I put this cat bed in a plastic storage bin and put it in a corner of Fred’s room, and it was an instant hit.
::BRAAAAAAAAPPPPP::
::snicker::
Sweet Grant. I call him “stringbean,” because Fred never learns their real names.
Blaster, curled up in my lap for a nap.
Angelo keeps an eye on the kittens and their shenanigans.
Marshall, hugging Blaster like he’s a body pillow.
Mooch always looks so AMUSED.
Nap time with the babies.
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Stinkerbelle gets some Tommy time.
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Previously
2013: He got so mad at me at one point that he stomped off to the front room to yell his woes at Uncle Jake, who ignored him and hoped he’d go away.
2012: “This is oddly comfy.”
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry.
2008: “Nyah.”
2007: Maryanne refuses to let me do more than occasionally brush her as she’s going by, but she’s definitely warmed up to Fred.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
For some reason Stinkerbelle reminds me of that “Overly attached girlfriend” meme when it comes to Tommy.
You know who I’m dying to see an update about? Batman & Robin. They weren’t with you long but I really loved them and (as with most of your fosters) I wish their new parents would at least send an annual update for those of us who don’t have the pleasure of loving on them daily. 🙁
love those flashbacks 🙂
That Mooch is stealing my heart…..and all the orange babies already have it!
Mooch has such a kissable nose!! *smooches da Mooch*
These “babies” are getting big though… I’m glad I got my wee kitten fix with the flashback of the Wonkas!
All right fabulous cat community & Robyn: As mentioned previously on here, I’ve acquired a new cat from a friend. Lily is a sweet kitty (to people at least) but she is HORRIBLY overweight. (really – it’s sad) Aside from putting her on a weight control food and rationing her food, there just doesn’t seem like much else we can do and really it’s not a terrible worry right now. The problem is that she poops OUTSIDE the litter box. And I think it has to do with her weight – I’ve never seen her do it and I don’t know if she just can’t get in the box or what the problem is, because she’s always next to it just not in it. I am going to buy some of the Cat Attract litter, but I was also wondering if they make little ramps or something that can help her into the box? Or a low entry one maybe? Any suggestions?
I had that problem with an overweight cat. I think due to her size she felt cramped to do her business so I did things like make a large fitted cardboard box that went over the box so she’d feel better about it.
She didn’t always but thank God for puppy training pads.
Also, have you talked to your vet? I had mine on a high fibre but low carb dry food so she was basically eating a lot of celary. Cost more but worth it. Gave the other cats some wet food as supplements so they didn’t lose much weight on the stuff. Also tried to play with her more and get her active.
Try enrichment toys. Took a clear plastic tube with lids on the top and cut out a few holes. Put more dry food in it so if she’s hungry she has to work for it.
PS – it was the tube for those individually wrapped prunes and another time I coke bottle.
So it was food grade plastic. Not that I’ve ever known a cat to care.
When my old kitty was in kidney failure, I got one of those litter boxes that have the detachable frame on top, and just used the box part, not the frame… that was lower than a normal litter box so easier to get into. You could also cut a low entry way into a regular litter box so that it’s easier for her to get in and out. And if it is that she feels cramped once she’s in the box, you could buy one of those under-bed storage boxes that are way bigger than a normal litter box so she’d have more room to maneuver.
Are you possibly using a different type of litter? She may not like it. Can you ask the previous owner what she used? We had a rather large cat, not overweight, just large. A regular litter box just wasn’t big enough for him. We switched to a large, lower sided storage box. Quite a bit bigger than the largest litter box we could find.
The other suggestion is a vet visit to make sure all is well.
Thank you all for the suggestions – I bought the Cat Attract Litter and I’m going to buy one of those under the bed storage containers. That’s a great suggestion. I haven’t changed her type of litter since I inherited her and she didn’t do this for the first few months, so I’m not sure what changed. She was abandoned when her owners moved, so I have no idea what they used. I’m thinking either the sides are too high or the box is too small and she’s hanging over the edge, because it’s not everywhere, and it’s pretty much in the same place next to the box each time. So we’ll get the bigger box and mix the cat attract in and see what happens. I’ve also got her on a high protein/low carb (no grains) diet, and we’ve got regular play dates with her where we try and get her to move some so I’m hoping she gets to a healthier weight soon!
I wasn’t reading the blog at the time of the Wonkas, but I would LOVE to see what floofy Augustus Gloop looks like as a full-grown cat!