On Saturday, this happened:
Unfortunately, they didn’t adopt River as well, which is too bad. Hopefully we’ll get updates from Belushi’s new family!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pardon the blurriness, but this picture of Ambercup and Zuke, snuggled up with full bellies, was just too cute.
Calabash has a snuggle.
Wahhh! She’s da BAYBEE!
Zuke shows off his hidden stripes, and his toes and his fearsome claws.
Fred, feeding Ambercup – who is clearly all full.
Oh, the wee claws!
Fred feeding Zuke.
Pattypan does her Precious Moments impression.
Calabash keeps an eye on things.
I finally moved the kittens up to the foster room Saturday morning. They’re in a (big) cage, because Pattypan is the only one who’s showing that she understands what a litter box is for. I’ve seen the other two girls in the litter box, but they mostly look confused and crawl back out (though I think I did see Calabash use it once or twice.) Zuke, on the other hand, couldn’t be less interested in that litter box. He needs to get with the program! I also put a bowl of Babycat kibble in the cage with them, and when I went up to feed them Saturday evening, Calabash was actually IN the bowl of kibble, doing her best to eat some of it.
I offered them canned food yesterday morning. Pattypan, Zuke, and Ambercup just looked at me like I was crazy for thinking THAT was food. Calabash, on the other hand, climbed right onto the plate and ate like crazy. I’m starting to think she’s a little genius.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With the kittens moved up to the foster room, I was glad to have my bathroom back.
Oh, wait. No I wasn’t!
Meet the Swimmers!
Spitz (who is a gray male).
Louganis (black male).
Torres (black female).
And Phelps (black male).
The phone rang Thursday afternoon, a call from Kathie, who told me that there were kittens who’d been left under a bush by their mother, and it was raining. HARD. The kittens needed somewhere to go. She’d barely explained the situation to me when I told her I’d take them. A few hours later, she delivered them to me. Not only had they been left under a bush, they were in a puddle of water, and by the time they were rescued, they were barely holding their heads up out of the water.
I was going to give them squash names because we all know that eventually the two litters will be put together. But then on Saturday, Susan emailed the idea of naming them after Olympic swimmers, and – well, how perfect is that? They’re named after Mark Spitz (and I’m sorry, but how perfect is the name “Spitz” for a kitten, anyway? SO perfect!), Greg Louganis, Dara Torres, and Michael Phelps.
The Swimmers are now living in my bathroom for the time being. They were born on July 22nd, making them 3 weeks old tomorrow. They won’t be introduced to the Squash Bugs for at least a few weeks, so I guess I’d better get used to sharing a bathroom with Fred for a while longer.
I will tell you what – there is NOTHING as frustrating as a hungry kitten who will not latch onto the bottle. I mean, I understand it – it’s not what they’re used to – but when they’re howling and clearly VERY hungry, and just keep turning their head away from the nipple, OH the frustration. They very slowly, one by one, got the hang of it (thanks mostly to Fred, who is FAR more patient when it comes to convincing kittens that they want to latch on than I am!), and now all four of them will latch on with little prodding. Which is a good thing – over the weekend, Fred was willing to help me feed them, but now that it’s Monday he’s got to work, so I’m on my own.
Not two hours before Kathie called, I commented to Fred that it was nice that the Squash Bugs are so easy to tell apart. Then I get three black kittens who are pretty much identical! For now I’ve got their ears marked with a tiny dab of fingernail polish, but eventually I’ll go to collars to make it easier to tell them apart.
And lastly, of note: this litter was born to the same mother who gave birth to Simon and Garfunkel. She’s been really hard to catch, but now she’s being fed in a location where it’ll be easier to nab her. Kathie said they’re hoping to get her spayed this week. Fingers crossed! If Simon and Garfunkel are anything to go by, she has awesome kitties, but it’s time for her to give up motherhood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think you can tell by the obvious joy in Stinkerbelle’s eyes that she’s THRILLED to have even more kittens in the house!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2014: No entry.
2013: Ever had one of those days?
2012: And you thought this fostering thing was all glitz and glamour!
2011: It was delightful.
2010: No entry.
2009: Mondays? They’re exhausting.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: So cute, these two.