So, it came as a shock to only a few of you that we’d decided to keep Dennis. Fred and I have both been in agreement for a while now that if Dennis didn’t find a home, we’d end up keeping him. It was originally my intention to post one last plea on Saturday for someone to adopt him, but around the middle of the week I started thinking about how well he’s doing, and how much I’d hate for him to have to start all over again. I couldn’t stand the thought of him in a carrier, going to (a perfectly wonderful!) home, and how scared and confused he’d be. I suggested to Fred that it was time to officially take Dennis off the market, and he agreed.
Fred is pretty insistent that we’re going to rename him, despite the fact that we’ve been calling him Dennis for months and his nicknames (Fred calls him Denny-Mini, I call him Denny-Bug) involve that name. Fred’s suggested a new name, and we’ll give it a try for a while and see if it sticks. If it does, I’ll let you know!
You can expect to still see pictures of him in and amongst the fosters, at least for now. We decided that unless he starts acting like he REALLY wants to be downstairs during the day, we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing – keeping him upstairs during the day, and letting him have the run of the house at night. Of course, first thing yesterday morning he was banging on the screen door to be let out, so we put a collar on him to keep him in the back yard, and let him out into the downstairs. He didn’t go near the back door, just ran around playing with Stefan and Jake. About mid-morning we put him back upstairs until the evening. I’d like it if he’d spend his days upstairs with the babies, but I’m not going to force him to, if he’d rather be downstairs (and eventually in the back yard). We’ll play it by ear and see what happens.
He and Jake are buddies, and he and Stefan are buddies, and no one else seems to have an opinion about him one way or the other.
To answer the question: thirteen. We have thirteen cats now. We’ve had thirteen before, then Elwood and Spanky left and Stefan joined us, so we were at twelve for about a year. I’m not thrilled about having so many cats, but whatcha gonna do? (“We’ll be in our SIXTIES before Dennis is old and decrepit!” Fred gleefully announced to me the other day. Um, SHUT. UP. YOU.)
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Nanny Dennis takes his job seriously
You’ve gotta keep an eye on the kittens during playtime. Kittens are clumsy and prone to tumble to the floor for no reason at all.
You’ve gotta let the kittens know…
..that their sass…
…will not be tolerated.
You’ve gotta keep the kittens clean. Kittens are FILTHY.
They require lots of cleaning.
They don’t always like it, but that’s just too bad.
Sometimes you’ve just gotta pin them down and gnaw on them a little to get them to behave.
Their heads get cold, so you’ve gotta make sure they stay warm.
They like to knead on your soft belly. Which, you know, is FINE. But if they start snuffling around in your belly fur, you’re within your rights to get out of there.
The cleaning. Always with the cleaning.
Especially their arm pits.
And ears.
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Jobey-Joe
The tuxie-doe
Sure does love laying outside
(Yo)
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Previously
2013: No entry.
2012: No entry.
2011: I love how FS has his big ol’ rabbit feet pressed against Finnegan.
2010: Fostering by the numbers.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: What a difference five weeks makes.