A Triumphant Return!

Actually, I'm not sure that there's all that much triumph (but no defeat, either), it just sounded like a good subject line after being away from Project-Cat for far too long.

There are a few minor updates to make here in Project-Cat land. The first is about the ferals who remain to be trapped and altered (those pesky four, including my Arch-Nemesis, Pigpen.) They are scheduled to be spayed/neutered on the 26th of this month, which means I'll be trying to capture them on the 25th. Wish me luck!!

It's been disgustingly hot here, which is not unexpected given that it's Arizona. The temperature causes me to pretty much just want to melt when I go outside, which puts a crimp in the photographing of feral cats plan. Then, too, the heat isn't doing them any favors, either, and they're generally harder to find in the daytime. Still, I did get a few new pictures, and they're viewable over in the Project-Cat Part 2 set on Flickr.

The rest of the news is about the Baby Kitten. First up, she has a name now (hurrah!) She is called Beatrice. She is doing really well-- she's becoming a roly-poly kitten, with tons of energy and purring.

She had her very first slumber party last week, to find out if her prospective Forever-Mom is allergic to her. The allergy question remains unaswered, at least definitively (we were, after all, trying to prove a negative), but Beatrice has a forever home anyway! She'll be going to live with her Forever Mom in early August. (This is a kitten who sells herself-- playing, purring and falling asleep in her prospective mommy's arms.) There are tons of pictures from the slumber party, but alas, they're not on my camera, and so I do not have access to them. I will post them when I get them.

I do, however, have some new pictures of Beatrice posted at Flickr in the Baby Kitten set. Yes, yes she is fighting pirate duckies in those pictures.

Until we get a bit closer to the next Cat Roundup I'm not sure how much news there will be, or of what kind, but I shall endeavor to post here as often as possible. And as always, check out the Flickr pictures for more commentary.

Radio Silence

The family homestead is in a rather different neck of the country than the colony, and a family member back on the homestead (my wonderful dog) is ailing. So, I am traveling this weekend to see her, and, frankly to say goodbye. (I don't want to get into it here as I'll just start crying again.) So, you will not hear from me again 'til Tuesday (5/10.)

Fortunately, to hold you over I have a few sightings, some baby-kitten news, and 26 new pictures.

No worries, the colony will still be fed even while I'm away. A friend will be stopping by and filling their dishes. Perhaps the cats know that I'm disappearing for a little bit, though, as today appears to have been "stick out your tongue at the camera" day. Amaranth and Mr Mistoffolees each show me what they think. Of course, I had woken Mr Mitoffolees from a nap, and startled Amaranth (who startled me in return!) while approaching a different cat. (see above and beside.)

Today I also spied Little Grey Girl (who posed beautifully for pictures, check out the part two set), Little Crooked, Bessie, Daphne and Pigpen. I also think I spied Gremlin, but he cashed off before I could get a picture, and I definitely saw Daisy, but she was too quick to dash away. The kitties all seem well, and are most definitely eating.

Speaking of eating, so is the kitten. She prefers to eat when a human is around, but she likes food now (even non-people-food.) She is definitely a bit bigger than when she arrived here. A friend saw her today after not seeing her since last Friday and she commented on the difference. So, this is good. :) She's also not sneezing any more, yay!

Kitten is well loved. She really likes humans (she hasn't met one she doesn't like, yet), and likes to nuzzle them, and curl up on their chests. She also wants to explore more than she can yet, but she keeps trying! She wants to see everything-- she'll fall asleep on you, but she fights it, just like a child-- she nods off, then wakes up, shakes here head... then starts to fall asleep again!

While I'm traveling, the kitten is at a vet/boarding facility. This way she can be looked after properly, fed as often as she needs, and given her medicine. I thought this was safest for her, and more fair than randomly calling up friends and asking them to take care of a squirmy kitty-baby who eats 5 times a day! So I shall pick her up after class on Tuesday and she will return to my care. I hate to leave her alone, but I know that they'll take excellent care of her-- and I left her her blankie and her duckie.

There are 13 new pictures of the baby kitty in the Baby Set.

I'll see you all again Tuesday.

Ack!

Just checking in to let you know that the baby is still doing really well. She's turning kinda pear-shaped as she's very fond of her food now (actual cat food! from a plate!) She only sneezes once in a blue moon (as opposed to lots), her eyes are cleared up, and she's very active. She still likes to curl up with me while I'm reading, though. :)

I haven't forgotten Project-Cat at all-- I just suddenly have a summer job (hurrah!) I'll be back to posting as soon as have my ducks in a row!

Oh! But I did check with the manager here at the complex yesterday and she said that DNL was incorrect, that she had said some stuff to reassure her (which apparently didn't work) but that nothing has changed, she's pleased with the way things are going. She did ask how many cats there were, and I answered 19 kinda meekly, but she said she'd thought there was more, so that's good, methinks.

Quick Kitty Update!

More later, though. :)

Just wanted to tell you how well the baby is doing-- she used her litter box all by herself for the first time! Hurrah!

And she's willing to eat actual cat food now! Of course... I still have to feed it to her... We haven't quite gotten the hang of a dish yet. But we're working on it!

Also, she's already scratching her itty bitty clawsies on a cardboard scratcher (it just happened to be in the bathroom, so she started using it-- so cute seeing such an itsy bitsy kitty using it.)

She wants to be with people all the time, though, which is both adorable and exhausting. Right now she's squeaking away, because I'm not holding her. It's sad, but I also have to get things done which aren't doable with a half-pound squirmy kitty being carried about. (For example, I'm about to go to Target-- I'm pretty sure they'd prefer if I didn't bring the kitten with me, y'know?)

But there is time set aside late this afternoon for me and the kitty to spend some quality time together before her evening meal, and perhaps again before bedtime. (This is separate from the 2 more meals she'll get tonight, each of which takes a while, too! She eats a lot now! yaay!)

Pictures later. :)

I know what you're thinking...

...you're wondering, where is my kitteh update?! I demand kitteh!

So here it is. :) Except that there isn't much to say. I didn't get to see the Colony Cats until dusk, which means my camera was useless. (Of note, though, I saw: Aloysius, Amaranth, Bessie, Gandolf, Gremlin, Little Grey Girl, and Mr Mistoffolees. Not in that order. That order is alphabetical.)

I have to admit-- I was outside less than usual the past few days because I am avoiding DNL. I know she's just lonely, and I know she likes these cats a lot, but good grief, there's only so much I can take. In fact, I didn't refill the food dishes yet today (although when I went past them around 5 they still had food in them, so that's all right then) because of avoiding her. I'll do it now that I can fairly safely assume she won't be out and about.

But the kitties look good. And it was good to see Amaranth for any length of time today-- I'd been seeing her less frequently.

As for the baby, she continues to do well. For someone who couldn't meow at all on Monday, she certainly has become impressive in her squeaking. I got her to eat some actual cat food today-- not from a plate, sadly, but from my finger and from the outside of the syringe. There's hope that some day my bathroom can stop smelling like a Thanksgiving dinner. (I'm pescetarian, so the aroma of turkey with turkey gravy only makes me think of Thanksgiving. The beef and chicken versions aren't much better. Cat food is its own aroma, and one I'm used to.)

Baby and I took a nap outside (on my balcony) together after her bath so that she could get warmed up. She got to explore a bit on the balcony (with me keeping an eagle eye on her-- she will not be permitted to fall, I promise) while I was on the phone this afternoon, and then this evening she took a nap on my shoulder while I read a magazine out there. What's with all the balcony visits? It's the one place (other than currently my bathroom, which I'm tired of) where my pet cats don't go.

I hope it's not just wishful thinking-- I really do think that she's starting to be a little more padded. She's skin and bones, really, and a round tummy most of the time, but I think her ribs and spine and pelvis and shoulder blades are all just a little less prominent. Must be all that baby food. :)

She takes her medicine without any trouble whatsoever.

I'm a little worried about her eyes-- hopefully people who know about kittens better can help me to know if I ought to be worried. You can see it in the pictures-- her eyes seem to go slightly in different directions. Is this just because as a kitten she can't focus yet, or do you think this might be a real problem? She doesn't run into anything, so I'm probably worrying about nothing.

And she loves people. She wants attention all the time. She going to make her forever-mommy or -daddy very happy, methinks.

I take as many pictures as I can, but I'm often covered in baby food, or she is. And she doesn't sit still except when she's sleeping-- but that generally only happens when she's on me which means pictures are generally blurry. And if she's clean, then she's probably hungry, so she's squeaking, all mouth open. But, I do my best. :)

8 pictures at the Baby Set.

The Bad News and the Good News

All right, first the bad news. And you might want to not read this and just skip down a bit to where I talk about the baby (who is fine.) For the sake of those who are easily saddened, I have conveniently labeled the Good News from the Bad News with bold captions.

Bad News
First, the port authority in NYC is apparently full of cat haters. After months of negotiations between the port authority and cat rescue groups, the port authority has decreed death to the hundreds of feral cats living at JFK airport. You can read about it here and here. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it. If this blog can do anything beyond saving 'my' colony, I hope it's to raise interest and awareness about the overabundance of feral cats, their plight, and the need for volunteers to trap, neuter, return and manage them. I hope I can inspire others to help 'their' colonies.

The second bit of bad news is closer to home. Given that it's kitten season (as evidenced by the kitten and the smell of baby food in my bathroom), it was surprising that no kittens had been seen in this colony before the adults were altered. Today as I was taking the baby on an outing (see below), I ran into the DNL who was in quite the talkative mood. Unfortunately, it was about a litter of kittens who had evidently been born on her patio-- and had been there, dead, for two weeks. Admittedly I don't know how long she had known about them (but they were on her patio) but why why why didn't she do something about them while they were still, y'know, able to be saved?! She knows where I live (she's brought me cake), she couldn't have called me, or someone else, or done anything. While I was there a maintenance guy was removing the bodies, and she had the gall to tell him that they weren't taken care of because the cats had been trapped. I know for a fact that a female cat who is lactating will continue to do so after her surgery. Perhaps yes removing the adult cats caused these kittens to be uncared for and to die (from cold, from lack of milk, I'm not sure), but even if that's true, why didn't the DNL do something sooner rather than blame it on me after the fact?!

Obviously I'm distressed by these kittens' deaths, and I'm deeply upset by my potential role in it. But somehow I don't think I'm the only one at fault here. Weirdly, DNL, who has proudly told me numerous times about how Daisy was born on her patio, is now fiercely declaring that the cats bring bugs and fleas to her patio and she doesn't want them there, especially having kittens. Thankfully there will be no more kittens, but good grief, DNL, choose a story and stick to it.

It doesn't help that the DNL makes me paranoid about the management. She said that they were by her apartment today and were saying that they still want the cats gone. I ... don't think they actually said that, but because the DNL said that to me, I have to look into it now.

Good News
The good news isn't so much news as it is my usual ramblings about cats. I saw Bozo happily eating up on the 2nd floor today. Little Grey Girl was out and about, munching away on the first floor. She seemed really uncertain as to whether she should run from me or not-- she seemed almost put out when I walked past her instead of chasing her! Pictures of LGG and one of Daisy and one of Bessie are in the Project-Cat Part 2 Set.

As for the baby, she continues to thrive. And to get food everywhere. I got a few pictures, which you can see in the Baby Set. A lot of them are of her with baby food all over her. :)

I took her on a field trip today to meet a potential Forever Home. She got along great with her potential forever-mom (falling asleep on her several times, and generally just being really friggin' cute), so this is hopeful. (Best of all, this is a friend of mine, so I'd get to see the baby!) Nothing is definite, a few more things have to happen before this person can even decide, and I don't want to say more, lest I jinx it. ::fingers crossed::

So, there y'go, the good and the bad for today. I hope I continue to have more good.

Quick Update -- sans photos

Greetings from the Land O' Cats! Sorry no pictures today-- my camera batteries have died and I must needs get more.

First up, just got back from feeding the colony. Apparently someone thought I didn't feed them enough because when I got downstairs I found their dish filled with food that I hadn't put it in it. Neat! Elves, perhaps.

While down there I saw Amaranth, Daphne, Bessie, Little Grey and Mr Mistoffolees all approaching the dishes. Pigpen sat across the green, in her usual loaf style, watching. Gremlin was near the cars.

The baby continues to grow stronger. Where she didn't even try to meow on Monday, and only managed to open her mouth and make no sounds on Tuesday, today her meows and squeaks are loud enough to be heard anywhere in my apartment. This, along with everything else, has made my cats curious and I often find one sitting and staring at the bathroom door. Thankfully, though, they've been pretty accepting of the no-bathroom rule (which is good, since they usually drink from the bathtub faucet.)

The baby continues to want to eat only on her own terms, which is to say all the time, but in teeny-tiny doses, which mostly get on her and me. This is exhausting. Plus, baby food is really kinda disturbing. She recognizes the jar, the jar lid and the syringe, but can't manage to eat from any of them very well. (Well, obviously on the jar, although she continues to try.) She'll pick up the baby food lid and try to carry it off rather than eat from it. But when I put baby food on a plate, she completely ignores it. We have a communication issue, she and I, but we're working on it.

She has not quite understood the litter box yet, but does her job on the paper around it, so that's good. She takes her medicine like a champ. She sleeps in her box (which is now on its side), and wanders about the bathroom the rest of the time. She sits on the cardboard scratcher just like my adult cat does, and it's really adorable because their size difference. (Let me just say that my cats seem really hyooge after caring for the kitten!)

I expect to get more pictures tomorrow, of everyone, so see you back here then. :)

(Oh, but here's an amusing anecdote-- I saw my professor today and she scolded me for taking care of cats when I ought to be writing and researching. Sigh. More guilt, since I also ought to be working for, y'know, monies. Oh well.)

The Baby Ate from a Saucer!

Okay, so not really a saucer, more of a baby-food jar-lid. I sat down with her for her lunchtime (she was in my lap earlier, but made it clear that she was hungry by trying to gnaw on my nose), and hadn't quite gotten the syringe filled up yet, and she started trying to eat the baby-food jar. This was very cute (nomnomnom), her mouth open as wide as a tiny kitten's mouth can open, attempting to eat the jar, but not particularly effective. So I put the lid down with some food in it, and after a false start or two (trying to eat the lid), she ate the food. Not a whole lot (she seems to prefer lots of little meals) but still! Hurrah!

So we'll try the more actually cat food foods that way, too.

And I think I read that as soon as the baby starts eating from a dish you can start trying to litter train them. Considering she can now get out of the box, so I gave her the run of the bathroom now, I think beginning to litter train is probably a good idea.

As you can see from the picture at the right, baby kitten is feeling well enough to play and attack things an gnaw. It makes it harder to take clear pictures, but makes me so very happy. She's doing so much better than on Monday. Oh! and look at her eyes! They seem to be clearing up too! She's sneezing a little, but the vet seemed unconcerned (given that we know she has a URI and that she's already on antibiotics.)

Yaaaay baby kitten! Fight, fight, fight to get well! Maybe stop fighting quite so much with my nose, though (ow.)

Now that she's had her lunch, time for mine.

Baby food for the win!

This morning the baby wanted food-- she was snuffling about and trying to squeak (she didn't manage it, though), and chewing on my fingers, and yet she refused to take her bottle. She seemed dehydrated, too, so off we went to a vet.

This was not the same as the ER-vet, nor is it the same as the vet I'd been taking my cats to. (I'd been thinking about changing their vet anyway.) The place was super-uber-busy but baby and I still got in to see a doctor very quickly, and weren't left waiting for but a moment. (And if we'd been waiting longer, we could have evidently watched Puppy Bowl IV on DVD-- naturally we would have chosen the kitten halftime show.)

The doctor agreed that she was a little dehydrated, but was very impressed with how active the kitten was, especially after hearing about Monday night and reading the notes from the ER Vet (whom he knows, apparently.)

Then he brought out the chicken and gravy baby food. The kitten loves it far more than anything else we've tried to give her! She even meowed for more-- her first real meow! He also gave me more advice on how much to feed the baby (something I've been worrying over a lot.) And is going to call tomorrow to see how we're doing. I like this place.

The vet commented that it is unlikely that the kitten carries leukemia because if she did she'd not likely have recovered so fast. So that's hopeful. (We'll be testing in about 6 weeks.)

I got the baby home, and gave her her meds (amoxicilin and albon for the coccidia) and then she took a bunch of baby food. She ended up wearing a lot of it, naturally. And now she's down for her nap. It really is almost like having a much tinier, quieter, furrier baby. Hee.

Now it's time to wash the amazing amount of towels and blankets she's gone through in the last 24 hours. :)

Almost time for the 1am feeding.

So, here have some pictures...

A few new ones (Daisy, Bessie, Creamsicle, Bozo, LGG, Pigpen) in the Project-Cat Set 2.

And a new set, in honor of the colony's youngest member (who will not, of course, really be part of the colony, but still, y'know what I mean): Baby Kitten pictures.