Dean Kitty Goes Home (And Other Updates)

Wow, I have seriously neglected this blog, especially in light of the fact that until *yesterday* I still had a foster kitten. Happily for all involved, this is no longer the case as Dean has gone to his forever home-- a forever home that just happens to be many states away from here. (He has gone from being a Desert Cat to a Plains Cat.)

Thanks to online friends posting about Dean needing a home on various blogging sites, Dean found a home. It took months of finagling to get it all worked out, but yesterday I flew him to Chicago. Yes, really.

And Dean was *great* about it all, a perfect angel. He took to wearing a harness and leash with no trouble (which, as you'll see, was a very good thing) and didn't make a sound in his carrier. At security, I had to take him out of his carrier to go through the metal detector (while his carrier went through the x-ray machine), and this was the only moment he got a bit freaked. It didn't help that I was juggling him as well as my belongings. He went through the metal detector riding on my shoulder, but then hopped down and tried to hide beneath the X-ray machine. Hee. Fortunately, my hold on his leash kept him from getting too far, and the traumatic part was done.

I'd heard that you're not supposed to take your pet from his carrier at the airport, but no one had officially told me that, so while we were at the gate Dean mostly sat in my lap, purring. At one point a little girl and her grandfather came up to look at Dean, the grandfather assuring me that they wouldn't touch. I told the little girl she could if she wanted, that Dean was a bit nervous but purring. She got a big smile when she pat Dean on his head.

I am incapable of staying awake on an airplane, so dozed off shortly after take-off. I woke several times to the sound of squeaking, but it was never Dean. (Apparently there was another, less happy, pet on the plane.)
(Check out the tiiiiiny Dean in the picture at left!)

Upon landing in Chicago, C., Dean's new daddy, met me at the security gate. We found a quiet(ish) space to chat, and to introduce Dean and C. C. has had many cats, so he didn't need any advice about integrating Dean into his household or anything. Mostly the time was taken up by me snuggling Dean, knowing that I was going to miss him a lot. C. told me some more about his cats, which made me feel better. (C. seems really awesome, and I was reassured by the whole situation.)

And... that was that, at least as far as Dean and airports go. C. had a long drive back home with Dean, and was kind enough to call me upon reaching his destination to give me an update. Dean was curious during the drive, and immediately started exploring upon reaching his new home. C.'s other cats have been interested thus far, although I haven't heard if there have been any official meetings betwixt them yet. And best of all, Dean spent much of the evening in C.'s lap-- so I don't have to worry about the two of them not connecting!!

EDIT TO ADD: Check out this video which C sent me of Dean playing and being all adorably cuuuuute!

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In other Former Foster Felines News...

Malcolm (and his brother, Fritz) have moved into a new home (with their people) and have adjusted quickly.

Zoe and Zadie met each other when the former came home for the summer with her person. Apparently the two of them (and their sister, Arwen) have staked out various bits of their family's house. I've seen Zadie a couple times since her move, and she remained, at least at that point, a teeny-tiny bundle of engergy and adorableness. Apparently Zoe has grown into quite the large cat, however, and is intensely loved by her human (as is Zadie by hers.)

Momo, formerly Iso, has completely adapted to his new home, so much so that it's rare to see him without his sister, Pynn.

Similarly, Dolce is completely attached to her doggie-brother (a chihuahua.)

And last I heard, Whiskey, formerly Sam, is also doing well, and is best friends with his doggie-sibling, a labrador.

And finally, what to say about Miss Beatrice? She has also moved into a new home with her mommy. At first she was so scared that she peed on her mommy (yeah, I shouldn't laugh, and yet, I do.) Right now her mom is traveling, but I've been checking on Miss Beatrice and she is her usual self. I think this cat is bi-polar. One moment she wants love, the next moment she's trying to gnaw on your face. She has actually made her other cat-sitter bleed. Oh, Beatrice. We love you anyway.

Are you my family?

In many ways, Dean is the perfect kitten. He wants to be with his human (who, at the moment, is me.) When he's sleepy, he wants to sleep in a human lap. That's where he is right now, as I type this.













He's also very good at playing by himself. (He was supervised with those ribbons, of course.) The jingle ball in the left picture is his favorite at the moment. He also already likes catnip (which is early-- most kittens aren't affected by it) and likes to bunny kick at mousies filled with it.


He'll be happy in any loving family-- he's been adjusting very well to whatever comes his way. He wants very much to play with my adult kitties (he keeps offering, they keep hissing or ignoring him) so he'd adjust just fine into a house with other kitties. Conversely, he's very much a people cat, happy to play with you, curl up with you, sleep beside you and purr, so he'd be equally happy in a home with an attentive, loving person or people.


He's ready to be adopted at any time now, and just wants a loving family.









You don't have to be local, if you're interested in this perfect fuzzy feline companion. As long as you're in the continental US, I can find a way to get him to you.


If you can't adopt him, please forward this address along to anyone you know who might be interested. If you're on FaceBook or MySpace or Twitter, maybe you could pass this information along? I know that someone perfect for this little boy is out there.

Thirty new pictures of Dean in the Flickr Set.

Adopted Kitten Update

So, on Saturday morning, Iso went to meet his new family. They live quite close, so that's nice, and hopefully I'll hear lots of good things about his adjustment to his new home. Iso's name is now Momo, and he has a big sister named Pynn. Pynn is all black (with a wee tuft of white), and is the most hyper kitten I have ever met. She's amazing, and was bouncing, pouncing and playing the entire time I was there. She immediately took to Iso/Momo, demanding that he play. She's a bit bigger than he is, so he wasn't entirely sure what to make of the situation, but was pretty game. He happily explored around his new home, while his new sister pounced on him.

I haven't heard much about Dolce, other than that she's settling in, and that her human-siblings are taking good care of her.

Zadie has become much more adventurous in her time at her new home, and has taken to waking up her human with love-bites. Ouch! Her family's other cat, Arwen, has taken to grooming her and acting as a mommy. (Aww!) Zadie has been to the vet and been declared healthy. Hurrah!!

So all the adopted babies seem to be doing very well.

That just leaves Dean, who has just stolen my cell phone and now my crochet hook. Silly boy. He's doing fine, but he obviously misses his siblings. He tries to play with my cats, but they aren't interested (and in fact are desperately counting the days 'til I can find him a new home.) I'm really grateful for teh homes I've found for the first three, but Dean is a special baby who needs a home, too.

"Sam" Update

You might recall Sam, the orange kitten I had for a few days back in, um, March? Yeah, that sounds about right. Just ran into his human, and his canine-sister (a yellow lab named Bailey.) Sounds like the puppy and the kitty are getting along really well-- they apparently go through cycles of antagonizing each other, and loving on each other. They *both* chase the laser pointer, hee! The kitty's new name is "Whiskey" but apparently he's mostly called "Kitty" because that's what he comes to.

I'm *so* glad to hear that that family worked out. (I hadn't touched base with them since the night the kitty moved, even though they are only one building over from me. Fortuitously, I had just dropped my pen off of my balcony (where I was grading papers) and when I went down to get it, Bailey was out chasing a ball, so I got to chat with her human.)

Pictures

There are 7o new pictures of the kittens in the April 2009 Kitten Set. Including lots of cute ones of Dean and Iso, the babies who need homes. (They've just been dropped back off. The poor things are probably so confused.)

New Plan (Needed)

Well, crud. On the bright side, Iso's mom got a scholarship to Ireland. On the downside, that means she can't keep Iso. And it also means her sister can't keep Dean, because she'll have to move into a dorm. So... the hardest part of cat rescue begins again: finding homes.

Please get the word out that Iso and Dean need homes (or a home). They're about 6 weeks old, have been healthy as long as I've had them. Iso is a bit reserved-- he likes to sit in your lap and watch his siblings play-- but he can also hold his own in a tussle. Dean is more outgoing, and will play and wrestle 'til he completely tires himself out-- at which point he wants to curl up in your lap.

Homes need not be local to AZ, as I can travel in the months of May and June. Please repost and help me find these great little guys homes!!

And then there was one...

Mr Dean and Mr Iso left with their mommies a few hours ago. And Miss Dolce was just delivered to her mommy a few minutes ago. So Miss Zadie and I are hanging out together. She's a bit confused, but content because I'm letting her explore my desk. Her mommy comes to get her tomorrow (and she'll be cousins with Zoe!)

I'm so happy I found such great homes for the kittens. And I'm lucy to have been a part of their lives. But it has also been expensive and exhausting, so while a part of me is sad, a part of me is also very glad. These kittens are going to be very well loved, and parts of great families.

I have taken so many pictures. Classes ended today, so while I still have a elventy-billion things to do, I should be able to find some time to work on and post those pictures sometime in the next few days.

Quick Update!!

(More to come later-- and that with pictures.)

I have found potential homes for all the kittens at this time. Violetta (Dolce), of course, I already mentioned. Zadie, it seems, will be going to the sister of the woman who adopted Zoe, so they will be first cousins! (Her new mommy will meet her tomorrow, after which it will, I imagine, be definite.) And it appears that Dean and Iso will be going to a pair of sisters, too, although those details have not yet been worked out.

Nothing is yet definite. Keep your fingers crossed for me and the kittens please, but also, if you're interested in one of the kittens, let me know and I'll be in touch.

If you're interested in other kittens, please visit a shelter near you. Those kittens need love more than you can imagine, and in many cases their days are numbered if a human doesn't choose to adopt them. And if you can, adopt an adult cat-- they have an even more difficult time finding families.

And so I'm not ending on a completely sad note, here's a silly picture of Zadie:

So many kittehs!

Well, they're definitely over their "shy" phase. Now when I walk into the Kitten Hatchery they swarm me! If I sit down, I immediately have all four kittens in my lap, generally tussling with each other. It makes it difficult to take pictures-- for every picture I post, imagine that there were 2 more that I had to erase because they were blurry, or only had half a kitten in the frame by the time the shutter clicked. Also, these kittens, like most, are so much cuter in person-- assume 75% more cuteness that you just can't see in the pictures. :)

I gave them all Foster-Names, but even those change quickly. The good news is that I have an official forever home for Violetta. I took her to the apartment complex's office today as an example of how well the kittens were doing. The staff-person who had said she might want to adopt one decided that she does want to adopt one, and moreover, wants this one! So Violetta has a forever home waiting for her in a few weeks. She will have a big sister: a chihuahua named Coco Chanel!! Violetta's name has been changed as befits her new home: she is now Dolce!

I hope I can find such good homes so quickly for the other three!! Shy little Zadie has become more out-going. She joins her siblings in hanging out with me, and likes to be held. She has even started purring. When you see her by herself, or sitting in a lap, it's hard to imagine her doing the rough and tumble of other kittens, but she'll get in there and fight with her siblings just like the others. Ideally, I'd love to be able to adopt her out with Dean, her big brother.

Dean is living up to his television namesake, being the first and last at the dinner table, and being completely outgoing. He seems to need to be aware of everything, but he also takes care of his siblings, curling up with them when they've all just had a bath. Dean is also the one who is most like Baby Beatrice-- he has taken to gnawing on everything, up to and including my feet and ankles. Silly boy. Also, it is not unusual for me to be dealing with one of the other kittens, or brushing my teeth, and to suddenly have Dean climbing up my pants leg.

Istref (Iso for short) is the only one who won't purr, but he does seem to like curling up in my lap, and he's certainly not shy any more. He plays and he cuddles and he's got such cute moo-cow-kitty spots! He's hard to get pictures, of though, 'cause he moves fast! He and Dean are already bigger than the girls (Dean is biggest, though) -- not so noticeable in pictures, perhaps, but definitely noticeable when you go to pick them up!!

The kittens are using the litter box, although there have been a few accidents. I chalk those, however, up to the changes in food which is making their stool less than delightful. (Lucky me.) Still, for the most part they're using the box fine, and I'm sure they'll be perfect with it once their little kitten tummies fully adjust to the switch over in foods. Speaking of foods, they're still eating a mix of baby food and kitten food, but they've also taken to snacking on dry kitten food, so this is good. They're not so good at the water dish, though, generally dumping it on the floor rather than drinking from it, presumably in their raucous kitty fights.

So, things continue apace. But please spread the word about these babies needing homes. Classes end relatively soon, so I can even get them fairly far afield, should you be reading this from a place that is not AZ. (Import your kittens!) Cuddly fuzzy babies need homes!

45 (!!) new pictures in the April 2009 Kittens Flickr Set

Progess Report

The kittens are doing really well. They're happily eating out of a dish, slurp, slurp, slurp. I'm going to mix baby food and kitten food next, so hopefully they'll be over to canned kitten food really soon.

Two of them are no longer afraid of me-- the adventurous tabby boy, and the sweet little grey/white girl. The Moo-Cow still hisses, and the tabby-girl still hides. But it's only been 2 days, so we'll work on that. :)

They understand the litterbox, which is fantastic. Woot! Thank goodness for instinct!!

They need names, even if they're just "foster" names. I considered continuing the Firefly theme (from which Mal and Zoe came), which would make them Simon, River, Kaylee and Wash. Then I thought that since I had a Sam, I should have a Dean (and Adventure Kitty loves to eat, so that's pretty much perfect), but SPN really doesn't have a lot of other names, and most of the girl names would be lousy for cats (and before you ask, no, I will not name one after Ruby.) I thought about naming the girls Viola and Olivia (from Twelfth Night) but an... acquaintance already has a cat named Viola, and I didn't like the association. When talking with Beatrice's Mom tonight, she suggested givign them all Albanian names (which is where her family is from), adn while I'm not 100% sold on all the names, the little grey/white girl is now named Violetta, Vee for short.

Beatrice's Mom hung out here tonight for a good long while, and for most of that time we had at least one kitten with us. Cranky-boy and Scaredy-Girl both fell asleep in our laps (awwww.) When other friends were visiting, (Mr and Mrs Gecko), we had all four out to play-- so very cute, and they're getting braver all the time.

Now, however, I must needs clean up the enormous mess they've made, with litter out of the box, someone has been sick, and just the general debris of kitten care. Then, bedtime.

More pictures are now up in their set.