Zoe has Moved!

I'm sitting here in Beatrice's abode to write this update. I'd love to show you pictures of Baby B but I forgot my camera. Also, I apparently smell too much like other cats, so she hisses and bats at me. I'm actually sporting a bandaid across my forehead because she took a swipe that connected (after the one that removed my glasses) and I was bleeding kind of profusely. She's a very territorial beastie. But more importantly, she's a happy one, when her space isn't being invaded by cat-smelly visitors, and she's healthy and playful.... if a bit strange.

(She's currently trying to 'kill' a light-up magic wand that her mommy is taunting her with. The evening I've spent over at 'her' house has been punctuated with hisses and growls. I suggested Feliway...)
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Now then, let's talk about Zoe. On Friday evening, after a long day during which I must admit I was quite sad, I bundled her up and drove her to her new home. My friend, V, agreed to adopt Zoe for her daughter, who lives in CA. Zoe will spend most of her time, after January, in CA, but when V's daughter is home, Zoe will be, too. Therefore it was imperative for Zoe to fit in with V's other pets, a dog and a cat.

We left Zoe in her crate at first, so that the family cat, Arwen, could sniff her. Arwen was not immediately intrigued, but eventually came to the crate and sniffed. I could see that inside the crate, Zoe was sniffing the bigger cat, too.

The family dog, Wembley, a large and friendly mix, sniffed the box and Zoe hissed and jumped, 'causing the whole crate to move. Wembley took off to hide behind V.

Eventually we let Zoe out and she fairly calmly started exploring in ever widening circles. She went right up to Arwen and the two cats touched noses. Then Zoe moved on, and Arwen followed, as if half to keep an eye on her new little sister and half asking to play with her. She'd reach out ever so gently with one delicate paw as if to ask Zoe to play. Zoe, however, was too interested in looking around, and avoiding-- but also checking out-- the giant dog.

I have never seen two cats acclimate themselves to each other so quickly. Never. It was amazing.

I left after a time, sad to leave Zoe of course, but anxious to check on Malcolm, since he was alone for the first time. It turned out it was a good thing, because he was miserable and I rather suspect that he was meowing for much of the time I was gone.

Today I heard from V again, and Zoe is eating, drinking, using the litter box and generally making herself at home. Arwen is acting as though Zoe has always been there. Wembley is still giving Zoe a wide berth, but is otherwise fine.

Zoe has landed the most wonderful place-- with lots of people and a cat to take care of her. She has lots of cat furniture and toys to share, and even some of her very own. The cats even have "cat tv"-- V sometimes pulls a cat condo up to the very large (and beautiful!) fishtank they have, so that they can watch the fishies!

The pictures here are all from Thursday evening. I took my camera along with me to Zoe's new home, but decided not to use it for fear that the flash would upset any/all of the animals in this new and potentially delicate situation they found themselves in. But hopefully at some point V will send a picture or two, and I will share. :)

I miss Miss Zoe, but am *incredibly* happy to have found her such a home.

Mr. Mal is still with me as his Probably Forever Family waits for an okay from their landlord. The sooner he gets to a home with another kitty, the better, as he seems very lonely.

42 new pictures in the Wild Kittens Set.

Recovery: Day 1

Well, the kittens are home and they are not happy. Can you blame them?

Apparently Zoe decided that the vet techs didn't know what they were doing and chewed her IV out of her leg before they could bandage things up, so she came home looking sort of scraggly and with some bloodstains on her legs. And of course she's clearly in pain-- you can just tell by the way she's walking and such. I let the kittens out of their carrier, and she went to use the litter box, then went under the bed and stayed there.

Malcolm's surgery was later, so he was more affected by the anesthesia when we first got home. He, too, joined Miss Zoe under the bed. A few hours later (almost three after we got home) I went to check on them. Mr. Mal came out pretty quick, and he seems to be almost back to his normal self. He wanted to be in my lap, sucking on my fingers. If I didn't give him my full attention, he was head-butting and purring.

Miss Zoe eventually came out from under the bed. She let me stroke her back just a little, then she sat (kitty loaf style) just out of reach for a few minutes. Then she wandered off to hide in my closet.

I have pain meds for them, which I will try to give them shortly. But I'm worried that in trying to get meds into them I might traumatize them more (and/or have Zoe pull on her stitches.)

In other news, I have added two pictures to the Beatrice collection on Flickr-- both from the vet visit. She spent most of the trip climbing on her forever-mommy, who kindly let me get a picture of them both.

Great news!

I've been sitting on some good news for a while now. Honestly, it's mostly because I'm nervous that if I talk about it, it'll fall through... Regardless, I have decided that my faithful Project-Cat readers should know....

But first, the more immediate good news: Mal and Zoe are both at the vet right now, and have both come through surgery (spaying/neutering) just fine. I'll pick them up in about 2 hours, once Mal is fully awake. I know that vets spay and neuter every day and (knock on wood) I've never had a pet (or feral!) have trouble from it, but of course I was nervous all day, especially when it took longer than I anticipated to hear from the vet. (Turns out she was literally seconds away from calling me, heh.)

There was some question at first as to whether they'd be willing to spay/neuter them so young, but this vet, the same one who saw all three kittens for their last set of shots, had no problem with it. I wanted to them spayed/neutered before they went to their forever homes, as, even though I completely trust the people to whom they are going to live, it seems the most responsible thing to do. (After all, there wouldn't be a Feral Colony outside my door if not for irresponsible people. The people adopting Mal and Zoe are not in anyway irresponsible, but who knows what might happen down the line-- cats go missing, etc.) Anyway, I digress.

But note that I said "the people who are adopting Mal and Zoe." That's the news I've been sitting on. I posted in the past that it's an almost-sure-thing that Mal has a forever home. (We're all still waiting to hear from the landlord of his parents-to-be for confirmation that it's all right.) The new news is that Zoe also has a forever home!! Hurrah!!!

She is going to be a traveling cat! A friend of mine is adopting Miss Zoe for her daughter, who is a student. Zoe will live with the whole family when the daughter is home, and with the daughter and roommates when she is at school. She will have so much love and companionship!!

So keep your fingers crossed that all goes forward as planned. And I'll update again about how the kittens come out of anesthesia and recover at home.

Holy dog? An update?

Cat news first, as this is called Project-Cat: The kittens (all 3) will be getting their last set of shots at the vet tomorrow.

It's looking more and more like Little Mal has a home (soonish). That's the good news. The bad news is that Little Zoe still does. And two out of my three possibilities have said no. Anyone out there know anyone in AZ who might want a beautiful baby girl kitty?

In dog news, I received the following in my inbox via a rather circuitous route. It's a dog who was found in Mesa, AZ and needs a home. (He's in a kill shelter, and his time will be up quickly.) I don't know any more information than what's below, but he looks like an adorable pup.

The following is the message:
Hi. I don't know if you can help me but I am going to try anyways I know there are so many animals without homes, but I feel for this guy because I found him on the highway someone left him there to die, it tore my heart apart, I stopped and picked him up, I brought him home, hoping I could find him a home but I only had a short time with him, my mom would not let him stay anymore, so she called the pound, I took it hard, I got this dog to trust me then they had to come get him, I cried for the last couple of days. truly hope you or someone else can rescue him before its too late, tomm is his last day for evaluation or it may have been today im not sure I just hope he made it, he was friendly with us just a lil scared is all, I believe he was in an abused dog or neglected all together here is his information his id is 08-32718 at Mesa East 2630 W. 8th Street Mesa, Az 85201 office is 602-506-7387 please from the bottom of your heart help him....the guy that picked him up is J Coville or Covicce 478

EDIT TO ADD: It looks like this guy is now available to adopt via the Maricopa County Animal Control. I can't be 100% sure, but it looks like this is his adoption page.

Holy cat! an update!

But where has all the rum gone?
Wait, no, that's not what I meant. Let's try that again: But where has the summer gone?

Yup, that's what I meant.

Business first: I know I'm terrible at keeping this thing up to date-- which is bad because I enjoy it, I enjoy that people read it, I enjoy having something to point to when I get into debates about Feral Cats and kittens and such. So. I shall endeavor to be better about posting. To that end, however, I think I shall set up a schedule. My question to you, then, is, if I were to post once a week, when would you like it to be?

Next, some observations and thoughts-- nothing particularly coherent here, I'm afraid.

Beatrice-- I haven't seen her in a while, but her mom assures me that she is doing well. I'll see her this week, though, when we take her to get her last set of shots.

Zoe & Malcolm-- These two... man, what to say about these two? They continue to be the most calm kittens I have ever come across. They'll play sometimes (most often loudly when I'm trying to fall asleep-- typical felines), but most of the time they prefer to be sprawled somewhere. And if they have their druthers, they prefer to be sprawled on me. Zoe likes to lie across my chest or, if I'm on my side, then either on my side or on top of my head. Malcolm, the silly boy, prefers to be as close to my face as possible, sharing a pillow and making sure that I breathe cat fur. ::Sigh:: We're working on this.

That said, I had a cat growing up, whom I loved very much. And I wanted more than anything for this cat to cuddle with me like a teddy bear as I fell asleep-- I'd actually hold him like a bear and he hated it, and as soon as I relaxed as I fell asleep he'd dash off. Smart cat. My point, however, is that Malcolm wants to be held like that. If I'm sleeping on my side, he wants to be cuddled to my chest with his head on the pillow, halfway under the covers.

Weirdos. :D

Some friends of mine came over yesterday and met Malcolm in the possibility (this is still pending a number of things, including landlord permission) of adopting him. They, too, commented on how very calm he is. Both Zoe and Mal did play for them a bit, Zoe more. They commented on how beautiful Zoe's markings are, and how fluffy and handsome Mal is. Neither got comfortable enough to purr for my friends, or snuggle, but given how quickly they warmed to their "babysitter" last month, I know that Mal will warm to these friends should they decide to/be able to adopt him.

The Ferals: Mostly I've been seeing Little Grey and Amaranth around. They were both out tonight when I fed them all. I've seen Walsingham (formerly Little Orange) a number of times, too, which is great, but makes me nervous because I haven't seen Agatha (Little Crooked.) In the past few days I've also seen Mr Mistofolees and Bessie. If the @#$!@# weather ever cools, I'll try to get out and walk around every day like I used to, to keep better tabs on the cats .

Photos: More of Mal and Zoe (who *always* closes her eyes when the flash goes off) over at Flickr, in the Wild Kittens set. (Man, that is *such* a misnomer now.) There are 22 pictures. I didn't get to caption them all, sadly. Did caption a few, though. And I, at least, find my commentary amusing, so go check them all out. :)

Oh, and Also: A shout-out to Mr Gecko. Your wife told me that you've discovered the world of blogs thanks to this wee site. That makes me happy. Are you *sure* you don't want to adopt a kitten? I promise Zoe won't eat your gecko.

Excuses, Excuses... :)

Life at Project-Cat continues apace, pretty much, with nothing major to report. Still, it's been a long time since I've talked much about Beatrice, so she's what I'll focus on today.

On Wednesday Zoe, Mal and I visited Beatrice and her mom. Beatrice wanted none of this. She has so much imprinted on her mommy and on her space that upon spotting Zoe she hissed, growled and swiped at her. So I took Mal and Zoe home. All the same, Beatrice continued to hide and growl at all the humans who were over that evening. It took her 'til the next day to calm down! So now we know that Baby Bea is a one-cat-to-one parent (and territory) kind of girl!

She's doing really well, otherwise, completely settling into her home and her routines. She seemed so big, seeing her for the first time in weeks on Wednesday. Her mommy has gotten her a collar, to which she has adapted with no problems. Best yet, it's a Harley Davidson collar, which totally fits her attitude!

There are more pictures of Beatrice at her Flickr set.

Malcolm and Zoe continue to be adorable cuddle-bugs who want to be in my lap, or next to me, or on my head at all times. All three kittens are due for their last set of shots during the week of September 1st.

Lastly, meet Mario. He's a lovely, friendly cat. So friendly, in fact, that I had assumed that he had an owner. He seemed well cared for, and I've never seen him down with the bulk of the ferals. However, when I was with my neighbor, trying to get James out of the tunnel, she told me about Mario. He was, like so many unfortunate kitties, left behind by his owners when they moved away. (@!#!#$!#@$) My neighbor thinks that he was fixed, but since she isn't sure, clearly I'm going to have to try and trap him when next I get to trapping (which I will start to think about when two things happen: 1) the weather cools and 2) Malcolm and Zoe have (a) forever home(s).) Since he was a pet cat when he was fixed (if he was), his ear isn't tipped. And even though he doesn't hang out with the other ferals (he does hang out with my neighbor's indoor/outdoor cat, James), he is, in a way, part of the colony. So, thought I'd point him out to you all. (I have a houseguest with an iPhone and he consented to take this picture today when we were out walking.)

I haven't heard from my neighbor, but I saw James today, and he looks good-- at least dashing away from us!

No pictures!

So... um... you know what's worse than a digital camera that's rather slow and can't take dusk pictures? Yeah, no digital camera at all. Somebody (uh, that'd be me) left her camera back on the Family Homestead when she flew on back to Arizona-land. Yeah... Oops? My parents are working on sending it back to me.

Anyway, so it's a text only blog for a bit, it seems, unless I can convince a friend to take kitten pictures for me.

Speaking of kittens, it's time for an update!

I still haven't seen Beatrice since I left for the Family Homestead, but I have spoken with her mom several times. She's settling in quite well, and enjoys having a window from which she can watch. She apparently sits on her mom's desk, looking out the window, waiting for her mom to come home. She has not given up the ankle-biting, but thankfully her mom doesn't seem to mind too much, and it does mean she can introduce her kitten as "an ankle-biter." It's looking like I'll get to see Miss Beatrice in-person tomorrow, and so I will get to provide further details then.

Zoe and Malcolm have adjusted quite nicely to life in my bedroom instead of in the bathroom. They're still a wee bit skittish-- as soon as you open the door they race to hide under the bed. However they come out from under the bed just as quickly. Both of them still insist on crawling all over me when I try to go to sleep, but they're not quite as insistent as they were the first night. In fact, when Malcolm's dry-nursing gets to be a bit too much, I can put him on the floor a few times, and he'll stop. (Unlike Beatrice who *never* stopped trying to play.)

The kittens seem to continue to be in good health. I took some of Malcolm's poo to the vet for a fecal test today because he's yet to have one, and because it was runny-gooey today (ew.) And he's still sneezing a little. But otherwise, they're eating, playing, etc. All three kittens' last set of shots need to happen during the week of Sept. 1st. Then they're all set (although I'll also get these two altered while I have them.) I should decide before the last shots about whether or not to get the second kind of Felv test for Zoe now, or wait 'til 6 months.

The only other worrying thing is that I've still had no luck finding them homes. I had one hopeful yesterday, but the potential person emailed to say she wasn't quite sure, and didn't want to adopt a kitten until she was 100% sure. As much as I want to find homes for these babies, I admire her honesty, and wish that everyone gave that much thought to getting a pet. I'm sure that readers here don't need to see me get up on a soapbox about how a pet is a family member and a responsibility that you do not get to just toss out. If everyone was careful about adopting a cat, then there wouldn't be a feral colony outside my apartment, made up of abandoned cats and their off-spring.

Right, heh. Sorry. Putting my soap-box away.

But my request to all of you-- if you know anyone in AZ, or even NM or other nearby states, send them the project-cat url. Chances are they aren't looking to adopt a cat, but they may know someone who is. Malcolm and Zoe are unbelievably sweet and cuddly and adorable; surely there's a forever-family (or families) out there for them.

And lastly, a colony update. Since my return on Saturday I have seen Bessie, Cyrano (climbing a tree no less!), Creamsicle, Gandolf, Pigpen, Amaranth, Daisy, and Daphne. I also talked to a small, round child about why I was feeding the cats (because he was playing with the water-dish.) I don't think that conversation went very well. I think it was the same small round child who, on the night of the Cat-Nabbing yelled, "Run away, cats! Run away! They're going to kill you!" Is it any wonder I spend time putting information out there about feral cats and about TNR?

Anyway, please do spread the word about Malcolm and Zoe. This is the same readership who raised over $2000 to take care of the TNRing and cat-care. Surely we can find homes for two incredibly beautiful and loving kittens.

Kept Awake by Looooooove

I returned this evening, exhausted from travel and the heat of the desert. Those angelic kittens certainly had made a hyooge mess of the bathroom, which I cleaned up, after moving them into the bedroom (most recently occupied by Beatrice.)

Once in the bedroom, they both hid for a long while, although Mal was the braver of the two, exploring, as long as nothing startled him (like movement or noise of any kind.) When I went to bed at midnight, he came out from under the bed to see what was going on, but was still very skittish. It took him a while, during which he cried, but eventually he came up onto the bed and started to purr and suck on my fingers as I fell asleep. Zoe, too, came up onto the bed finally, and settled in on my pillow. (She was behind my head, and Mal was just in front of my face. I was surrounded.)

Well, it's almost 4 hours later and I'm exceptionally sleepy, but awake. Why? Because the kittens have, I'm fairly certain, been purring this entire time. Loudly. Like, really loudly.
And Mal has been sucking on my hand (whatever he can get to when I move in my sleep) the entire time, too (or at least whenever I've been awake.)

The purring and the dry-nursing are now keeping me awake.

The once feral kittens are now such cuddle-muffins that they are purring too loudly and keeping me awake. If I weren't so tired, I'd be amazed.

Tomorrow: research on what to do about Mal's dry-nursing. It's really adorable, but I thought for certain he'd grow tired of it once he had a person there for a long while. He may have stopped at some point, but as soon as he wakes up (or I do, and therefore he does), he's back at it.

I might be back to sleeping on the couch after all...

Long-Distance Update #2 (of 2)

Apparently the kittens have learned to jump onto the kitchen sink. This is actually a good sign, I think, but it does mean that they learned where the toilet paper was. The kittens basically threw a frat party, as Alicia said, and photographed.

Meanwhile, Beatrice is settling in well, although she tries to climb her mom's legs, despite her wearing shorts. She's also trying to stick herself so closely to her mom that she's trying to fit inside her mom's nostril.

Enjoy these pictures, as I must now help entertain some guests. We have just (as in a few hours ago) gotten a puppy and people are here to visit.

Long-Distance Updating

Well, I don't have much to say, but I wanted to let anyone who was curious know that everyone back at the Colony (including the kittens) are doing well. The kitties' caretaker sometimes sends me pictures from her phone, so I'll include those here.

The best news is that Zoe and Mal are behaving wonderfully-- not scared of their babysitter, and in fact, immediately purring upon seeing her, and hopping into her lap. Mal sucks on her skirt, if he can't get to her fingers!!

Not sure if Beatrice is moving to her forever home tonight or tomorrow, but either way I'm sure she'll be happier with more love and attention than I've been able to give with so many kitties.






I'll update more when I know more.