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.

The Kitten-Hatchery is Open

Yesterday I just happened to check my messages between classes, and wouldn't you know, there was one from my apartment management asking for my help again. Four baby kittens were found on a currently empty apartment's porch, and could I do something about them? I called to find out that their eyes were open, but they were very small. The manager said they were hissing, but otherwise mostly just huddling together. They had them in a shopping basket with a towel.

(Seriously-- when I showed up and found a shopping basket full of kittens? Cutest thing ever. Too bad I didn't have my camera.)

So I promised I'd be there as soon as I could and spent the next lecture trying to re-configure my day's schedule deciding if I had enough supplies at home to start the Baby-Kitten Process again. (What? Doesn't everyone have powdered Kitten Replacement Milk, baby food and syringes (sans needle, of course) in their pantry?)

Clearly these were kittens who had not met humans before as no matter what you do they hiss. The cutest part was when they hiss in between taking sips of milk from the syringe. "sip, sip, slurp, hiss-hiss, slurp, hiss, sip."

I'm not much good at determining kittens' sexes, but my friend F (Beatrice's mommy!) joined me and agreed with my guesses that there are two girls and two boys. All four took milk several times yesterday, and today I got them eating baby food, too (with gusto!) We cleaned out their ears (ew!) and got most of the goop off of their eyes and noses (ew) and gave them baths. The poor things were so dirty that they immediately turned their bath water grey and gross. They will need baths again today, but that's because of the food that gets on them when they eat/dribble.

They're already starting to show individual personalities. The polka-dot one is generally anti-people. The grey-almost-tuxie is the friendliest, calmest, and fell asleep on my stomach last night. The most-tabby one is an adventurer and explorer, and the slightly-less-tabby one is a hider.

One of the office people said she'd probably like to adopt one when they're old enough. Fingers crossed on that. And the office people also promised to help me find homes for these guys.

Here's hoping I can help them grow up and be strong. :)

More of the initial pictures here.

Sammy's Forever Home (Probably)

Wow. That... was the fastest adoption ever. The neighbor I met completely randomly for the first time yesterday really wanted Sammy, with his adorableness and copper colored eyes. Tonight I took him over to their house (hey, we really are neighbors! Neat!) so that the boyfriend could meet the kitty. They have a 18 week old labrador puppy, with all that that entails-- rambunctious, sweet, curious and bouncy. While it's going to take a few days for the two critters to get to know each other, the first meeting actually went really well. The puppy was curious, but not overly so, finding more interest in the toys I brought with Sammy. The kitten didn't hide-- he walked around and investigated, although he gave the puppy a wide berth.

His new family is very nice, and were happy to have all the information I gave them. (Well, heck, I've accumulated a lot of info over the past, between my own cats, and then the ferals and the kittens!)

AND, in a move I learned from the best (Tamnonlinear, she of the brownies), I insisted they knew that once a cat is rescued, s/he stays rescued. They know that if they ever need anything, or need to give away the cat, I'm only a phone call away and I'll help figure something out.

Anyway, Sammy has moved to the new house. It's somewhat conditional-- if things really seem like they're not going to work out between the puppy and the kitten, that's understandable. But fingers crossed, Sammy has a new home, where he's loved and safe. In which case? Fastest rescue ever.

Next, there's a stray (not a feral) tabby boy who needs to be neutered, just as soon as I can catch him. Well, I've picked up plenty of times, but can I get him to the third floor? :)

[I'll keep you up to date on Sammy's progress as I learn of it.]

Pictures!

Okay, I could not call him "Mr Jingles"... I just couldn't. So in honor of my new obsession with the tv show Supernatural, I have named him Sam. (I think he's going to be big, plus he doesn't seem to have the attitude of a Dean.) Anyway, it's irrelevant, since I'm sure his Forever Home, as soon as we find him one, will give him his Forever Name.

But, 'til then, and to pass around to people who might like to adopt a fuzzy love-kin, here are some pictures!

I'd have posted this sooner, but he fell asleep sprawled across my lap, so I couldn't leave, obviously.

Meet... Mr Jingles?

So... yeah. I'd say this isn't what I anticipated, but it never is, is it?

There is now a tiny orange kitten in my bathroom.

Why? That's an excellent question.

Apparently, the promise I had gotten regarding the feral colony was not the only thing that wasn't communicated quite right from old manager to new. Somehow the people currently working there thought that I work for the humane society, so when a small orange kitten was found today, they called me. Well, first they called animal control, but when an officer came out, she said that he looks healthy, so she couldn't take him.

Why did I spring into action? Well, first because I always do. And second because it buys me good will from the office people (I met the manager today, and gave a small spiel about the ferals, for example.)

So here's the low down on this kitten-- approximately 12-16 weeks, orange tabby, male. He's not at all scared of humans (he was purring and kneading and quite content in my arms.) He doesn't seem to have any flea dirt on him (will investigate further with a flea comb) so he couldn't have been out long, but his tail and paws are quite dirty, so long enough for that. When he was found he seemed to be foaming at the mouth (??) which is why animal control was called, but that has long since ceased. He's eating no problem-- he was very fond of the baby food (beef, if you're curious), but happily chowed down on some adult (canned) cat food, too. (I mixed it together because I don't have any kitten food here and I wanted him to have the extra nutrients.)

The name is not what I would have chosen (the office staff picked it.)

I'm going to give him a bath (that should be fun...) and just hang out with him. The office staff thinks that maybe he just got away from his humans today, so I should probably put up Found Cat flyers. By the same token, there should be Lost Cat Flyers up if someone wants him back...

The potential good news is that as I was walking out of the office with the kitten, I ran into a woman who lives here with her boyfriend and puppy. The puppy was very interested. The kitten was really calm for a kitten, but did eventually puff up his tail and hiss. However, the woman really loves cats, apparently, and is maybe interested in adopting him-- we've tentatively set up a time for the cat and dog to meet tomorrow. Please, please, please cross your fingers because that would be an awesome fix to the situation.

Otherwise, I'll be putting out feelers with every acquaintance I know because the older he gets the harder he'll be to adopt out.

He's making cute little chirpy noises now. After posting this, I'm going to go hang out with him. (He's got all the comforts of home, but now he needs a people.)

And so we start again...

Okay, I actually, for once, had things I wanted to say here. I got pictures, I have links, I have Update Worthy Material.

But it's all been preempted. Upon my return home from campus today I ran into Downstairs Neighbor Lady. She has just renewed her lease. And in the lease was a clause which declares that if you feed the cats you will be fined $400.

::blink::

I pointed out that I have permission to feed the cats and otherwise manage the colony. DNL pointed out that the manager with whom I had made all the arrangements is no longer here at the apartment complex.

Fudgesicles.

Now, technically, my agreement went higher than this, with the company who actually manages this property as opposed to the manager of the property (if that's clear.) But DNL had a good point-- since I have not heard anything about this directly (and my lease doesn't need to be renewed until August), I'm not going to say anything about it yet. I'm going to continue to feed the cats.

This does, however, explain why my box (ie: cardboard food dish) has been removed. I'm grateful that the water dish is still there.

I know times are tight, but if anyone would like to chip in a few bucks towards a Fine Protection Fund, please feel free to hit the button on the left. (Likewise, I'll be taking another cat for altering sometime in the next week or so, and a donation towards that would rock. But that's for another post-- see? I told you I actually have interesting things to say, but noooooo, management's gotta go be all stoopid. Which just angers me greatly-- the colony has not grown at all with the exception of one stray left by !@#$!@#$ residents, and that is through my work, and The Volunteer's work, and the incredible donations of all of you. So they should shut up and be glad. The cats aren't doing anything wrong. )

I wonder if this explains why I found the tunnels all blocked with rocks last week. (I promptly unblocked them, of course.)

Time Just Keeps on Slippin'

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for-- pictures of the kitties taken with my new camera! Wooo! (To see them all thus far, go here. 20 new pictures in that set, Project-Cat 2009.)

I've discovered that I am overprotective of the kitties. Several times now in the week I've been back, I've been leaving my flat only to find people talking about the cats. I tend to stand around and talk to them (or at least listen and watch and make sure they're not doing anything a bad to the cats...) In this way I've met one very nice neighbor who was walking her 7 week old labrador puppy (even the cats-- who were universally bigger than this puppy-- were not afraid of her), and one, um, ignorant fellow who was trying to convince a cat who had followed him from the other side of the complex (I haven't decided if this is a stray or a cat with a home but who is allowed to roam) to go inside the tunnels and meet the feral cats.

The cats were well cared for while I was gone, but they seemed, in their own feral ways, to be sort of glad to see me upon my return. (Perhaps I give them more food than my house-sitter did? Heh.) And, for a feral, Little Grey has become almost friendly, meowing at me once in a while, and letting me get about 4 feet away with my camera.

Also, while I haven't any photographs to prove it, I've seen Gandolf twice, and he's looking better. Anyone who didn't know him would still see him and think, Great Bast, that's a skinny cat! but I can tell he's put on some weight. Just as importantly, he just seems better somehow, more energetic, brighter. I hope it's not just wishful thinking. I haven't seen AzMum since right before I left, but she's obviously been taking very good care of Meester Gandolf.

And a quick update on the no-longer-wild-kittens-- Miss Beatrice flew to Tennessee with her mom, but will be returning in a few days. Her flight out was uneventful-- turns out she's a champion traveler. And she has won hearts-- despite a fierce no-pets-in-the-house rule, Miss Bea had full run of the house in roughly 24 hours of her arrival (she'd originally been consigned to a breezeway area, but this exile could not last in the face of such cuteness.) Zoe should be on her way to CA very soon, and her family sent me some adorable pictures, one of which you can see here. Looks like Arwen will also be missing Zoe when she goes!

First 2009 Update

So, I planned on going outside with my new camera (!!) and looking for kitties today, now that I'm back to my colony after a trip to the Family Homestead. Alas, it is raining. Figures. So, no pictures today.

But I do want to mention, and I think you should pass it along to everyone you know, especially people in Florida or who may be visiting Florida...

Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL supports Spay and Neuter, and therefore has as really cool program called Spay & Play. If you bring an original receipt from your vet showing that you have spayed/neutered your pet, or bring a receipt from an animal shelter, showing that you have adopted a spayed/neutered pet, within the past year, you'll get a free pass to their day tour (which normally costs $25.) I think this is awesome. Granted, I doubt I'll be in FL in the near future (but when I next am, I so want to visit Big Cat Rescue!) Learn more about Spay & Play and more about Big Cat Rescue in general. You should consider donating your used printer ink cartridges to them, as well as sending them a donation (or two, or three...) You can even sponsor a (big) kitty!

We'll return to our regularly, domestic sized updates soon. :)

Zoe Update!

So, Miss Zoe-kins, or Zo-Zo, or what-have-you, saw her Permanent Vet for the first time today. Apparently she behaved wonderfully, was quiet in her carrier, and everything (even though she was accompanied by a shaking doggie, and a howling kitty.) She got a micro-chip and a clean bill of health.

A completely clean bill of health.

Yes, that's right-- her snap test for FIV/FeLeuk came back NEGATIVE.

Happy dance! All three foster kitties from this summer are now officially negative for those evil diseases. This is wooooonderful news! :D

To the Vet and Back

So this afternoon AZMom, Gandolf and I piled into my car and went to see the vet.

Gandolf is not a big boy-- he should be an average sized male cat, but right now he is 5.56 pounds, all skin, bones and rounded tummy (as he's been eating well, thanks to AZMom.) But after last time, when one of the Vet Techs got 'attacked', everyone was taking no chances. Ooooh, fierce tiger!

But really, he was just a nervous cuddle-bug today. He curled up in AZMom's arms, and was fine with getting put on the scale. When it came time for his temperature, the vet tech had both of us hold him, but Gandolf barely made a noise. A different vet tech and AZMom held him while the vet took a urine sample (directly from the bladder-- I imagine that in most cases it's rather hard to get a cat to pee in a cup...)

The urine sample, however, did confirm diabetes, although not actually a terrible case, it seems. The vet showed us how to give Gandolf his insulin, which meant he was stabbed several times (twice with water, to show us how to do it (I did one of those), once with actual insulin to start his treatment.)

Then he was stabbed many many times because they wanted to give him sub-cutaneous fluids-- but he was so dehydrated, and so skinny that the vet tech kept stabbing right through his skin so that she'd start giving him fluids and it would just drizzle onto the table. After several tries, during which Gandolf didn't once so much as complain, she got it in-- but even then the poor baby boy was a bit leaky from where he'd been stabbed before. We joked, sadly, that he was a pincushion and a leaky balloon. But he was also a very good and calm boy.

He let me hold him, too! He really loves AZMom, but he was fine with huddling in my arms for a bit.

Since his white blood cell count was up (but no fever), he's also being put on antibiotics, but thankfully those can be crushed and put in his food.

The vet gave us a little biohazard container to dispose of the sharps, heh. Sorry, the idea of my very own biohazard container makes me giggle. (It's not, of course, mine. AZMom is the saint who is taking care of Gandolf most of the time. But it still makes me giggle a little.)

Anyway, Gandolf starts his twice daily insulin injections tomorrow (he had one this afternoon), and I know how to do it now so if/when AZMom goes out of town I can help. He's also going to have his very own litter box so that his urine out-flow can be monitored. If we get him feeling better, he should be putting on weight-- the vet said she'd expect him to weight 7 or 8 pounds in a few months.

The downside is, of course, that this is long term care. If you'd like to help take with purchases of insulin and needles, as always, your donation is much appreciated.

I see mto have misplaced my camera, but when I find it, now that my life isn't quite so stressful (this was the most stressful semester ever), I'll go out and about and try to find Mr Gandolf for a picture or two.

The other kitties are eating and hanging out and seem to be doing pretty well. The only other cat I'm currently worried about is Agatha (Little Crooked)-- she can only carry her head tilted to one side. The gossip grapevine via DNL is that someone tried to strangle Agatha, but a) I don't trust anything DNL says b) I doubt anyone could have gotten that close to her and c) I don't think that's the damage that would have been left.

Agatha eats and runs and suns herself and such, but she does it all with her head tilted at a 45 degree angle. So, I worry. :(

But, let's focus on Gandolf, and how well he did today. At the end, the vet reconsidered his last visit, wondering how the vet tech could possibly have gotten bit. She asked if she'd reached for him in his box (yes) and said that a bit of employee reeducation was necessary! So, Gandolf was vindicated!