Good News Everybody!

Over the weekend, all four kittens of my last litter were adopted, and Churchill has been adopted as well!

New Toys

This litter was supposed to go back to the shelter last week, but an illness has kept them from putting on weight as fast as we had expected. They will probably go back this Thursday.

Meanwhile, we got some new toys for the kitties. There's four toys that attach to a kitty wand. This morning, I attached a clump of feathers with a bell and dangled it for the kitties. They all swarmed me and followed the toy, until Fukushima caught it. She latched onto the toy, tail poofed up, and started growling and trying to take the toy away from me. I was cooking, so I let her have it. Now she's still hogging the toy, playing by herself and growling at the other kittens whenever they come too close.

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Update: now Jasmin is growling over a single feather that came off of the toy. My kittens don't share or play nice.

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Update: Jasmin has taken the whole toy away from Fukushima, and J growls at F whenever F comes too close.

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Update: Now they've all had their turns at growling over the toy. And my kittens don't play nice.

New Kittens

Hey, I got some new kittens on Friday. They were "found in a garage" and brought to the shelter pretty young. They spent their first weeks with another volunteer, but she had to give them up because she was moving last weekend. They need a few more weeks to put on the bulk before they're spayed (all girls). My hubby K got pics of the girls the other day.

Fukushima is very sweet, cuddly, outgoing and playful.

Jasmin Revolution is a bit more reserved, but she still likes to play with her sisters, and she climbs onto my lap to get her cuddles.

Seal Team Six is boisterous and feisty.

Rapture likes to perch on my knee. She's the most independent.

'Hill Chillin'

Churchill will be available for adoption at the ARL starting tomorrow. He's spent most of his last full day with me on the futon, finally sleeping comfortably in the open!

And here he is chillin' with his catnip mouse.

Futon King

Churchill's favorite spot, outside of the closet, is our futon. Even while he was in hiding, we'd find his hair all over it in the morning. Now he spends much of his time lounging under it and playing all over it. (His future family might want to invest in a cat tree.) My current camera can't do action shots, so all I have are lounging shots.

Churchill Update

Most shy cats start to come around within their first three weeks of foster. At the end of Churchill's fourth week, he was still hiding, still hissing. We began to fear that he would never acclimate to people, and we started to look into barn placement.

I had started feeding Churchill in his closet. I gave him a quarter can of wet food in the afternoons, and then his regular helping of dry in the evenings. I'd also been feeding him kitty treats out of my hand. At the end of his fourth week, Churchill started yowling whenever I'd come take the old food dish away because he knew he was getting fed. Then on Friday, he started yowling for no apparent reason at all.

I came over and gave him a treat, and he started rubbing his head on my hand. Later, he actually came out of his closet to receive the pettings, but it wasn't all whiskers and purrs. Several times, he tried to grab my knuckle in his teeth, and I said, "Hey!" and withdrew my hand, and that made him hiss and run away. Eventually, I realized he was trying grab my hand and run off with it - you know, 'cuz my hand is magic and made out of treats. His attempts to do so broke the skin once or twice, but he's mostly done with that now.

Churchill has continued to make progress. He plays, grooms himself, eats and uses the litterbox whether or not we're around, only retreating to the closet to sleep. He's started to let my husband pet him now, too. He's also put on weight and cleaned himself up quite a bit since his arrival.

Churchill will be going back to the shelter, available for adoption, later this week. Whoever takes him will need to work through some of these steps again. I don't know if they will be starting all over, or if he'll just be skittish and shy, but at least now we know that he will eventually come around. He is very affectionate when he wants to be, but you have to let him come to you. I haven't picked him up or held him in my lap yet. He may get to that point, or he may not. He loves to play, but he still scares easily, so you can't play too aggressively with him yet. He's very vocal, by the way. You'll know when he wants something, even if you don't know exactly what it is that he wants. He does get bored and seek attention, so if he can be placed with another cat, that might be best. A home with a fenced in yard where he can watch birds and hunt bugs might help stimulate him as well.

I'll be tossing some pictures up here, but Churchill hasn't been too photogenic yet. Hopefully I'll be able to snap some tomorrow during the daytime.

Return of the Kitties

Hey, I'm fostering kitties again. I'm finally in an apartment that allows cats, so I've started fostering for the Animal Rescue League of Boston. It turns out that "Animal Rescue League" is an extremely common name for animal shelters; the ARLs in Boston and Pittsburgh are completely separate organizations. I was very impressed with what I learned at the orientation. The ARLB is actively researching to find the best methods for correcting behavioral challenges in their dogs. The shelter takes care of most of the sick animals in-house, so most of my litters will only need routine medical treatment like de-worming. I encourage my readers to check them out, especially if they live in the Boston area.

I am currently providing care for a "shy" cat called Churchill. "Shy" cats are cats that have not responded well to human contact at the shelter environment. This could be caused by a number of things, from the cat being semi-feral, to an abused animal, to the cat not coping well with suddenly finding itself being in a strange place surrounded by lots of strange animals, sounds and smells. Often, it only takes a few days inside a quiet, low key environment for the cat to return to its natural self, and so these cats are observed in a foster home so that the shelter staff will know how the cat will behave in the home and can help to place the cat with a compatible family.

I've had Churchill for two and a half weeks, and progress has been very slow. The good news is that he eats, drinks, and uses his litter box regularly.

That is the extent of the good news. Churchill hides in the coat closet all day, only coming out when we're both gone or gone to bed. In order to try to build an association in his mind between humans and food (happiness!), I've stopped putting food out for him, instead opting to serve him in his closet. He greets me with a hiss, but usually sniffs my fingers, and he's never lashed out. He prefers me to set the food and slowly back away with my hands in plain view, but he will sometimes eat in my presence. I would be more worried about his sedentary lifestyle if he weren't so thin when we got him. I wiped him down a bit with pet wipes, and I didn't like how easy it was to feel his vertebrae poking up under his fur.

Because he's never so much as swatted a paw at us, I speculate that Churchill was not feral. The semi-feral barn cats I've seen have been far more aggressive when faced with human contact and confined spaces. I'm wondering if he was abused, or if his extreme shyness is simply from being under-socialized. Perhaps he had a little human contact early on in his life, but has been alone on the streets (he was surrendered as a stray) ever since. Churchill is only a year old, so I have a lot of hope for him learning to tolerate and eventually enjoy human company. It's good that he came in during the winter, before the onset of kitten season. I'm content to take care of him for as long as it takes for him to adjust to domestic life - he's extremely easy to care for - and it's good to know that there aren't a lot of other animals right now waiting for his spot in foster care.

Absence of Kitties and Posts

My spouse got a job in Boston, so we moved in September 2008. Unfortunately, our current appartment is not foster kitten friendly. We will be moving in August. I haven't found the apartment yet, but if conditions are favorable, Kitty Fest will resume.

Letters from Margo and Silvia

Dear Future Family,

I'm just dying to see you. I'm so bored and tired of being cooped up at the ARL. My needs are simple: fresh water, dry food, clean litter, and a warm petting once in a while. I don't force myself on people. I'm a little reserved at first, but I warm up quickly. I enjoy the company of other cats. My friend Silvia and I got on just fine. Come see me today.

Snuggles,

Margo

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Dear Future Family,

I hope to meet you soon. I'm a shy girl, but I warm up quickly. I will soak up all your extra pettings. I'm lonely now that Margo left - I enjoy feline company. I'm not a picky eater, I don't eat much at all in this warm weather - just some dry kibble and fresh, cool water for me. I'm still in foster care until I stop sneezing, but I'm healthy enough to be adopted now. Please come see me soon.

Purrs,

Silvia

Coming and Goings

Margo is all better now. I took her to the ARL yesterday, and picked up a case of kittens. I have 6 now - the two brown tabbies from earlier, and 4 of various colors. Silvia is still here due to her persistent sneezing. She's well enough to go to a home, but I couldn't risk her getting the other ARL cats sick.

Getting Better

They're getting better - both pairs. The cats upstairs are sneezing and sniffling less. They're also hiding less. The torti - I'm calling her Margo - is pretty friendly. She comes right up to me to get her lovings when I enter the room. The grey and white kitty, Silvia, wasn't even hiding this morning. She was sitting on the chair in plain view, and she came over to compete with Margo for the petting.

The kittens are also showing progress, especially the smaller one (on the right in the picture). It started out just letting me pet it while it ate. Then it stopped hissing while I pet it and started purring. Now it even pushes into my hand when I scratch behind its ears. The other kitten still hisses and spits if I get too close. I'm going to have use its sibling to lure it to me. I'll be patient. I'll have them for 3 more weeks before they'll be old enough for surgery.

Lucky Number 7

I'd like to introduce you to my latest house guests - Litter 7. These two 5-week-old cuties are semi-feral. It's a strange relationship. They hid when we first got them; now they watch us out in the open, and they meow to let us know when they're out of food - they're eating like crazy, a full 5.5oz can per day. But they're afraid of physical contact. At least they're healthy and playful.

I also have two sick adults in the cat room, both female. One is a white, brown and black torti. She's a little shy at first, but warms up quickly and appreciates a nice petting. The other girl is grey and white. She's very shy and spends most of her time hiding behind the cushion. However, she also enjoys a good pet, and her mood may improve once she's feeling better. I'm not taking any pictures of them until their noses heal up - they're licked raw from the URI.

Ray Ray to some, Aslan to Others, Adorable to All

Ray Ray/Aslan has gone to the ARL and is eager to go to his new home. To Ray Ray's future family:

Ray Ray isn't the kind of cat you get and forget. He'll be in your face, purring and snuggling, chasing anything that moves, so be ready to give him some affection. If you don't have the time to play and cuddle with him, please consider adopting two cats. They will entertain each other, and they'll be great fun to watch. Ray Ray doesn't need fancy treats or expensive toys. He prefers dry kibble, fresh water, and plastic pom poms that sell for less than a dollar.
Please leave me a comment if you want to know anything more about Ray Ray/Aslan.

Liger Pics

Aslan's cold is mild but persistent. We'll have him for a few more days.

He couldn't decide whether to attack my slipper or itch his ear.

Those stairs never saw what hit them.

Now in possession of the Metaloid Pom, Aslan zaps me with his eye lasers.

Fetch

Aslan's a riot. He's gotten over his eye infection, but his cold is still hanging on, so we've got him for a few more days. Like most cats, he loves those plastic pom pom things. Unlike most cats, he plays fetch with them. He and I have worked it out so that I toss a pom pom down the stairs, and he runs after it. He plays with it a little bit, then tears back up the the stairs carrying the pom pom in his mouth. He brings it over to me, or more accurately, the spot on the landing near his room where he's figured out the game restarts, and I toss or kick the pom pom back down the stairs. It's great because he gets a lot of exercise with minimal effort on my part. And it's so cute! He thinks he's a retriever! Tee hee hee!

Introducing Aslan the 6th (Litter)

For reasons too messy to get into now (ever) I had to exchange Litter 5 for something that used the litterbox. I ended up with a miniature liger - that's right, half lion, half tiger, all 4 month old kitten that just loves to be petted and played with. He had URI, but he's mostly over that now and just dealing with a minor eye infection. He should be back at the shelter and ready for adoption within 7 days. He's called "Ray Ray" there, but we call him Aslan due to certain physical resemblances. He's rather hard to photograph because he tends to be on me or whipping around the room whenever I'm in there. Anyway, I managed a few close ups.

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Litter 5! Litter 5!

The ARL has been absolutely swamped with kittens, so I took home four of them on Saturday. They're supposed to all be from the same litter, but one of them looks a week older than the rest. They're three weeks old. They weren't eating the soft food the shelter sent home with me, so we went out and bought a can of milk replacer. Expensive stuff!

Since they're so young, I'm not sure what their genders are. There's a calico one,
a grey tabby, and two white and grey kittens. The tabby is the older one. It's less social; it hisses sometimes when we try to pick it up. Maybe its genetic family was more feral then its adoptive litter.

Since they're so young, I wasn't confident in their litter habits, so I've been penning them up on when I'm not in the room. They seem to be doing pretty well so far, but I'll be happier to let them run about the room unsupervised in another week.

They sleep, eat, and beat the heck out of each other. That's their routine. They also love to climb the cushions and bite... well... just about everything. Including my hand! I'm hoping they grow out of that soon. They're clumsy little things, too falling off the cushions, accidentally stepping in their food or in the water dish. "Lil' Wet Foot," I should call the calico. At least she's making a habit of licking her feet.

Immortalized in Pixels

It was with great shock and dismay that I learned today that Cara Mel did not survive her spaying procedure. Having grown up with spayed cats and known many people with spayed cats, I had never known of a single case in which there were complications, let alone a spaying operation that turned fatal. One of the reasons I chose not to adopt my foster cats was because I didn't want to watch them grow old and die. Now this.

Cara Mel is actually the second of my fosters to die. The first was in my first litter. There were originally six kittens, and one died shortly after I took them home. The kitten was apparently very sick when I got her. The shelter clinic was closed, so I could either take her to an emergency vet who would have little chance of saving her, or try to make her comfortable until the clinic opened or she died. Watching that kitten die was the saddest thing that I had ever done. Yes, I have been more depressed before, more miserable, but never from a single act.

Cara Mel and her kittens were my longest fosters. I took great pleasure from watching her interact with her kittens and the rest of the house. She was very inquisitive, she seemed to want to know everything that was going on, but she never stopped watching out for her kittens. She was a good mother and a good cat. Cara Mel will be missed.

A Letter from Cara Mel

To my future family,

Please adopt me soon. I'm such a sweety I know we'll get along just fine. I enjoy company. I'll follow you around the house and watch everything you do, but I don't jump up on things (much) and I don't beg at the table, (just watch). I'm a little confused about where my kittens have gone. (Adopt one with me! I'll take care of him/her and we'll keep each other company.) To get over my loss, I might pretend that your dirty socks are my kittens. I'll talk to them and carry them around with me so that I know they're safe.

I loved to use this scratcher in my foster home. Please get me one like it. I'm a bit of a litter flinger, but I'm better with litter pellets like these. Also, I love these salmon treats, but I'm not too picky!

Adopt me and I will love you forever... and sort your socks!

Purrs and Snuggles,

Cara Mel

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A note to my regular readers: Cara Mel has been listed on PetFinder, and her profile links to Kitty Fest. We don't list the kittens because they'll be adopted from the shelter quickly and without the need of internet publicity.

As with All Good Things...

I've given Cara free range of the house while keeping the kittens in the laundry room. I tried putting them in the kitchen, but I got tired of moving all their stuff, and the kittens seem more comfortable in the room in which they spent most of their lives. Cara's been kind of funny about the change. She'll walk around the house calling to them, as if she's forgotten that they can't get out of the laundry room. She has also taken to carrying around my dirty socks while making what sounds like the I have a prize for you sound. For the last time: my socks neither smell nor taste like dead rats.

Cara's been uber curious about everything, looking in the garbage even when there's no food in it, looking out the window, just looking around. I made vegetable fried rice last night, and I tried soy bean pods for the first time. The pods were too tough to eat, so we were throwing them away, and Cara kept snatching the pods out of the trash to eat them. Weirdo.

Cara Mel and her kitties are going back to the shelter Monday to be fixed and put up for adoption. I'm going to miss them. Cara's been extremely fun to take care of. If it weren't for K's allergies, I think I'd keep Cara Mel and Absinth (the kitten formerly known as Pernod).