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).

Trying out the New Camera

We decided to rename "Godiva" as "Caroline," but this is not meant to imply that she is in any way inferior to Bailey. Bailey likes my camera. Pernod Absinth thinks it's pretty cool. Caroline is a little more interested in other things... ... like wrestling her brother. Bailey watches Caroline beat up a towel... ... and then decides to take on a shirt. The shirt wins. Here's Pernod Absinth taking on a somewhat livelier opponent. Cara loves her babies, but they can be exhausting.

Grainy Footage

K was nice enough to hold the laptop while I snapped some pictures with the webcam. Unlike my Fab Five photos, these images look on par with the photographic evidence of Bigfoot. Kudos to anyone who spots a flying saucer. The webcam is good for still life, and these kittens are only still when they're sleeping.Here's Pernod Absinth scratching his ear. I promise he doesn't have fleas. I've never seen a cat with quite that coloring, like a charcoal tabby. My dad was quite taken with Pernod Absinth (who's name he supplied).This is Bailey at the heel of K's slipper. What a cutie! When compared to Godiva Caroline, he's got a little more brown on his face and a little less white on his forehead. In Exhibit A, you can clearly see the plaintiff, Ms. Cara Mel, having her tail assaulted by one of the defendants - Lord Bailey and Lady Godiva Caroline. This is the only photographic evidence that we have of the attack, so it will be up to their testimony to determine the guilty party. Unfortunately, all three parties are refusing to talk.I think that's Godiva Caroline under Pernod Absinth.Pernod Absinth and Bailey are in the foreground, Cara and Godiva Caroline against the wall.

In a final note, I did break down and buy a camera from Amazon.com. I expect its arrival by the end of the week.

Mmm... Intoxicating

I wish I had more pictures. I would, but I broke my camera/phone shortly after I took that last batch. Also, I've been working obsessively over the last two weeks to create a presentable tutoring website. (I taught myself enough html and css to make a website that was none too shabby, and then I found out that google pages hates outside formatting. I had to micromanage every single tag to get it to come out the way I wanted, and I still can't change the website's background color.)

Anyway, Cara Mel and her kittens are all healthy. When the kittens opened their eyes two weeks ago, their eyes were solid black. A few days ago I noticed some color in there - their eyes are turning blue, and yesterday I had the vet tech sex the kittens for me when I had them in for their shots.

• Bailey - brown-grey tabby and white, male: Bailey likes sleeping, nursing, and chewing on his sister.


• "Lady" Godiva Caroline - brown-grey tabby and white, female: Godiva Caroline likes sleeping, nursing, and chewing on Bailey.


• Pernod Absinth - charcoal, male(?): Pernod Absinth is either the adventurous one or the mama's boy. He was the first to go out of the sleeping den and walk around on his wobbly legs, and comes over to check me out when Cara Mel is soaking up the luvin'.

Maybe I'll steel Kyle's phone to get some pictures this weekend... or maybe I'll break down and buy a camera.

Fuzzy Butts

Cara loves being pet and scratched on the head. She's all purrs whenever I come in. She's still eating and drinking well, though she hasn't used the litter box in over 24 hours, so I'm a little worried there. I didn't smell anything in the closet, so I don't think she snuck in there. In fact, I had to move her food and water dish in order to compensate for the zeal with which she buries her refuse. She was throwing litter all over the place.

While Cara was eating her breakfast, I moved the carrier into the light so I could get a few pictures of her babies. Here they are at one week old. So far, my involvement with the kittens has been little more than making sure that all three are alive each time I feed Cara. I haven't thought much about names yet. I'll probably wait until they've had their two-week check-up so the vet tech can tell me their sexes.

Pretty Mama

Cara Mel is growing accustomed to her new home. She hasn't hissed at me since that night I stole the roll of toilet paper from her.
I re-arranged the layout of Cara's suite to give her more privacy and to give me easier access to the litter box.

Kyle's new phone takes better pictures than our old Samsungs, but I still may break down and buy a camera. Cara isn't like those celebrities who flaunt their babies around for the press, so if I want some good pictures before they're old enough to walk, I'm going to need a flash. On the other hand, Cara doesn't mind flaunting herself for the camera, not even while she's nursing.

Congradulate me: I'm a Grandmother.

I went to the ARL cat fosters meeting on Saturday, and I came home with a mother and three new-born babies that had just been dropped off. I'm calling the mom "Cara Mel." She and the kittens are set up in our spare bedroom, which we have mostly been using as a linen closet. It's well heated and private, and there's no furniture for Cara to get into, just a pile of cushions with our towels on top.

Cara's family had Saturday night to themselves to get used to their new surroundings. Then, Sunday morning, I went in to feed Cara, and she came right over, purring and butting her head into my hands. She has a good appetite; she's drinking lots of water, and she's using the litter box. Then, last night, I had to get a roll of toilet paper out of her room, and she had a hissy fit. Thing were back to normal this morning when I went in to feed her, so I'm not too worried. I just chalked it up to the mysterious feline psyche and maternal zeal.

I'll be posting pictures as soon, possibly daily updates. It's been a long time since I had the pleasure of fostering, and I was all grins yesterday just thinking about our new family.