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.