still waiting

Here we are in March, and even with an extremely warm winter...no kittens yet. It's probably just as well. We have decided to adopt another dog. This one is from Mexico. I am the biggest sucker ever.

Pancito, when he was rescued from the streets of Mexico

Pancito is near the Cancun area, and was found on the street, all alone, with a distended belly, fleas, and unloved. A very kind woman rescued him, and working with another group in Mexico has gotten him neutered, and is having all his vaccines done, and found an escort to bring him to the USA. We don't know exactly when he will be arriving (around the end of March) or where we will need to go to pick him up, but we will be ready!

Pancito after a few weeks of the loving care of his rescuer

How did I find out about this dog in Mexico? Well, it's a long story! My friend Evi, her Mom and her son vacation in Mexico each summer. They happened to find an organization there called Coco's Cat Rescue. They open their doors daily for cat cuddling, so off went Evi and family to cuddle with some cats. While there, they were told this story...

Coco's got a call the day before, about 3 kittens they had at the pound. If they wanted them, come and get them or they would be euthanized the next day. So, Coco's went to get the 3 kittens. When they arrived, they saw that the 3 kittens were being nursed by a dog! They decided to take the dog and the kittens back to Coco's. Evi saw the dog, and the kittens, and she and her son fell in love. They decided then and there, when the kittens were weaned, and after the dog was spayed and had all her vaccinations, they would adopt her. They did, and that little sad street dog is now living the life! She even has her own facebook page! Her name? Esperanza. (Espi) Spanish for Hope.

Esperanza before, with her kittens, and after with her boy, Danny

So, Evi is always posting about Coco's and another rescue group in Mexico, the one that arranged for Espi's flight to the US. I see all the posts, and some of the animals have just been thrown away. It's very sad, but the after photos are amazing. They do great work, and have little resources. She posted a photo of Pancito (muffin) and said he was so cute, he would be adopted quickly. A few weeks later, I saw another post about how she couldn't believe he was still not adopted. That was it. I was hooked. So, by April we should have a new addition to our not so little family.

Kittah-less New Year

We start out 2012 with no foster kittens. I took Twinkle, Georgina and Ziggy back to the shelter on Friday. For the last few days, we had been letting them out for hours at a time, to run the house. They took full advantage of it.

Only Twinkle actually climbed the tree...but she didn't do any damage. They other two only batted at the low hanging ornaments. They did like to play amongst the gifts though. I only caught Ziggy actually trying to get into one of them.

Twinkle wants to be someone's Christmas gift

Twinkle plays hide and seek

Georgina is searching for a hiding Twinkle

"I know Twinkle is here somewhere"

All three of these guys were fine with Bentley, and the other cats, although Twinkle would initially freak out when I opened the door, and Bentley would come in. She would run and hide, but then come out and walk right up to him.

Can only get a photo of Ziggy when you
hold him. He never sits still long enough

We really miss these guys. Normally I am happy to send of each batch of kittens, but as these guys might be the last of them for the year, I am a little sad. I am happy they will have new forever homes though. They are all 3 nice kittens, and someone will be very lucky to have them.

Now that the room is kitten free, we will take the time to sand the floor and refinish it so it will be easier to clean up, and have a harder surface that will be better able to handle the "kitten abuse."


Check back in in a few weeks. Ya never know when there might be more kittens. The whole idea that there is a kitten season has kinda gone the way of the dodo! Kittens in the winter...ay yi yi!

final 4

Holiday looks startled.

Well, I don't KNOW if this will be the final four for the season, but it sounded good, so I am sticking with it!

Ziggy flops in a lap for the Fleecy String.

As you can see, Ziggy and Holiday came back after my Thanksgiving break, but you may wonder why Twinkle is back. She was totally ready for spay, and she got it. What they discovered during that operation was that she had one very large kidney. They left it alone, and decided to send her back to foster to make sure she was ok. So far, she seems fine. She is a very sweet little girl. I hope this doesn't make it hard for her to find a home. I would totally adopt her. (except of course I already have 4...and 3 is my limit!)

Twinkle is back, and seems to be fine.

The new face is Georgina. She was in another foster home, and needed a new place to stay. She is just under 2 pounds, so she will be around until after Christmas along with Ziggy. Holiday is already at 2lbs, 8 oz, but she and Twinkle will probably be here until Ziggy is to weight. That's fine. After having 8, 4 is a break!

Looks like a smile to me.

When I picked up Georgina, and dropped off Gary and Gabby, I checked in on the others. Butters was adopted with another buff colored kitten. When I went to see him before, he reached out of the cage to grab me, so I am sure he charmed someone completely and was snatched up quickly. Axel and Grace were still there then, but I heard grace had been adopted. I was surprised Axel was still there, after being featured on ArlNow.org...So I sent them a note that he was ready to be adopted, with a photo and a link to the AWLA website. It was posted, and when I checked it, it had 39 comments! Oh, and Axel is not on the site anymore, so I think it worked! ;) Now I need to find someone to adopt the crazy Gabby. Looks like Gary was adopted already.

Georgina is a beauty!

chillin'.

Fleecy String!

More Fleecy String!

You can see Twinkle's shaved belly from her spay.

 So, we will have 4 kittens through the end of the year I suppose. That's OK. These guys are pretty low key, and after the craziness of the 3G's (Gary, Gabby and Grace) it's a nice chill time. No Gary screaming as soon as he hears a step in the hall! No Gary and Gabby bouncing off my back like a springboard to the bed when I sit on the floor. They did get a chance to come out of the room and run around though, so now that ALL want out as soon as the door opens. Even 4 are hard to contain on that front. Eight was a hopeless cause.

Ziggy got a taste of freedom.

And had some fun with the packing peanuts.

Ziggy gives the packing peanut the what for.

Ziggy seems all better after his sickness. He was very dehydrated when I got him, and it took some time to get him up to speed. He's fine now! And a handful. Well, at 1 pound 8 oz, he's barely a handful! He is a funny little guy, and not afraid of Bentley, or any of the other cats here. Gary was very cute with Bentley, rubbing all over him whenever he was waiting at the door when I was going in. Ziggy just runs under his legs. Gary had to stop and give him some love.

This photo doesn't have a cat in it, but it's funny. My neighbors kids. They ALWAYS get in Bentley's bed! And look at Callie with his Nylabone! He's such a good boy!

Neighbors take over Bentley's bed...and toys!

heading out for the holiday

We are going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, so the Crazy 8 will be heading out to another foster home for the weekend. I wouldn't saddle 8 kittens on just anyone, but I know who they will be staying with, and she is about as crazy as me, and can handle this group.

The whole crew.

So, they are all doing great, and actually Butters, Axel, Grace and Twinkle are already to weight! Unfortunately, there was no room on the schedule for this week, so they miss out.

Axel cooperates by sitting on the scale for his weigh in.

Axel poses, and you can see his eyes were changing color in this photo.

Gary is a BAD kittah! (Not really...just a crazy boy.)

Butters dares the mouse toy to move.

Butters eyes were changing too.

 

Gabby take a sniff while exploring the closet.

Grace poses for her calendar picture.

Holiday always looks a little like she is startled.

Twinkle peeks over my leg.

And prowls the hall.

Ziggy see a target...

And moves in!

I think I will be getting them all back on Sunday when I get home, and will probably be keeping Holiday and Ziggy for a few more weeks at least. If they have any more little ones, I guess I will be getting them too, since I will be home for Christmas.

Ridiculous. Am I a sucker? You betcha!

So, I had the 4 Halloween kittens, and a couple of days later, I got an e-mail. "Can you take a couple more?" Well, being the sucker I am, I said sure. Then, they said, "Can you take 4 more?"

Yes, I have 8 kittens. (Not counting my own 4, and Bentley the dog) Talk about a full house.

So, besides Twinkle, Grace, Gary and Gabby, we now have Butters, Holiday, Axel and Ziggy.

Axel was found by a local firefighter under his truck, on the axel. He was pretty shy when he first got here, but he is quite lovable now.

Axel

Butters is the big guy, and very sweet. Looks an awful lot like my Buck too.

Butters (The big guy on the right)

Holiday is the shyest, but likes attention. She's not a big fan of being held though, and I have never heard her purr. (Update, she DID purr for me today)

Holiday

Ziggy is a tiny little guy. I think he was sick when I picked him up, but had not shown any real signs. We have since gone through the not eating, sneezing, runny eye and subQ fluids and antibiotics. He seems to be on the mend now, but only weighs 14.6 oz.

Ziggy

I am pretty sure Butters and Holiday are related, but I know the other 2 are not. It's interesting the patterns you see. For instance, they both stand on the rim of the water bowl to drink. No one else does. Is that hereditary? Who knows?

Holiday gets a drink

Everyone got to go see the visiting vet today, since at least 5 of them have some digestive issues. 5 kittens with loose to liquid stool is not a fun time, let me tell you! Speaking of that, I need to put in a load of towels!

Ziggy had a clump of matted hair behind his ear, and when they started to investigate, they found a pretty nasty sore under there.

Neck wound looks worse than it is

Not sure he was given much of an exam before he came to stay here, but they do try to get them out quickly. He is better off here, believe me. (Even fighting for attention with 7 others) He got some good attention for the last couple of days, and got to hang out with me while I was working.

Snoozing on my desk

The original 4 are all crazy as ever. They have really turned into purr machines. Twinkle is not related to the "G" kittens, and she is not a purrer either. (but today must have been a banner day, as I got her to purr for me too!) She is a funny girl, who loves shoestrings, and is happy playing by herself. She also likes to climb up my pants leg. Trying to break that habit now.

Gary goes all Catzilla on Grace

Size difference between Ziggy and Holiday

Hopefully, now that they are all on some meds it will help with the poop issues. Normal poop makes for a much more pleasant kitten experience!

Halloween kitties

No more is fall the end of kitty season. I sent back my last kittens when I went on a 10 day vacation, assuming I was done for the season. Nope. I picked up 4 more kittens on Sunday. Meet the spooks.

What's Halloween without a black kitten? OK, Grace isn't totally black, but she is a striking little girl.

Gabby has a bit of black, but she is a cow-cat, with big black spots on a white coat.

Gary is the only boy of the bunch, an orange tabby with tons of energy.

Twinkle is a single that was adopted into the other litter. She is sneezy, but it hasn't slowed her down one bit! She is a tortie, with a short little tail.

It's hard to get a picture of them, as they never slow down. They took about 3 minutes to settle down, and start to really show off the major purr boxes. Grace has the loudest, and was the first one to actively search out a scritchy scratch.

They all seem to be fat and happy. Hopefully we can keep them that way.