sad news

I had to leave town suddenly on Thursday, and of course, I had to leave with a sick kitten on board. Fracas was not doing well. Eyes were bad, weight was dropping, and if you know about little ones, less than a pound, this is not a good sign.

The others had both gone through some sneezing and goopy eyes, but they got past it easily. Fracas was not so lucky. I was not happy to have to leave her, but there weren't many options. Another fosterer took them for the time I was gone. I felt horrible leaving her with a sick kitten, and I felt horrible leaving the sick kitten.

She passed away quietly Friday evening. I really wasn't hopeful she would make it. After a while, you kinda just know.

RIP Fracas.

Tempest, Chaos and Mayhem are back, and besides a little eye goop, they all look pretty good. I HOPE we won't be needing to make any more transfers again, until they all go back to the shelter. There are no plans in my future to travel, but this last trip was a last minute one too, so who knows?

Tempest chills while taking a break from the oranges.

I will get the kitty cam back up too. I need to see where they will end up, as I am sure Tempest is going to be a little frazzled with her travels, and could do some shuffling. Maybe we will get a spot with more light this go round. She seems to like under the chair at this time.

The new "nest".

Mayhem explores.

Dinner

on the move

...But I am not happy about it!

Tempest keeps moving the babies. Not a big problem, but she keeps taking them under the daybed, which has a trundle bed under it, and there is very little room, and it's hard to get them out to keep tabs and weigh them.

So, I got some heavy duty plastic sheeting, and I wrapped the base of the bed, so she couldn't get under there! Haha! I thought I was so smart! Alas, not so much. At 2:30 this morning I woke from a dead sleep..from a kitten cry! I jumped up, (almost throwing Bosley to the floor, since he was asleep on my chest) and ran to the kitten room. I looked in the "nest" and counted 2 babies, and no Tempest. Grrr. I touched one of the sleeping babies, and got the desired result. A cry. Tempest gave a low growl, and then Chaos cried, so I found him pretty easily, close to the edge. I had to pull the plastic off to get to him, and to let Tempest out! I put Chaos back in the nest and Tempest ran in immediately. I went back to bed.

At 6 AM, I got up, and checked in. Fracas was missing. Found her close to the edge, retrieved her and put her back in the nest, and went to shower. I got dressed and ready for work, and went back to the room to fix the problem.

I know now to never believe a cat can be kept out of some place it REALLY wants to be...but I HOPE I took care of it. What do you think?

Yes, it is also taped to the floor!


So, this afternoon, I decided to keep an eye on them another way.


Live video by Ustream

I know the camera isn't all that good, but for now, it's the best I have! Anyway, except for some eye goop, which seems to be better...all is well with the Whirlwinds.

You can see some eye goop on Mayhem

Everyone wants to eat.

relaxing...a little

It seems as though Tempest is relaxing a little. She is still a bit shy, and always alert to the slightest noise, and watches my every move, but she loves having her head scratched and her belly rubbed, when there aren't 3 babies attached to it!

I find it a little odd that when I come in in the morning that she is not with the babies. She has taken to crawling between the trundle bed and the blanket. The babies are always alone in the carrier, but asleep, and seemingly fine. They are all gaining weight, so I guess it's OK. I may start putting the heat disc in there at night. At least when I touch the kittens and they cry, she comes immediately to check on them. Both Chaos and Mayhem now weigh 7.0 oz, and Fracas is at 6.5 oz.

Taking a food break to mug for the camera.

Thursday marks the babies 1 week birthday! Mayhem (Joy wanted the girl to be Mayhem, so there was a name switch. She thought it was more appropriate for the girl than Chaos) has been sneezing since she got here, and although her eyes have been open for 2 days, they tend to get goopy and stuck shut, so I clean them out at least once a day. Chaos's eyes are open now too, and Fracas's look like they are starting to open.

Lunch Munch

Mayhem, goopy eyed, but they are open

Fracas looks like she is ready for siesta.

Chaos is ready to rumble.

Hard to believe Buck was this size when we first got him. His eyes were still closed, and we figure he was about 2 days old. Now he's 15 pounds, but still a very sweet guy. And still very food motivated!

The Prince, Buck-a-roo!

And yes, this is baby Buck!

Bosley seems a little jealous of my time. He is usually waiting outside the kitty room door, and is always close by...But I make sure I give him a lot of love. He doesn't like to remember when he was a little guy, and needed a lot of attention. He is doing so much better these days, although he still has vomiting issues, they are nothing like when he was a baby.

Bosley keeps an eye on my work.

they're here!

I knew it was gonna happen soon, and so it has. We finally have kittens again!

We got the call yesterday, and we went to the shelter to sign the papers, and then picked them up directly from the vet around 5:00.

We only knew there was a mama and 3 babies, born on Thursday. That's all. We signed for them, and headed out...and Joy read the paper work. So we now know this cat came in as feral, and no one knew she was pregnant. The paperwork said they came in the next morning to 4 kittens, one deceased, and that she was not feral.

She is not feral, that is true, but she is very afraid. She already seems less afraid, but she needs some work. The names assigned to them...well, let's say they are changing! Mama came in named Temple. Not horrible, but not a keeper. The babies...Ugh. Peanut, Butter and Jelly! No. Not happening.

We decided on a theme. Temple will now be Tempest. She is a torte (as you can see if you have read down this far!). The other three we have decided on as: Mayhem, Chaos and Fracas. I like that theme. We all know how kittens are. ;)

So, without further ado, here they are...The Whirlwinds.

Mama Tempest hanging with the gatitos.

She isn't sure what to think of the attention.

Babies don't really care.

Tempest hears Bentley barking outside.

She doesn't seem to worried.

Not a whole lot to see just yet, but I will do my best to take some close ups of the babies tomorrow. The buff colored ones are 1 boy, and one girl. The big boy is Mayhem. The buff girl is Chaos, and the little black girl is Fracas.

No kittens yet...

But there has been some activity at the shelter!

I was out of the country last week, visiting Spain! Beautiful place.
We stayed in Marbella, on the southwestern coast, and we had a fantastic time. Our "babies" were cared for by our friend, who also happens to be our contractor, they one who renovated our basement. They all know him, and love him, and he loves them. Sure makes it easier to relax when you are away when you have a great house-sitter.

I may be getting some kittens this week, but until then, here are some of the gang, and a couple from Spain!

Babies still enjoying the new basement!

This is a tiny...but LONG cat.

Bentley can sleep in some odd positions.

On a road trip while in Spain. (I'm on the far left)

A very cool village (Ojen) on the hillside.

Gibraltar, about a 45 minute drive from Marbella.

Did I mention the monkeys on Gibraltar?

Did I mention how friendly the monkeys are on Gibraltar?