Hissy Kitties

Sorry I have been absent so long. It isn’t for lack of projects, I just haven’t had my camera to take pictures. I actually have some really exciting things to share with you that I have been working on for a while and just got around to finishing. One is a gift that is going to be given soon, so that is part of the hold up on that one. Hopefully I can post those pictures in the next few days.

Another delay in blog posts has been the fact that our most recent foster kittens have been a hissy, frightened mess and it was only today that I was really able to get pictures of them. We have only had one other group that was this hissy and they came to us at 8 weeks old. We tried pretty hard with them, but I don’t know how much we were able to socialize them before it was time for them to go back. This time the pair is only 4 weeks old so I have a lot more hope that with some patience they will turn into happy little lap kittens that will be easily adopted.

We went for a Mad Men theme this time.

This is Joan. (we named this one Joan because she is the fancy one)

Here is Peggy.  She was by far the most timid, which is why I was completely blown away when I walked into the bathroom where we have been keeping them today and she was purring! There has been gradual progress all week, but today was by far the biggest change. They even interacted with me when I tried to play with them.

We have never had a group that we have had to keep so isolated before, but because of their size and how scared they were (plus the fact that Cutty seems less than thrilled that they arrived) we have not let them out of their room. So please excuse the nasty grout on the bathroom floor. Our apartment has probably not been retiled for over 50 years and although I clean it regularly- thanks to my new steam mop- it just always looks gross. Sorry.

The other interesting thing today was that they seemed to be paying attention to what was happening on the other side of the door. Cutty has also started to show interest in the bathroom, while before he had been trying to pretend that there wasn’t anything going on in there.

You can see them here wondering what in the world is throwing itself against the door and meowing. Poor Cutty, he really wants in that bathroom.

I can’t wait to see how they are behaving in another week!

O Christmas Tree

Last week I put up a beautiful tree.  The tree has had a rough week. It started with the little guys noticing the things close to the ground. They pulled a little bit of the strand of lights off and batted it around. We put the lights back on the tree and tried to distract them with other shiny objects.

Then they noticed all the red and gold ornaments we had so kindly placed on the tree for their enjoyment (at least that is how I hear it in my head, “oh look mom and dad put some toys on here for us”)

Next they discovered if they batted the ornament off the tree it made a really fun toy to play with on the ground.

For some reason hubby and I thought that when an ornament was hit off the tree we should replace it up a little higher. Then the kittens realized they could climb the tree. This kitten was above my head when I took the picture.

I have an after picture (didn’t think to take a before). You can see all of the ornaments above waist level, although we have since discovered it makes not one bit of difference.

 It’s hard to see, but the gold bead garland my sister so carefully placed in concentric circles around the tree is now a jumbled mess. The whole tree is kind of a mess. But then I turn the tree lights on and the room lights off and the glow is still wonderfully festive.

Finally, when the kittens are done climbing in the tree and have worn themselves out they settle into a kitten pile of purring in one of our laps and it really doesn’t matter that the tree isn’t perfect any more.

 

To Boldly Go. . .

We have been fostering kittens from the Lexington Humane Society since last May. That is actually how we got Cutty. He was the 13th cat we had at our house this summer, he was also the sickest. We had to treat him for everything from worms to pink eye and ear mites. He had more antibiotics in the first few weeks than I think I have had in the last 10 years. Now he is a happy and healthy 4 month old. We probably should have quit while we were ahead.

There is just such a feeling of satisfaction from helping a poor defenseless creature (and fostering animals relieves the financial burden on humane societies). They have also shown that animals that are fostered get adopted more quickly because they have been properly socialized. So. . .we just had a hard time giving that up. Part of our reason for jumping back in so soon was because we didn’t want Cutty to be too big and old and set in his ways. We want him to be used to little balls of fur showing up every once in a while at his house.

Ok, I know you really just want the pictures. Here they come.

Meet Data and Riker. My adorable sister has been dying for us to name some of our fosters after Star Trek characters. These were the names Brandon and I could agree on (we tossed around names from the original series, but eventually landed on The Next Generation). They fit perfectly, too. These are some of the boldest kittens we have ever had! They have no fear and will go just about any where. Usually it takes a day or two for the new arrivals to get adjusted. Not these two. They are little explorers.

This is Riker. He is the bigger of the two and more short-haired. He is a big fan of climbing and I keep finding him in places where Cutty has never even thought to venture. Some of the places I just have to stare at because I really cannot figure out how he got up there. Even though he is the bigger of the two, he is still about 1/3 the size of Cutty. Having these two here has really made us realize what a big guy Cutty has become.

Data was harder to get a picture of. Although you cannot tell in this picture, his lips are kind of white colored which matches perfect with all the white makeup they put on Brent Spinner from Star Trek (ask me how I know the actor’s name, ask me if I have ever seen him in person, ask me if my sister dragged me to a Star Trek convention) Today Cutty has seemed more interested in tackling Data. Yesterday it was Riker. Cutty is fickle when it comes to which kitten to attack.

This is what the floors of our apartment have looked like since the kittens’ arrival. Just in case you couldn’t tell, there is a toilet paper roll, 5 balls of aluminum foil, a wind up mouse, a wad of paper, a stuffed toy (with stuffing coming out) and Cutty’s favorite teaser. Cutty would be happy pouncing on the kittens all day. Unfortunately he sometimes forgets his own strength and so we cannot leave them all together unsupervised. He thinks we are the greatest parents for bringing him two living toys to play with. Until the two little guys settle in my lap to sleep. Then he gets jealous and tries to eat them. This is the face he gives me.

His royal highness has needed lots of TLC lately. I’m kind of glad he is requiring extra loving. I was kind of worried he would get so mad at us for bringing in some intruders that he would ignore us. But, instead he just wants us to keep telling him that he is still our favorite.