So it’s been 10 days since Katriane (now Neko) and Margeaux (now Elfie) went home, and a lot of people have asked how the kittens are doing and if they’re missing their mama and auntie.
They are missing their mama as far as the milk bar she provided (they do a lot of snuffling around in each others’ abdomens and on my shirts and neck, but no actual attempts at nursing), but other than that, they’re fine. I’ve always found that once they’re separated from their mother at this age, kittens who were perfectly friendly to begin with start to be SUPER friendly, and now these kittens are all about getting love from us. They purr like crazy, they come and ask to be petted, and they’ll sit in my lap and be petted for a good long time. They are SO darn sweet.
(By the way, if you aren’t following Margeaux & Katriane (now Elfie & Neko) on Instagram, you’re missing out. You don’t have to have an Instagram account, it’s public and you can just click on it and see the pics in your browser. Here’s where I promise that some day I’m going to get all the Instagram and Facebook pages of former fosters in a list somewhere. SOMEDAY. Anyway, Elfie (Margeaux) and Neko (Katriane) are doing SO great. Elfie especially is really coming out of her shell, playing and having a blast. I am SO thrilled to see it happening!)
Fred – who gets up at 4 am because he’s crazy – lets the kittens out of the foster room around 6, and they come and cuddle with me and make it hard for me to want to get up. I mean, why not stay in bed all day and snuggle kittens, right?
Snuggly little muffins.
Getting the Precious Moments eyes from Gabrielle, Beauregard and Josephine.
After I shower, I inevitably come out of the bathroom to find a bed covered in kittens.
Henri’s all “Hallo, lady.”
Luc from above.
Fleur wonders what’s going on.
The kittens – Luc in this case – love this bed. It’s made out of the same material as this K&H pet bed and is a smaller version of it. (I honestly don’t remember where I got that bed – it could have been just about anywhere online or in Target or Petsmart . If someone out there knows a place to find them, let me know and I’ll add a link.)
It’s very lightweight, so it travels a lot. It belongs in front of the cabinet, next to that red bed (which is technically a litter box, but it’s never been used as such), but it often ends up near the front door, usually with a kitten or several sound asleep in it.
Same bed, same general spot, different day.
I suspect Luc pushed it into the hall and then climbed in for a nap, and then JoJo joined him. The little smile on her face kills me.
A bunch of people have asked when the kittens will be leaving us. The short answer: I don’t know. The longer answer: when there’s room for them at Petsmart, I imagine. They were spayed and neutered last week, and everyone but Fleur got their last vaccination over the weekend. Fleur started sneezing and sounding congested on Friday. We started her on an antibiotic, and we’re waiting to see if anyone else gets sneezy or snotty. So far she’s the only one – and she already sounds much better.
I know y’all hate the idea of these kittens in cages at Petsmart, but they are apparently not going to be adopted while they’re sitting here with us, so they need to be where people will see them. Luckily the volunteers at both Petsmarts are absolutely awesome, and I know that they’ll get a ton of love and attention.
We are intending to take time off from fostering once these guys leave us, because Frankie, Archie and Alice are starting to get stressed and need a break, and we’ve got some out of town business to take care of. (That sounds more exciting than it is – mostly overnight and day-trip stuff; when we have kittens in the house, we prefer not to leave overnight because we’d worry too much. When we had the Olympians in-house last year, we left for 30 hours for a very quick trip to Gatlinburg, and worried the entire time – and of course they were FINE. We’re just worrywarts.)
Just a note: even though we’ll be taking a break from fostering after these guys have moved on, the blog posts (Monday – Friday) will continue. We’ll focus on the permanent residents, I’ll share updates on former fosters, and perhaps I’ll even get around to doing some blog housekeeping (like finally getting around to making that list of Instagram & Facebook pages where you can find former fosters!)
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Newt has a grumpy.
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Previously
2018: Gauge and the Stranger Danger suit.
2017: No entry.
2016: Iva appears to be raaaaather pleased with herself.
2015: Phelps, giving the innernets the sultry eyes.
2014: Toes and Teefs and Tongues Tuesday.
2013: “What you want, lady? You go away for days and months and years, and you think I wanna snuggle you? You think WRONG.”
2012: No entry.
2011: This was the perfect storm that kicked off what I like to UNfondly refer to as “Sprayapalooza.”
2010: Laurie probably beats her kittens to make them behave.
2009: “I HAZ A COMPLAINT! I WAS TOLD THERE’D BE FOOD AT THIS PARTY!”
2008: These kittens = exactly what a cranky woman needs.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: Cleanliness is next to Sugarbuttliness.
Aww a break will be good for the perms and y’all! But please get some kittens in hats pictures for us, just in case they go off before Halloween. I miss Sweet Stefan dressing up for us.
I miss Stefan and his dress-ups too. He looked so smug about them (really, probably only tolerated them but I saw “smug”).
Can you please make an update on Laura & Mary pleeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeeeeeee. Because I miss especially Laura very much. I would adopt her back then if I could.
The kittens would like to request they share your bed all night. They promise to not wiggle too much or jump on your toes. Maybe.
I have been wondering how your permanent residents are dealing with all that back-to-back kitten business. Even though you are doing a wonderful job fostering – you had them first, and I think they deserve some uninterrupted Mom & Dad time. I’ll be looking forward to some great posts about them. I need a lot of Khal pictures – he is stunning.
Just so you know (and anyone else who reads this), Instagram lets you see a few pictures, then pop-ups INSIST that you log in to see any more. I hate such strong-arm tactics and the attempts to harvest email and FB acct info (more ad clicks for them! not from me!). So I didn’t make an Instagram account.
It is lovely that Elfie and Neko have a loving forever home though. 🙂
I for one will be delighted to see more of the permanent residents, but whatever will you do with all your free time when you’re not doing 17 loads of laundry every day for the kittens??? I hope you spend some of it napping with the permies.