Weekly Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr Roundup.
I picked up Pinochle just because – he is one chunky monkey – and he gave me this look.
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Yep – Canasta might be a mama of 6, but she’s still a kitten at heart!
Slapjack’s keeping an eye on me – and Fizzbin’s keeping an eye on both of us.
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Bath time!
(Permanent residents) Charlie and Jake are BFFs.
“It’s so earlyyyy, lady. We is sleepy. We’re sleeping in. You go ‘way now.”
What we have here are former fosters Flynn (housepanther; he was our foster Kohle back in 2012) and Hook (gray and white tuxie; he was Khaleesi’s kitten Puff in 2013). And what are they doing? Why they’re all curled up in the top of little (human) brother Jordan’s Pack and Play. The best part of having a little brother – getting to play with his toys and sleep on his cool stuff, am I right? (Thanks, Selena!)
Oooooh, big stretch! (Rummy’s the stretch-er, Pinochle’s the judger over on the right.)
Those are some guilty little faces!
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Look how much steadier they suddenly are! I mean, they’re still kind of shaky, but compared to how they were a week ago, they’re definitely much more coordinated.
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Two mornings in a row, the Ring camera caught (permanent resident) Charlie racing about 6 feet up a tree and hanging there. He loves to do that – and in the second video you can see him drop to the ground. I think Archie taught him to do that.
(The permanent residents are allowed out into our back yard during the day. We have a cat fence so that they’re contained and cannot escape the back yard. Google Purrfect Fence Cat Fence for more information.)
Slapjack’s like “Whattaya think, Whist? Can we do it?” and Whist is all “I dunno, it’s a big drop… and alls I’ve got are these short, stubby little legs. Maybe we wait… Maybe we don’t.”
“GOOD MORNING, INNERNETS, I SEE YOU!” (Canasta)
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Kittens wrasslin’. They are so darn CUTE.
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10 minutes of kitteny antics compressed down into 60 seconds.
Can you tell it’s dinner time? (Permanent residents) Newt, Charlie and Jake await their food.
Slapjack’s lettin’ it all hang out.
Good night innernets. (Pinochle, left, and Whist.)
Well Rummy’s got the wild eyes this morning!
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I’m supposed to be kitten-sitting while Canasta’s taking a break, but she looks like she doesn’t think I’m doing a very good job of it.
Pinochle would like to zoom around the crate, but he hasn’t quite got the skills just yet.
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They’re 3 1/2 weeks old – usually kittens become interested in solid food around 5-6 weeks (some sooner, some later – depends on the kitten). Lucky for these guys, the milk bar is available nearly 24/7.
“You gonna pet me, or what?” inquires (permanent resident) Khal.
Rummy’s all “Mamaaaaa, stop giving me baths, I wanna go PLAY!”
Good night innernets! (Rummy, Pinochle, Fizzbin (the pillow) and back there with one eye peeking up is Whist.)
Rummy stomped away mid-bath. She’s got places to GO, Mama!
This bed is located about a foot from the crate, and when I walked in and found them all piled there I nearly died from the cute.
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Canasta’s belly, 4 weeks ago yesterday. Hard to believe the little ones kicking around in there are running around the room now, isn’t it? Time flies!
Rummy looks awfully guilty here. “Um… hi, Mama! No, I wasn’t tussling with Slapjack and biting his ear ’til he cried. I would never!”
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The first bit of this video is from 2016 when we had the Fakers in residence. They reacted to Fred’s voice by hissing (as you’ll see.) I tried and tried to get the Cardsharks to hiss at the sound of Fred’s voice but, as you’ll see, they never had any reaction at all. So disappointing!
TBT: (Permanent resident) Alice Mo at the vet 10 years ago, back when she was tiny. (For the record, the vet told me that she though Alice would remain tiny, probably wouldn’t get bigger than 6 pounds. She’s 11 pounds now.) As I reported back then: Miss Alice did NOT care for that trip to the vet. She fought so hard they couldn’t take her temp – and then she gave the vet the DIRTIEST look when she was listening to her lungs. (Yep. That sounds about right!)
Slapjack keeps an eye on me while Pinochle cleans Uno’s ear.
Good night innernets. (Slapjack)
Rummy’s eyes just kill me. She looks perpetually over-the-top amazed by EVERYTHING.
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Uno gets a few BOOPs… and Canasta is very, very relaxed.
Flash back to last October, when (permanent resident) Charlie first learned about being outside. (Our permanent residents are allowed out into the back yard during the day because we have a cat fence that contains them to the back yard. Google “Purrfect Fence” for more information.)
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Kittens hanging out in their bed looking VERY smug… and Canasta has no one to blame but herself.
Wherein Canasta sees that I’ve put Uno and Fizzbin in the Toastycat bed for a cute picture opportunitey and comes over to yell at me about it.
Fun Fostering Tip: if you put your kittens in the litter box and they cry and immediately climb back out, they are not yet ready to use the litter box (but keep putting them in there occasionally, at some point the light goes on over their heads!) On the other hand, if you put them in there and they start dining on litter like it’s a buffet*, someone will use the litter box in 24 hours or less. I took this picture Thursday night; Friday morning Fizzbin, Rummy and Uno all peed in the litter box.
*It is regular non-clumping clay litter, and trying to eat it is normal for little kittens. Little kittens are like human babies: everything goes straight into the mouth. They try to lick or eat everything new they see. (I do question how much they actually ingest – usually they get litter in their mouth, look disgusted and then leave the litter box and ptui it all over the place.)
Say hello to Merle. He was a stray who showed up near my friend Aimee’s home (she lives in Texas) and she and her daughter have been slowly earning his trust while searching for a rescue that would take him. Well, good news: a rescue in Oklahoma is willing to take him, he just needs to be vetted first! He’s got an appointment Monday for his neuter surgery, there’s a GoFundMe, and I was hoping some of y’all might be willing to help out (I know he’s a dog, but I also know that cat lovers tend to be all-animal lovers!) The GoFundMe is here, and if you can help out, I know it would be very much appreciated! I mean, look at that sweet boy. How lucky is he to have shown up in the right place?
Canasta disapproves VEHEMENTLY of her kittens going under things, and keeps a close eye on them when they do. (Whist and Fizzbin are the explorers here.)
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BOOPing Uno… and then Slapjack comes sliding in.
(Permanent resident) Newt doesn’t care about any ol’ “severe storms.”
Canasta explains the important of sharpening your claws to Whist.
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Previously
2020: No entry.
2019: Still providing that milk bar action.
2018: He’s so big that when he goes running into the crate, trampling over all the other kittens (AND the mamas), I’ve been calling him Deanzilla.
2017: Then she stood up, laughed in my face, and strolled back across the room and flopped down, looking ever so pleased with herself.
2016: “WE IS WATCHIN’ YOU TOO!”
2015: “Monday: bleh.”
2014: “Stop camera-stalking me, lady.”
2013: “My goodness! These claws are appalling! I need a pedicure, stat!”
2012: Then Joe Bob is like “STOP SNIFFING ME ::HISSSSSSS!!!!::”
2011: Polite interest and a bit of surprise, all “You want what? Babies? Don’t believe I’ve ever heard of those, sorry I can’t help you. BUH-bye!”
2010: No entry.
2009: Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
It looks like Canasta’s paw pads are black. It looks look like ALL the kittens have pink paw pads. I wonder how that genetic works.
This first picture of Canasta with her babies has something about it that reminds me strongly of 17th century paintings. Maybe it’s the composition, or maybe Canasta’s pensive facial expression…
Slapjack sleeping is seriously cute. And the video of the kittens wrasslin’…
I’m always amazed that Jake isn’t BFF’s with every cat. He’d be the life of the party, always with a story to tell…