4-17-20 Friday

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I’m sorry to start off the day like this, but I have sad news about one of our former fosters. Lucy (Lucille Ball), who we fostered in 2015 and who became Gilly when she was adopted, passed away unexpectedly yesterday due to a terrible accident.

She was the sweetest little goofball when she was here with us and I remember vividly how she had me on the edge of my seat while we were waiting for her to give birth, getting bigger and bigger. Every time I’d check on her, she’d be hanging out, relaxing, and just look at me like “What?”

She finally had her kittens on April 1st, naturally, seven of them. She was a wonderful mother, her kittens grew up and were all adopted, and then so was she. Pam and Bill adopted her in July 2015, and we’ve had occasional updates over the years – she stayed just as silly and happy as she was while she was with us.

Thank you for giving her such a wonderful home and loving her so much, Pam and Bill. I’m so sorry for your loss; I know you’ll miss her terribly.

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That’s interesting to me that Javier and Alejandro are so bonded that they need to be adopted together. It seems like most of the kittens you’ve had have been fine just going with any of their siblings. Have you ever had any other kittens who were so bonded they needed to be adopted together? How can you tell that Javier and Alejandro are especially bonded?

and

Of the Mewchachos, are there any ‘pairs’ that seem more bonded than others? And momma Isabelle – is there any kitten that seems more a ‘momma’s baby’ than the others?

I don’t think that I’ve had any kittens previously that have been bonded and had to be adopted together at this age, which makes the bond between Alejandro and Javier more obvious to me. They look for each other, they gravitate toward each other when playing or sleeping, they clearly prefer each other. In the past, kittens have bonded over time, usually after spending time at Petsmart together. Torvill and Oksana (from two years ago) come to mind immediately – they were okay with each other when they were here, but they weren’t particularly bonded. But after going to Petsmart, then to Michelle’s for a break, and then back to Petsmart and so on, by the time they were adopted, they were very definitely a bonded pair.

As mentioned previously, Alejandro and Javier must be adopted together; Diego, Carmelita and Pablo can be adopted separately or in pairs (well, a pair I guess, since three kittens don’t split evenly into pairs!) as long as there’s a young cat in the house for them to play with. None of them are more of a Mama’s girl or boy than the others – they all love her a lot, and she tolerates them pretty much all the same.

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Did you brush or comb the kittens today ? Their fur looks more under control, and not the usual bed head look.

I haven’t brushed those kittens at all – I should, just to get them accustomed to being brushed, shouldn’t I?

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Oh that pretty, pretty, pretty Carmelita.

Pablo loves his Mama. His Mama is clearly thinking “SIGH.”

Sleepy Alejandro and Javier.

“Lady,” wonders Diego. “Why am I lying here in your lap when I have so many other things to do?”

Carmelita has a sleepy.

“Why you so weird?” wonders Javier.

Disco Javier.

Carmelita looks like she’s been caught doing something she’s not supposed to, doesn’t she?

My favorite part of this picture is Pablo back there, looking on in amazement. (Though to be fair, Pablo looks on in amazement at pretty much everything.)

The very picture of innocence.

Diego came stomping out of the foster room the other night, caught sight of Khal (who hissed at him) and said “I’ve made a terrible mistake.”

Now that Isabella has been spayed, we decided it was time to put up the cardboard at the top of the stairs and let them have the run of the upstairs.

(Side note: I am still trying to talk Fred into putting up a (removable) screen door at the top of the stairs like we had at the bottom of the stairs at Crooked Acres. He’s not convinced yet, but he’s also not as adamantly against it, so I think we all know it’s just a matter of time.)

We put up the cardboard at the top of the stairs, threw open the foster room door, and… nothin’. The kittens ventured out a couple of times and Isabella made some exploratory runs to the other end of the hall, but by evening Fred decided to shut the foster room door and let our cats back into the upstairs. Then yesterday (and today) we had to keep the foster room door closed because we were having the ducts under the house replaced, and the permanent residents were scared by the noise and needed to be able to go upstairs and hide. We’ll give it another try this weekend. With past litters, usually they’re out all over the place the first day the door is open, and then spend the second day in their room (as though the freedom scared them), and after that they go in and out constantly. Naturally this litter would be different!

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“Yes I hissed at that kitten, and I’m not sorry.”

Khal, the cat it took Fred 2 years to touch, the cat who avoided me for another year after that, Mister Skittish, Mister Scared, Mister Oh Look at Me I’m So Ding Dang Feral, now immediately jumps up onto the couch next to me when I lie down to watch TV in the evenings. I say to him “I can’t pet you when you’re standing next to my head like that, why is this a mystery to you every single night?”, whereupon he climbs onto my stomach and insists that I pet him. At bed time, he hangs out on the end of my bed, and the INSTANT I put down my Kindle and turn onto my side, he curls up behind my knees and spends the night there. If I wake up and find him gone, I know that it means Fred is up and about. When I wake up in the morning, he hops up onto the bed and insists that I pet him while I read. I told him last night that the feral cat community is going to kick him out because he’s turned out to be such a failure at being a feral, but he doesn’t care one tiny little bit.

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Previously
2019: They LOVE following him up that tree, can you tell?
2018: Deanzilla on babysitting duty.
2017: Always with the kicks to the face.
2016: No entry.
2015: “HI LADY I AM TINY BUT I GOTS BIG LUNGS AND I GOT LOTS AND LOTS TO SAY! HI! HI LADY! HI!”
2014: Throwback Thursday: Mister Boogers.
2013: “I can haz a snuggle?”
2012: “SEE ya.”
2011: No entry.
2010: No entry.
2009: Y’all love her and you want to see her grow up and you don’t believe I could ever give her up, but y’all say that about AN AWFUL LOT OF THE KITTENS I FOSTER.
2008: Kara birthing babies.
2007: The Litter Robot report
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

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