Someone dropped off two kittens (Jake, Elwood) and a bin of chow? Were you expecting that?
Not at ALL! You can read the post about the day they showed up here.
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The header that came up for me today is Mia and her kittens, and that little one covering her mouth as she laughs looks like she (or he, shoot, I don’t know!) was mislabeled and belongs in this group! Who is that little Faker wannabe?
That’s Flossie! I sure do love that picture so very much. I had no idea, when I took that picture, how many yawning-kitten pictures were in my future. And I agree, she totally looks like she could be a Faker.
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LOL, Stefan has no idea he’s not a kitten himself or how big he is so he just doesn’t get what the problem is. I love that boy! Can no one handle The Stefan? Poor guy will never have friends!
You know, if he didn’t insist on LEAPING at them and trying to pin them down and bite their necks, he might have more luck! They’re coming around, though, very slowly. Bert Macklin played slappy paws with him for a while yesterday (until Stefan pinned him down, whereupon there was a lot of complaining.)
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Have the kittens seen Joe Bob? Did they run up to him with a “Momma?” or “Are you my daddy?”
The kittens have not seen Joe Bob – considering how much he avoids kittens, you’d think he must have birthed and raised a litter of his own. ZERO interest in kittens from that boy – he disappears into another dimension when they’re out during the day, then lolls around all over the place when they’re locked up at night.
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Why is there a brick in the room?
There are actually two bricks in the room – they hold the door open so that the kittens don’t knock it closed and lock themselves in or out. I tried a doorstop at some point in the past, but the space under the door in this crooked house is too high when the door is open. The bricks work pretty well.
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Will Ken and Chanandler go to Petsmart on the 28th?
That’s the plan – though of course I’m hoping someone falls in love with their faces and wants to adopt them so they don’t actually have to go into the cages!
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Do you ever feel just a tiny, itty bit guilty when you separate mom and babies for the last time?
No, I feel HORRIBLY guilty! I feel guilty when I separate them and always feel super guilty when I take fosters to Petsmart – they think they’re already IN their forever homes, and don’t understand that it’s just a short stop on their journey to their forever home.
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What do you do to clean a room and get it ready for fosters? I am getting ready to foster some 4-5 week old kittens, and want to make the room clean, but also safe for the babies. What products (or home remedies, etc.) do you use?
I wash anything that can go in the washer – beds, the quilt I use as a “rug” – in hot water, with bleach and a vinegar rinse. I vacuum the floors and shelves/wall cat tree, and then wipe everything down with a diluted bleach mixture, let it dry, and wipe it down again with a vinegar and water mixture. I mop the floors with diluted bleach, let it dry, mop again with diluted vinegar, and once it’s dry again, I use a steam mop – I have this one – on the floor. All the litter boxes are washed with diluted bleach, then diluted vinegar, and then I run the steam mop over them. I check over the toys in the room and toss anything that’s frayed or starting to come apart, and wash any toys that need it (and that can be washed). I wash the windows, wipe down all the surfaces that gather dust, and will usually double-check my supplies to see if there’s anything I have and don’t need, or need and don’t have. Then I set everything up in preparation for the next litter – beds, the quilt “rug”, litter boxes, etc.
It might be overkill, but more often than not, my fosters have Giardia or Coccidia (or, very often, BOTH), and I’d rather do everything I can from it spreading to the next litter on the rare chance that they don’t already have one or the other (OR BOTH).
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Bright-eyed Chanandler Bong, on the cat tree in my room.
Smilin’ Ken Adams.
Bert Macklin, climbin’ that cat tree like it ain’t no thang.
I’m pretty sure Bert had just gotten the ol’ whapperoo from Chanandler.
I love Chanandler and Art looking at the camera, but I LOVE Bert Macklin, lurking down there.
Yep, Bert made it to the top. Did you doubt he would?
Susie’s all “What?”
Art does enjoy a belly rub.
Bert (left), Princess Consuela, and Patron Saint of Kitten Monkeys Miz Poo.
“Harrumph.”
If I were in charge of naming fingernail polish colors, I would ask them to create a polish the color of Chanandler’s nose, and I would call it Purrfectly Pink.
Would you care for some Susie pie?
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“What? Just hanging out by the box of toys. NOT hoping that kittens will show up and entertain me, I’m really not!”
(Yes he is.)
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Previously
2015: Louis senses a disturbance in the Force.
2014: Livia and the Ears of Annoyance.
2013: Floofily fabulous.
2012: No entry.
2011: ::maniacal laughter::
2010: Between the Bookworms and the Rescuees, my home is awash in sweet kittens.
2009: I sure am going to miss the little monkeys.
2008: “You ever get that feeling like someone’s watching you?”
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: This is Flossie.
I love how Princess C is looking up at the picture of Miz Poo, all “Wow she is amazing!”
“She’s beyoooootiful!”
I love how in that pic of Bert climbing, there’s still Ken Adams back there smiling 🙂
Might I recommend these foam door stops? I got some years ago because my Squeaky George had a tendency to shut himself up in rooms because he loved closing doors! The nice thing is they can be placed anywhere, they can be moved to different doors, and they’re unobtrusive. Best cat-related investment I’ve made!
amazon.com/BeautyMood-Protector-Stopper-Stoppers-Toddler/dp/B01EWIU2GM
Sure, I’ll give them a try! Thanks! 🙂
Bright-eyed Chanandler Bong slays me!
I have to say, I do not clean my room that well. I wash down the floors, check over the toys, change out the bedding, and clean litter boxes. Coccidia dies in a few days unless it is in a moist environment. Giardia lasts a little longer.
I must admit I don’t clean my foster room that well either – I usually just vacuum and wipe down the counters because the floor is carpeted. I’ve heard that bleach does not kill coccidia, only ammonia kills it.
I no longer remember, but at some point I had the knowledge that bleach kills either Giardia or Coccidia, and heat kills the other. I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry – but I’ll also admit that every damn litter we have seems to come preloaded with one/both, so maybe I should just chill out!
Did the Fakers have it? In my experience, if they’re born in the home – or if you get them when they’re too young to have gotten that stuff – they don’t get it. (I must admit there are worse things than coccidia – I’ll take that over cryptosporidium any day! 🙂 )
We are, as of this morning, dealing with a case of clostridium. It’s much milder than I’ve seen in the past – and they’re dealing with the meds okay, thank god. But the vet was able to tell me that there were NO WORMS, which is good (but not surprising, since they’d been dewormed, and so had Regina – but still nice to hear!)
I’m not usually into pink nail polish, but I would totally wear some that matches that girl’s nose.
We’ve had a pie plate bed for almost 2 months, and last week they finally started laying in it. It only took 2 rounds of nip and a hand towel, lol. My 20lb boykitty especially loves it and doesn’t seem to mind that he overflows the edges (a lot). I think we’re going to get another one.
I’m glad they finally came around! Some kitties take their own sweet time. 🙂
Robyn, do you have your cats/kittens blood tested for Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) and/or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)?
I know there are blood tests for the Coronavirus. That is the one called FIV but our vet said it can progress to FIP. FIP killed our 8 month old kitten, Han Solo. Good thing my daughter kept him away from Princess Leah because it is highly contatageous to other cats.
I also like to educate, so our kitties are healthy.
Yes, they’re tested for FeLV and FIV as early as we can get the tests done (the exception is with kittens who are born to a mother who has been tested and is negative for both – in that case, we have them tested when they go in for their spay/neuter, so we can check off that box). There are tests for the coronavirus, but as I understand it, a cat who has been exposed to coronovirus won’t necessarily develop FIP. A majority – if not all – cats who have been in a shelter environment or around a lot of cats will test positive for coronavirus, but only a small percentage of them end up with FIP.
(That’s my understanding of it, anyway – but it is late, and I can barely keep my eyes open and I’m not 100% sure I’m coherent tonight, so anyone else who comes across this and sees any errors, I hope you’ll chime in. I’m going to bed! 🙂 )
Also, kittens who test positive for FIV can – and usually do, I believe – convert to negative after a couple of months. Both the Bookworms kittens and the Wonkas (who had the same mother) initially tested positive for FIV and then converted.
(Now I really am going to bed!)
The FIV virus is different from FIP. FIV is like feline AIDS and kitties can live long happy lives with FIV. It is not contagious except through deep bite wounds. FIP comes from a mutated version of the coronavirus. FIP is not contagious and usually the cat doesn’t live past a year, sadly. The third one, FeLV, or the feline leukemia virus, is very contagious and spread through shared food bowls, grooming, etc.