Robyn, can you point me in the direction of where to find / where to make a memorial donation in honor of Maxi.
I can’t believe I forgot to include that in her tribute post! Challenger’s House took Maxi’s babies and adopted them out (and for that matter, they may have helped with having Maxi and Newt spayed and neutered; I don’t remember totally, but I’m pretty sure they did), and you can make donations in her memory via PayPal (challengershouse (at) mchsi.com), mail (112 Tristian Rd, Toney, AL 35773), or phone (256-420-5995).
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I have a few questions, I hope you don’t mind, some may seem a little out there, and not exactly plausible, but I’m curious.
1. What if it took a kitten months and months to reach the two pound requirement to get spayed/neutered?
I’ve never had it happen (YET), but if it did, then the kitten would stay here ’til s/he was big enough for spaying/neutering.
2. Has a kitten ever dropped back down below two pounds after they were spayed/neutered?
Not that I recall, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped down a few ounces and then rebounded. (Now that I’m fostering for Forgotten Felines, we wait ’til they’re closer to 3 pounds.)
3. Are any of your cats one person only cats? My cat hates people, she always runs from them, and if they do manage to get close enough to pet her, or pick her up, she will start hissing, smacking, and biting. However, with me, she is a bit overly attached. I can’t leave her sight for more than a couple of minutes, without her meowing her lungs out, she is also constantly sitting on my chest, or on my lap, and she purrs a lot too. It’s a bit odd how she seems like two different cats when it comes to me and other people. Here’s a picture of her so you can put a face to the cat in question
None of our current cats are one-person-only cats (though they all prefer Fred because they’re mean). Stinkerbelle was, though – she’d only let Fred pet her after the first year or so. Some cats do seem to bond more to certain people, it’s definitely not unheard of. (Your kitty is gorgeous!)
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Just curious, do the permanent kitties come indoors at night? And in general, since they have a choice to be in/out during the day, would you say they spend more time outdoors?
Fred calls the permanent residents in at dusk and shuts the cat doors which go from the screened porch to outside. They can go out onto the screened porch at night (and they do, quite a bit. In fact, I don’t think Alice comes inside at all at night), and when Fred gets up in the morning he opens the cat doors again so they can go out. I would say that on nice days, they spend about 60-75% of their time outside and the rest of the time coming in to eat or use the litter box or check on us. On rainy days, they usually hang out on the screened porch.
Note for the newer readers: we have a cat fence around the back yard, and so the cats are confined to the house and the back yard. They can’t get out, and believe me they’ve tried!
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Speaking of the Olympians, how is it that none of the remaining 4 kittens has been adopted yet? I keep looking for a “Last night THIS happened” post from you, but to no avail. How can the people at Petsmart resist those sweet little faces????
Of course by now you know that Debi and Scott were adopted together, which leaves Oksana and Torvill still at Petsmart. I know their people will find them, but I wish they’d hurry it up!
Speaking of Scott and Debi, Michelle told me yesterday that in their new home they have a brother in the form of a dog – a terrier – and they were 100% completely unfazed by that dog. They must think he’s some weird type of cat they’ve never seen before!
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Are you now down to just two girls among the Permanent Residents? (Alice and Sheriff Mama/Kara??)
Yes! Can you believe that? (And I have to confess that the other night I had to ask Fred how many cats we have, because after losing Dennis and Joe Bob last year, my mind just goes blank when I try to remember. 9. We now have 9 permanent residents.)
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Does Otis have schmingscherm all over his poor little nose or is it just irritated from breakfast? And how is the battle going? New lesions still appearing or are things starting to look up? It’s such a frustrating virus!
Otis’s nose looks like that from a combination of the fur taking forever to grow back and the residue of the topical ringworm medicine I put on his nose. I clean off his nose (and other spots) before putting more medication on his nose, but it still manages to look a mess.
The battle is going wellish. At this point they all have some ringworm lesions, some worse than others, some of them are growing fur back, others are more slow at improvement. I’m impatient and wish they’d all get better faster, but we haven’t seen any new lesions in a few days, so I think (hope) we have a handle on it. The kittens who drive me the craziest are the floofy ones (I AM LOOKING AT YOU OTIS) because they have long fur, but it’s not super thick, so if it’s brushed in a certain direction, it looks like there’s a new lesion and then I have to snatch them (OTIS) up and look more closely.
Things are tentatively looking up – being so sick with the upper respiratory stuff in the middle of it can’t have made things any easier on their little bodies, so now that they’re feeling better hopefully they’ll shrug off that fungus and get on with things.
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In that picture of Eliot it looks like he is just a floating gray kitten with 3/4 of a head that stops just below his mouf.
Isn’t that cool? Eliot is such a tiny cutie pie!
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I feel like Moop, Stompers and Mister Boogers would make a very good judgement trio!
I think you’re right. They’d be good as judges on a show like America Kitties Got Talent. Well, except that no one would ever make it to the next round.
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If you could just figure out a way to relax, Calais.
Arundel is just the sweetest girl. She purred almost all the way through her bath yesterday.
“Whatchoo want, lady?”
“Don’t stop petting, lady.”
Buxton, underneath Bethel.
Moop thinks that Otis’s tail is QUITE tasty.
I swear to y’all that Dexter DOES play. He just happens to always be napping when I get the camera out.
Laundry Assistants, assisting. In their own way.
Zzzzzz.
“He needs to wake up and play with me!”
Bethel gets her ::thlurrrp:: on.
KennyBorkBork the Moop also gets his ::thlurrrp:: on.
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I’m afraid we’ve got a ‘nip addict on our hands.
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Previously
2017: “You just leave this laundry right here, lady. I’ll take care of it!”
2016: Cap’n Privet’s gonna sail that basket to shore, you just watch!
2015: Mama Love Monday.
2014: No entry.
2013: The Dragons get their (da) bird on.
2012: (In the background, Mr. Stripey and Sungold are all “Girrrrrrl, he is NEVER going to get that feather teaser. Bless his heart!”)
2011: Cilantro would like to know whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?
2010: “PARDON ME THIS IS JAKE’S CAVE THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR KITTENS TO COME TROMP ALL OVER THIS IS MY PRIVATE PLACE FOR PRIVACY.”
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: He has no time for the little kid.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
I cannot imagine the craziness you must deal with. Our new girl Chloe is 10-11 months old. She just got over an URI and the difference in her energy and activity levels is amazing. I had not had a young cat in the house for many years. I totally forgot how they are. And we only have the one. Constant movement and lots of comments. She has no fear. So much fun but a whole litter of them? Chaos.
Sometimes the name Kennyborkbork the Moop (and its various iterations) randomly pops into my head and I snort-giggle out loud. This generally keeps my coworkers on their toes 😉
Eliot reminds me of Puff. And Dexter is making ornj tabbies everywhere proud with his lazy, sleepy ways.
How’s Stefan doing?
You seem to hve quite the collection of pictures with the catnip pot. Maybe your next calendar should be of all the pot head kitties. Ha ha
OMG – Bethel lost an ear!!! call the sheriff
and “they all prefer Fred because they’re mean” made me laugh
Thank you so much for responding and answering my questions, and for complimenting my cat 🙂
I’m sorry if you mentioned it before, but are any of these cats siblings, or are they all from different litters?
I just love all these kittens and their personalities! I wondered if you had heard any updates on Katia and Kristi, and how their “kitty bootcamp” is going. Such beautiful mamas.
Hi all; I’m a long-time lurker who’s wondering if the collective brain can provide assistance in caring for a diabetic cat. The cat is my daughter’s and she’s (the daughter, not the cat) a student, so although she is willing to make the commitment to caring for the cat, she is always short on funds. Does anyone have suggestions for managing the costs (needles in particular)?
Yes! I’ve got a diabetic cat and I can give you two tips for managing costs:
(1) Don’t let them give you the insulin bottles. Those only last 28 days and have 1000 units in them. They’re meant for humans, and you’ll waste most of the bottle of you buy that. Ask them for the injection pen instead – they come in boxes of 5, but some pharmacies will break a box for a pet (Giant does that for me). The needles are also cheaper – $25 for a box of I think 30. A pen has 300 units in it, and it’s a lot less wasteful when you’re talking about an animal that gets 2-3 units at a time. Do you know what type of insulin the cat gets? If you know, you can find out which brand of pen to get.
(2) DO NOT buy prescription food. Most prescription food, even the diabetic stuff, is chock full of grains, which is exactly what you want to avoid. If the cat will eat Fancy Feast pate-style, the pate style is completely grain-free and is 1/3 the price of a prescription diet.
Here’s a website that will give you the goods: http://www.felinediabetes.com/
Thank you very much warriorinside; this is a great help.
This cat is a very recent rescue and is very timid. I fear if she were returned to the SPCA that with her personality and the diabetes, she would not be considered adoptable again. My daughter is very committed to keeping her and giving her the best life possible, so your information will go a long way to saving this cat. On the upside: it appears as though some of her behavioural problems were attributable to the diabetes, as since she has been receiving proper treatment, she has becoming a much more outgoing and affectionate girl. Again, many thanks.