8-22-24 Thursday

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Thank you all so much for your wonderful, kind, supportive words about the loss of Natalie – I appreciate them more than you can possibly know. Knowing that so many of you – all over the world! – mourned her helps. As they say, Shared joy is double joy; Shared sorrow is half a sorrow.

I still miss her, but I am so glad that she let me love her so much while she was with us. She was a bright light and gone far too soon; thank you all for loving her too.

(I have not read through all the comments on Facebook and Instagram – I will! I read them a few at a time, and I appreciate every one of them. I can’t say thank you enough!)

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Some people have asked about donating to help cover Natalie’s medical bills. That would be very much appreciated! You can donate to Forgotten Felines (the rescue I foster for) here via PayPal (you don’t have to have a PayPal account), or if you’d rather send a check you can email me – mizrobyn (at) gmail.com – and I’ll give you the address. Whatever is donated beyond what’s needed to cover her medical bills will go toward medical bills for other cats in Forgotten Felines’ care. As you can imagine, the need this time of year is overwhelming.

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Carmy is doing well. Kittens, for their first week of life, mostly sleep and eat. So that’s what he’s been doing!

He absolutely adores this blanket. After I’ve fed him and want to cuddle him a bit, he’ll get fussy until I grab his blanky and wrap it around him. He’s always sleeping on it or burrowed down in it. (There’s a heated pad in one end of his carrier.)

The little prince.

A few people have questioned whether I’m sure he’s a boy because he seems to have orange on his face. That’s not really orange – that’s the caramel-brown coloring some brown tabbies have. I assure you – he is VERY definitely a boy!

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So we have a family for Carmy to join! Yesterday morning Candy (she also fosters for Forgotten Felines and does a ton of Trap-Neuter-Return. She’s on Facebook right here.) She was in the midst of trapping some older kittens and their mothers when she heard a kitten crying. She managed to locate him, and called to ask if I’d consider taking him. She said he was about a week old (eyes open), was an orange tabby, and sounded like he might be the perfect friend for Carmy.

I hung up the phone, thought for a moment, and then texted Brittany and told her that if she happened to come across a nursing mother with a small litter (the younger the kittens the better), I would take them. My thought being that maybe a mother with a small litter would be willing to take on a couple of extras. (And of course if she wasn’t, that would be fine, too – I’d bottle feed the two, and eventually integrate them into the litter so that they could all be friends.)

Nearly immediately my phone rang – Brittany calling to say “Be careful what you wish for!” Huntsville Animal Services had a mother cat who’d had three kittens the day before. If I wanted her she was mine. So I left immediately to go pick them up, then go to Michelle’s to meet Candy and get her little orange kitten.

When Candy arrived at Michelle’s, the little orange kitten wasn’t in great shape. He was anemic because he’d been loaded with fleas. She said she’d removed at least a hundred, but we could see more crawling on him. He was open-mouthed breathing – he was 7 – 10 days old, but weighed only as much as a newborn kitten. No idea how long he’d been in there, when the last time was that he’d eaten. Michelle gave him fluids, and he seemed to rally (I tried to put him in a carrier with a soft blanket, a heat pack and a Snuggle Puppie, but he howled so pitifully that I took him back out. I drove home with him on my lap, petting him, but he passed away before we got home.

I take comfort in knowing that he was warm and safe when he passed rather than lying on cold concrete.

Our new little family looks like this.

A black mama and three kittens – a dark tabby boy, a black boy, and a black girl with a white bikini. (They haven’t been named yet, but I intend to carry on the naming theme I started with Natalie and Carmy – characters from the Hulu show The Bear.) I don’t know what her story is – the paperwork Huntsville Animal Services gave me is light on information – but she’s about a year old. I would assume she was either turned in as a stray or an owner surrender. She has a sweet, husky meow, is friendly and likes to be petted. She’s protective of her kittens but lets us handle them without issue. The kittens are all 4 ounces/ 114 g or more, which is great for 1 day old kittens.

Once I got mama and her kittens settled in the crate, I took Carmy in to see what the reaction would be from both sides. He was overdue for a feeding and wouldn’t it be perfect…? Mama sniffed him VERY intently and then shrugged and flopped down. Carmy sniffed at her, sniffed at her kittens, motored around the crate, and seemed mostly puzzled.

Since mama has a goopy eye, I thought it best to remove him from the crate, give her a couple of days to settle in (and hopefully show that she doesn’t have an upper respiratory infection – but she’s not sneezing, doesn’t sound congested, and ointment in her eye helped a great deal.) I’m not worried at all – either he figures out how to nurse, or he lives in the crate with them and I bottle feed him. Either way, he’ll have a family. (He actually seems pretty happy as is, but it makes me sad to see him all alone and I really need him to have a family.) (I did not take pictures of him in the crate with them, though I wish I had – he looked huge next to the little ones!)

Her tail seems kind of floofy to me. I’m wondering if, given some time and good nutrition, she’ll turn out to be a bit floofy overall.

Boy, girl, boy (I think.)

The sweet little family.

More (better) pictures and individual pictures coming soon, I’m sure.

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Last Sunday we had a lovely visit from some former fosters. I took a ton of pictures and tomorrow I’ll share them! It was so sweet to see them checking out their old stomping grounds and just exactly what I needed.

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The magnificent Khal…feelin’ fangy!

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Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) yesterday.

Carmy is continuing to do well! Sorry it’s been so quiet, but we’ve been busy with auction shipping prep and then packing today. After today things should calm down a bit and I can shower you with 1,000 Carmy pics. Because he is the CUTEST.

“You gots bottle?”⁠
⁠
Carmy is a DREAM to feed. If every bottle baby ate this well and this consistently, I’d take a dozen of them. I get up every few hours to feed him, but from eyes open (usually thinking a bewildered “Why is my alarm going off?!”) to climbing back into bed, it takes me about 10 minutes, and most of that is waiting for his formula to warm up. (We cuddle during the day, but at 3 am it’s all business: potty, feed, wipe, return to the crate.)

This is not the greatest picture, but we have a family for Carmy to join. (None of them are named yet; I will announce names once I decide.) Mom was at Huntsville Animal Services and had given birth to 3 kittens yesterday.
This morning, Candy (Tilly the Tongue-less Kitty and Friends ) called and told me she’d found an orange kitten who was about Carmy’s age and wondered if I’d take him. I told her I would, and then hung up the phone and thought for a moment. Then I texted Brittany and said, basically, “If a nursing mother with has a small litter should fall into your lap, I’ll take her.”

I kid you not, two minutes later (IF that) she called to tell me about a cat with three newborns. I told her I’d take them, and headed out. I went to Huntsville Animal Services, picked up the little family, and then headed to Michelle’s where I was meeting Candy and the orange kitten. When Candy arrived, the orange kitten was open-mouthed breathing and very pale. He was loaded down with fleas, wouldn’t eat – but was pretty vocal. And he wanted to be HELD, not put into a carrier with a warmer. I headed home with him in my lap, petting him, but unfortunately he passed away before I got him home.
At least he was warm and being petted rather than stuck on cold concrete under a pile of equipment. 💔

I did take Carmy in to meet the new family (though I have no pictures). The mom sniffed him intently and then was fine with him. He, on the other hand, was puzzled and had no idea what was going on. I decided to bring him back downstairs for now – the mom has a goopy eye and I think I’ll wait a couple of days to be sure she doesn’t have an upper respiratory infection (though she’s not sneezing, is breathing fine, and ointment in her eye made a big improvement.) The truly responsible thing to do would be to wait two weeks before introducing him to them, but he really needs a family. Well… I really need him to have a family. Seeing him in the crate all alone bothers me, and I want to see him surrounded by adopted siblings. Whether he nurses or not is not a big deal to me (though of course I hope he does) – I can continue bottle feeding him if I need to. I just think he needs a family.

Good night innernets. (Carmy, in my lap.)

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Previously
2023: (After I saw this nonsense, I moved it up high where she can’t get to it.)
2022: In other words: MIKE was the first one out of the crate, followed shortly by Francesca.
2021: No entry.
2020: No entry.
2019: “It’s the CIRRRRRRRRRRRRCLLLLLLLE OF LIIIIIIIIIIIFE!”
2018: “Not ME. I’m smart enough, I don’t need to be tutored!”
2017: “Unca Dewey is awesome!”
2016: So anyway, what I’m trying to say to you is remember Skinny Pete, from the BeeBees?
2015: No entry.
2014: Poor Dolores. She is SO TIRED of my shenanigans.
2013: “HOLY CATS! I was wrong! That pink nose will match my curtains PERFECTLY!”
2012: Meet the Weeds!
2011: Laundry inspectors on the job.
2010: No entry.
2009: I love how it looks like Bill is saying “That’s right, Terry, you has a toy! Good for you!
2008: I’m going to miss the brats.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

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