8-24-15 Monday

Posted on by Robyn

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From Susan at Challenger’s House:

Thanks to all of the Fred and Robyn, Love and Hisses, and Crooked Acres fans who donated to Challenger’s House in memory of Corbie (Jan 2015), Miz Poo (June 2015) Sugarbutt (July 2015), Tom Cullen (August 2015), and Gracie the dog (August 2015), and in honor of the Squash Bugs and the Swimmers. You made contributions totaling $4330 to help us with our cats, kittens, and shelter expenses. We appreciate each and every one of you. Sincerely, Susan Burlingame, Cofounder & Shelter Manager.

And from me: thank you all so very much, not only for your contributions, but also for your kind words, your messages and emails, and for keeping us in your thoughts during this time.

This year has been unequivocally awful not only because we lost so many cats and Gracie, but because except for Miz Poo, every single loss was a complete surprise to us. I truly hope that the losses are done and over with for a good long time. I could use some total boredom, if you don’t mind!

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So, the week before last, Fred and I talked about how the Swimmers needed more room to roam. We talked about putting them in my bedroom and shutting the door, but they weren’t quite as good with the litterbox use as I would have liked, so I didn’t want to do that. We talked about getting a playpen, and looked around on Amazon, and finally decided to buy this one. It arrived, we set it up in the front room, and it worked out pretty well. For the better part of last week, we put them in that during the day, and in the tub at night. They were starting to get the hang of eating canned cat food, but they made such a mess of it, that I’d put them back in the tub at mealtimes, because cleaning the tracked food out of the tub was relatively easy.

It was my plan to slowly introduce the Swimmers and the Squash Bugs over the weekend with a short visit, a slightly longer visit, a sliiiiiightly longer visit, and so on. That didn’t happen, because – have you noticed? – my careful plans never go quite the way I expect them to.

Saturday, after I’d cleaned the foster room, and after both sets of kittens had gotten their bottles, Fred brought the Swimmers upstairs.

I sat with my camera at the ready, waiting for the drama – the hissing, the Stranger Danger floof suits, the general hysteria.

And… nothing.


Zuke (sniffing Fred’s slippers), and the Swimmers.


Phelps checks out the ceiling fan.


Calabash gives Spitz the once-over.


Spitz monkey-walks across the room.


Phelps (I love the curled tail!) checks out the litter box situation.


Phelps checks out the food situation.


Louganis. “Lady, you have ALL THIS ROOM for kittens, and you was keeping us in a bathtub?!”


Phelps gives the chenille rug a try. Comfy!


Louganis tsks about the smudged mirrors. “Ya can’t get good help!”


Girlies. Ambercup over there to the side, and Torres, Calabash and Pattypan tussling in my lap.


Spitz, Pattypan, Ambercup, and Torres.

Telling Torres, Phelps and Louganis apart should be a bit easier in the future. We put collars on them, not only to make identifying them easier in person, but also in pictures!

So after their first visit – which lasted about an hour – I brought the Swimmers back downstairs and we went about our day. After their dinner at 5:00, I took the Swimmers back upstairs for another visit. That went so well that Fred convinced me just to leave them in there for the evening.

When we went in at bedtime to give them their last bottles of the day, all 8 of them came out of the carrier we’d left in the room. They’d been piled up together. ALL EIGHT OF THEM.

It wasn’t hard for Fred to convince me to leave them together for the night. I walked in this morning, and all 8 of them came out of the carrier again. It was like a little clown car – check out the video (not the greatest, but you get the idea!) in the next section. I guess it would be fair to say that they’re already best friends – especially Pattypan and Spitz, I’ve spotted them curled up together several times, off by themselves.

So far so good!

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Videos! In the first, we have a carrier doubling as a kitten clown car.


YouTube link.

And in the second, Zuke does a little sideways skitter, a little tippytoe, and jumps at (and misses) the scratcher. Just a day in the life o’ Zuke.


YouTube link.

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Maxi in the garden, looking gorgeous.

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Previously
2014: ::fume:: “I HATE THAT GUY.”
2013: And it seems that Tommy had had JUST ABOUT ENOUGH.
2012: To Polly, Tony Rocky Horror Pickle said “Poke.”
2011: Molly reacts to Jake’s intrusion into her territory.
2010: He’s kind of like Godzilla, all flailing around growling while tiny Martin and Dodger and Melodie and Moxie go running for their lives.
2009: “Dear lord, please let me catch the laser light, it’s all I want in this world, thank you. Amen.”
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.

Comments

38 thoughts on “8-24-15 Monday”

  1. It’s like a bunch of little kids at the playground. Within 5 minutes they’re running around together, the best of friends, not a care in the world.

    Wow, Maxi sure is gorgeous alright!

  2. You are getting me in trouble, Robyn! Here it is 6:20 am and
    I am waiting for my flight and laughing my fool head off watching the clown car video over and over! Love that the babies are getting along so very well together!

  5. Maxi is definitely leading the good life, and those adorable kittens are so lucky to have fetched up at Crooked Acres. May the rest of this decade be filled with joy, blissful kitten- and cat-naps, and hugs and snacks galore for George.

  6. I. Can’t. Even.

    This explosion of kitten cuteness has rendered me unable to function. The fact that they just adopted each other so easily confirms how wonderful these two batches of babies are…err… I guess they’re ONE litter now! It will be interesting to see the battle for WHO DA BAYBEE NOW??? play out…heehee.. Pattypan’s got some competition!

    I hope you knew your place and kneeled before the marvelousness that is Maxi (and then petted her). That’s a lovely picture!

    1. I don’t know. Pattypan may just have that category wrapped up tight. At 15, she will still be DA BAYBEE!

      1. I think you’re right. No matter how old, no matter how many other kittens, Pattypan will always know how to play that BAYBEE card. 🙂

  7. Ah, maybe world peace is possible. I love that photo of Phelps looking up at the ceiling fan. He looks like he owns the place, and is just strutting around making mental notes for future improvements.

    I needed the cute today. We’re grieving the death of our neighbour’s cat, the one who, for the last 7 years, was most likely to be found either on top of our car’s sunroof, on our front doorstep, or even more likely, asleep in our guest bed. This morning he was found at rest under the hedges. He is beloved and mourned by both families.

  8. I love this! My favorite is the accusing picture of Louganis–no more bathtub for him! What a bunch of goofy babies!

  9. I wonder if they accepted each other so easily due to being very young, or the fact that they are all bottle-babies without a mom-cat to teach them “stranger danger?” Either way, they should all be running around like their butts are on fire very soon! Fun times ahead.

  11. I love how the two litters have already bonded. That clown car!!!

    Louganis’ tail is just killing me.

    So glad that everyone reached out to you and the Challenger’s House. Reading the past entries can be bittersweet. Seeing those pic’s of Tommy with the fosters reminded me how special he was.

  12. Oh yeah, Kara’s fuming at Stephan in the 2014 post cracked me up. Does she still hate that guy?

    2. The 2013 post is great, too. It featured Tommy. It’s so bitter-sweet to read now, but hilarious at the same time. I think it deserves a place in the favourite posts.

  13. I was expecting a tribute page today for Gracie as you did for the cats. How is George doing now that he is alone?

  14. Okay, I posted the question a week or two ago asking whether the two litters had met yet. I was not disappointed! That was super-cute. (That said, I do love when kittens put on their floof suits and go all “stranger danger!” There is nothing less threatening. Would have been fun to see all eight of them floofed!)

  15. I love the clown car! I didn’t notice until about the fourth time I watched it, but does Pattypan have a little bit of a limp from her boo-boo? Looks like she was moving a little slower than the others.

    1. She has a very slight limp – I imagine that as her leg finishes healing, that will go away. Otherwise, we’ll have to get her a tiny cane. 🙂

  16. Louganis. “Lady, you have ALL THIS ROOM for kittens, and you was keeping us in a bathtub?!”

    LOL (literally). Thanks for the fun post.

  17. I’ve watched that video several times today because I needed a laugh, and got one every time! Such darling tiny ones, and so many of them! Yikes! 🙂

  18. How absolutely adorable. It’s amazing how much cuteness can fit into one cat carrier!
    PS – You should have known better… Nothing messes up a good Stranger Danger Floof like a prepared photographer. You know that if the kittens had accidentally met with no camera present, there would have been a kitten storm of hisses and floofing 🙂

  19. Hey look, it’s Robyn’s legs.. 🙂

    glad the intros went so well. Better to plan for a problem and not need it than to expect it all to go well and it doesn’t.

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