So, I don’t remember when it happened – I think it was about two weeks ago – but one day I was sitting in the bathroom bottle feeding kittens, and Fred peeked in and asked how close I was to being done. I told him I was almost done, and asked why.
As soon as I asked, I knew. What else would put that LOOK on his face?
Meet Cletus van Damme.
The very next day, we delivered Cletus van Damme to the vet who works with Challenger’s House. He was neutered and ID chipped the following day, and is at the shelter waiting for his last round of shots. He’s about a year old, friendly as can be, and when he’s up to date on his shots, he’ll go to Petsmart. He was in such good shape and so friendly (and so HUNGRY) that I suspect he was dumped. We did a routine asking-of-the-neighbors, and none of them knew where he’d come from.
I suspect he won’t be at Petsmart long.
PS: The name is from the TV show The Shield. Cletus van Damme was one of the detective’s “undercover” name. The same actor (Walton Goggins)(who hails from Alabama, coincidentally) played a trans character on Sons of Anarchy named Venus van Damme.
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I got awesome news last night: they trapped the mama cat who birthed not only the Swimmers, but also Simon and Garfunkel AND a litter of kittens in between! She’ll go today to be spayed. No more babies for her!
In honor of the fact that all the kittens are NO LONGER being bottle fed (story on that at the bottom of this section), today’s pictures are all bottle-related.
Spitz, on the dining room table, being fed by Fred.
Silly Spitz.
Louganis.
Louganis again.
Phelps is not kidding about his bottle.
Phelps + baba = true love.
Torres.
Torres. I love the curled tail.
Pattypan, after her bottle.
Calabash has a self-serve philosophy.
And this is how they eat now! (Click on the picture to see the full-sized picture at Flickr, labeled with each of their names.)
I was going to slowly wean all the kittens off the bottle, but when they chewed the nipple completely off one of the bottles at the mid-morning feeding on Sunday and then did it again Sunday night, I figured I didn’t need it to happen a third time to get the message.
Seven of the eight happily eat canned food off a plate (when they’re a little older, we’ll switch to a couple of chip ‘n dip plates; for the moment, the sections are a little confusing to their marshmallow Fluff brains). The eighth – Zuke – prefers kibble. They’re eating heartily and doing well, so I think I can declare their bottle days in the past!
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Videos! In the first, I have a lap full of tusslin’ kittens.
And in the second, in keeping with today’s theme, Pattypan sure did love her bottle!
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Stinkerbelle can occasionally be lured down from atop the cabinets with fresh catnip.
She seems to be doing fine without Tommy, by the way. I had hoped that maybe she’d form a friendship with one of the other cats, but that hasn’t happened yet (though of course it’s relatively soon for that to happen, I guess.)
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Previously
2014: Exfoliation Monday, with Tricki.
2013: No entry.
2012: Petey hopes y’all realize that Caturday is for relaxin’.
2011: Volunteer Purslane, growing in one of the empty raised beds.
2010: I DID NOT toss Bolitar over the door, even though it sounds like it.
2009: The many faces of sweet little bunny Terry.
2008: Naturally, Zoe was all “Hey, this is cool! I like this!” and took up residence.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
What a happy post! Cletus van Damme is as lucky as he is dashing, the kitten news is excellent and adorable, and that photo of Stinkerbelle is sheer delight. Here’s hoping she’ll find feline love again someday soon.
Walton Goggins is one of my favorite actors! If you haven’t watched the series, you need to watch “Justified”. He was great in that show, playing the bad guy. So glad you named the wanderer Cletus after that character.
You say bad….I say Raylan’s best friend 🙂 Po-tay-toe Pa-ta-toe
Cletus! It won’t be long before he gets snapped up by some lucky humans, that’s for sure.
You forget how small the babies are until you see a picture of Pattypan next to the mug. I’m guessing their marshmallow fluff head are also directing them to walk through the food plates as well?
Is there anything cuter than bottle babies? The looks on their faces! So adorable!
Tusslin’ kittens! That’s a great name for a future litter! The Tusslins! You could name them after fighters! Rocky Marciano, Mohammad Ali, or Cassius Clay! Not just boxers even, not just real ones either. What’s the name of the kid in Karate Kid for instance?? Maybe? possibly?
Madam Stinkerbelle, might I suggest to you, when you are ready for another gentleman caller, a certain Master Jakeus P. Loonicus?
(Ok I know you’ve never called him that, it just struck me as a fancy name for the loonster! Don’t ask me what the P stands for either.. maybe Puss? Pontificator? Peemail?)
Oh I forgot to mention Cletus! What a cutie! I thought for a minute it was Chachi back again, but he’s too young I guess. Great name!
And I’m so glad to read that Stinkerbelle is doing fine! I was actually going to ask how she was handling it today.
Yay for Cletus van Damme!!!
Honestly, there is nothing cuter than nursing kittens!!!!
Stinkerbelle is adorable in that picture
Yay for Cletus van Damme!!!
Honestly, there is nothing cuter than nursing kittens!!!!
Stinkerbelle is adorable in that picture!
Wow, Cletus is a VERY good looking cat. So sleek & handsome and I’m a sucker for white toes. He looks very at ease in the carrier. I’m glad he’s friendly, that means he’ll hopefully get adopted quickly. It’s nice for you when they don’t require any work/rehab!
So I have a question regarding bottle feeding babies. Is there a reason to hold the bottle so high? I ask because it seems a little unnatural compared to how they’d suckle off their mama and I wonder if there’s any risk of them choking or if it just helps the milk glide right on down their throat without them needing to do much work to swallow.
Phelps’ ears kill me. He’s very bat-like, which just makes me adore him even more… but Calabash & Pattypan are my top two. Those girls are just too precious.
I do believe that is the cutest picture of Ms Stinkerbelle you’ve ever posted. I mean, she’s a pretty girl and all but this is the first photo in which she actually looks fairly chill with no glimmer of “I will cut you” behind those eyes. It must be the catnip!
I’m so glad Stinkerbelle is doing well! I was thinking about her just this morning. Who knows, maybe she’ll seek her comfort from humans and become somewhat friendlier? Stranger things have happenned, right?
Right?
::cricket sounds::
OMG! I am IN LOVE! The videos make me smile!!! Adorable!!!! ♥♥♥
when we first saw Cletus on FB, we thought “dang – Dennis found another Monday” :)He sure is handsome.
sounds like the kids are doing well and growing up….it’s going to be some serious chaos in there when they start getting rowdy
Dang, Cletus is handsome. That white jabot and white paws are just too much on top of that sleek figure and sweet face. And the whiskers. White whiskers with a black face. Just the cherry on top.
The swimmers are just too much with the bottle.
Love that pic of Phelps with his head tilted back, intent on that bottle. That would be my fave of the day.
Pattypan looks so little! Just teeny tiny.
Best news is that they were able to trap mama cat, she’s a wiley one. She makes wonderful kittens but her duty has been completed. Glad she’s getting fixed.
Soon you won’t remember which kittens are Squashbugs and which are Swimmers! (I’m sure there are squash called Louganis, Phelps, Torres, and Spitz!)
Is that an Archie-loaf that Cletus is walking by in the 3rd picture from the top?
A POX on the turds of humanity that are animal-dumpers.
Cletus is one gorgeous kitty!
Cletus is INDEED one striking young mancat. And also a very lucky one.
I also have lovely news for anyone who cared about Linus and Lucy (from back in June) — they have successfully fully integrated into the household despite my worrying 🙂 The only issue is keeping Sir Stuffs-Himself (that’d be my diabetic cat Pumpkin) out of the kitten food. I’m nosing around looking for good RFID/chip based cat feeders — anyone got one they like and would recommend? Ideal would be one that reads HomeAgain microchips, as that’s what my babies have.
I have had a MeowSpace for years (at least 4), and it’s still going strong. It’s saved us heaps of frustration, helped our own Sir Stuffs-Himself (also named Pumpkin!!!) to maintain a reasonable weight, and allowed our demure ladycat Giselle to graze at her leisure.
I recommend them! I don’t know if they read HomeAgain microchips. We use the tag that they came with.
Excellent! Thanks for the tip. I’ll look into that.
Stinkerbelle looks so soft and fluffy…. Sometimes I imagine picking her up and squeezing her, like hugging a poofy little cloud. Of course in real life, I know my hands would have burned and turned to ash if she even sensed that little fantasy. Does she ever allow any physical contact from your or Fred?
Is it just me, or would Tusslin’ Kittens make a great name for a bluegrass band?
I (not a bluegrass fan) would buy a CD of bluegrass music just to have a CD case in my collection labeled “Tusslin’ Kittens.”
Stinkerbelle looks like a real cat in that picture!
(and by real, I mean a cat you can pick up and cuddle and smooch without the need for a blood transfusion afterwards.)
So-o-o-o-o. I have a question for the Maine-native, lobster-roll-enjoyin’ Robyn. As you may recall, I live in SoCal, which is a wee distance from Maine. I also work in a typical office cubicle farm, which means the only real excitement is watching cat videos and figuring out what’s for lunch. To that end, a coworker just sent me a menu to what is apparently a food truck that does lobster rolls: http://www.cousinsmainelobster.com/los-angeles/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/11/LA_Menu_WithPriceWeb1.pdf
They are going to be a mile or two down the road from us this week, and I’d like your take on the whole lobster-rolls-from-a-truck idea.
Is lobster ice cream really a thing? and…I love me some quesadillas, but lobster quesadillas? (I mean, I like cheese, just not on a lobster.)
Cousins has a very good reputation.. and as a Maine native – who doesn’t eat lobster – the fact I know that is pretty impressive.
http://www.thewrap.com/shark-tank-favorite-cousins-maine-lobster-opens-shop-in-west-hollywood/
A Maine native who doesn’t eat lobster? They don’t boot you out of the state for that? 😉
Cletus van Damme is super handsome!
Hmm I wonder if the owners of Cletus van Damme knew about you and that’s why he was dumped in your neighborhood. Fie on them for doing this but I’m so glad he was found by you and will now get a much better furever home.
If someone sees this great otherwise I will try to remember to repost in a day or so-anyway I need some advice about my cat. We went on vacation in early August for about 10 days. We had someone (known to the cat) come in and check on her and feed/water and clean her litter. As far as I am aware there were no issues. When we came home she seemed a little off and I just figured she was getting re-used to us after being gone. Our schedules have modified recently with the kids going back to school also. So here’s the question-she seems to be sleeping a lot more and not eating as much. Otherwise she seems okay, she’s still friendly to us, using the litter seems to be normal. She hasn’t thrown up or used any other “potty area”. She will be scheduled for a normal checkup soon anyway, but I thought I would ask you all what you thought. TIA.
Man, Cletus is handsome! Looks a little like teenage Norbie, minus the spray of white on the nose-sleek Ferrari lines, white spats and white chest and a spray of white whiskers. He’ll be snapped up in no time.