The good news: Clay was adopted Friday night! That means that all the Sons have been adopted and I have no kittens at Petsmart!
Everett, Lucy, and Sally Peppers will be here for another two weeks, and then we’ll start rotating them through at Petsmart. Hopefully the two black cats who are already there – the bear cubs – will be adopted by then. The adoption counselor on Saturday, Lisa, said that at least two people said they don’t like black cats. One of them said that they’re “boring.” Jerks.
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More good news! Do you remember Mary Margaret, who we called Maggie?
(I hope you realize that that’s a rhetorical question I ask, just so that I can show some pictures of her from when she was here!)
She came to use in mid-March, pregnant. I expected her to birth those babies at any moment. I decided that all her babies were going to have Irish names, because I was so sure she’d have them on or around St. Patrick’s Day.
She waited almost three weeks. This was her the day before she birthed those babies:
I was so sure she was going to have her babies in the middle of the night when I would be asleep and thus not able to witness the miracle of birth – but she had them on a Saturday morning!
One of my favorite baby pictures. That’s Finnegan.
She birthed six babies, five boys and one girl.
Hee.
She was a fantastically wonderful momma, and when I brought home three little girl kittens (Clove, Coriander, and Cilantro) who were probably taken from their momma too soon, Maggie took them on as her own without a second thought.
This was not an unusual sight. Maggie let all six of her babies AND the three Spice Girls nurse way past the time when she should have cut them off. Sometimes we’d lock her away in the foster room so she could have a little time to herself. But she didn’t like to do that for very long, she was always concerned about what her babies were doing and whether they might need her.
When the babies were three months old, Maggie and five of the six (Ciara needed to stay with us for a bit longer because she wasn’t feeling well) went to Petsmart. I had to put a note on Maggie’s cage (she was in a cage by herself and the five kittens were in another cage) so that when the cleaners let the cats out to play, they’d keep an eye on Maggie so that the babies wouldn’t nurse. Lisa told me that she looked away for a few seconds, and in that time one of the babies latched on and was nursing, and Maggie was totally allowing it.
Good with the babies, was our Maggie.
Maggie was at Petsmart for about two weeks when she was adopted. I was honestly surprised that she was adopted so quickly, because it was the middle of kitten season, when adults tend to sit at Petsmart for weeks and weeks while everyone adopts the kittens. I had already made sure that Fred knew that if Maggie was at Petsmart for a month, she was coming home for some R & R. Then off she went, to her new home!
I tell you all this so that I can tell you that late last week I heard from Maggie’s dad! So without further yammering on my part, here’s the update (and some pics!) on Maggie.
Alex says:
When we adopted Maggie, Sara (my girlfriend) and I already had a cat named Tucker. We’d had Tucker for over a year. He’s an orange tabby. When we went to PetSmart, we chose Maggie because we thought that having a big brother would offer her a chance to be a kitten since she lost that being a mother so young. The first week, of course, was rough, but eventually, the hissing stopped and now they are good siblings. They antagonize each other from time to time but all in good spirit.
©Alex R.
It wasn’t long that we discovered Maggie’s love of all things mint. I find it adorable that she wants to give kisses to anyone after they have just brushed their teeth. On more than one occasion, Maggie has been seen digging through Sara’s purse looking for gum. Though I wouldn’t call her a snuggler, we recently discovered one of Maggie’s greatest traits. Sara and I drove up to Wisconsin to visit Sara’s family; we brought Tucker and Maggie. Tucker, in this new environment, was constantly hiding from Sara’s family and other cat, Bailey. Sara’s family was not impressed with Tucker. Sara and I assume we have spoiled him so much that he is only comfortable around us. Maggie, on the other hand, didn’t hesitate to explore the house. She doesn’t actively see out attention, but she doesn’t run away when someone moves toward her.
©Alex R.
Nowadays, my greatest amusement from Maggie comes when I get out of the shower. First off, boy does she love water. She will stick her head under a running faucet just to get a drink. Anyway, as I get out of the shower (towel on), I will lean over to Maggie who has been waiting. She will literally climb onto my head and start rubbing her head against my wet hair. She will bite my head from time to time. It’s so cute, I can barely stand it.
©Alex R.
Overall, Maggie is doing great. We shower her with love and affection (more than she probably wants). She runs around our apartment with her big brother. I’m sure you always wonder if your cats went to a good home. I promise you, Maggie has.
©Alex R.
Thank you so much for the update, Alex! I had no doubt that Maggie’s new family would have to love her, because she was one awesome cat when she was with us – and that was with six (and then nine!) little kittens demanding an awful lot from her. She was always calm and so very good with them.
Don’t y’all love a happy ending?
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Saturday night, I decided it was time to let the Peppers stay out of the foster room overnight. I’ve found that once kittens get the run of the house, it takes about two weeks before they start balking at being shut away for six hours. Since I have no desire to chase down the Peppers every night, I decided I’ve give them what they wanted.
They were pretty wild and my feet were attacked several times over the course of the night, but they’ve learned to respect the can of compressed air (I don’t even have to spray it in their general direction, just pick it up, and off they run). I’m sure that as time goes by, they’ll learn to behave themselves and let me sleep. I like my sleep, you see, and I don’t really put up with being harassed at night. They can harass me all they’d like during the day, but NOT at night, thank you very much.
Sweet Miss Sally. Aren’t her eyes neat?
If you look closely, you can see my reflection in her eye.
Corbie and Everett keep their eye on da bird.
Sally does, too.
Miz Poo even jumped in for a swipe!
Flying through the air with the greatest o’ ease.
He’s flyyyyyyyying!
Corbie and Sally observe.
::thlurrrrp::
Always attentive when da bird is around.
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It’s a Newtie in a sink.
“What? Where am I SUPPOSED to take a nap?”
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Previously
2011: No entry.
2010: They did not care for Jake and Elwood, is what I’m saying.
2009: I’ll just tell them we’re going for a FUN RIDE and there’ll be toys and nice people to pet them! Think they’ll fall for that?
2008: And after he gives me the Love Eyes, he rolls around and flirts with me ’til I rub his belly.
2007: “Hey. Does this taste funny to you?”
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.