The Bookworms are believed to have been born on or around February 8, 2010.
Just after we brought Maura home, Fred called to let me know that there were at least a couple of kittens under a bush outside the office of someone he worked with. This was the exact same bush where Gus, Mike, Veruca and Violet had been spotted back in September. The guy had spotted the same black and white long-haired cat he’d seen hovering around the bushes back when the Wonkas were left there, so we assumed they were from the same mother.
We conferred with the shelter manager about what to do – we wanted to catch the mother cat and at the very least, have her spayed so that she couldn’t keep bringing babies into the world. We also knew that there was a high probability that she was FIV positive, since the Wonkas had initially come up positive (though they were later retested and came up negative). We decided to set up a trap near where the kittens were in hopes of catching the mother.
Fred set up the trap the next morning, baited it, and then when he went to check the trap (and re-bait it) before he came home that night, a little gray tabby came strutting out from beneath the bushes. Fred picked him up and pushed him back under the bushes, and he came right back out again, this time with a friend. Those kittens wouldn’t stay under the bushes for anything, and finally he snatched them up and brought them home (he was afraid they’d wander out into the parking lot).
And that’s how it happened that we ended up with the Bookworms, who are named after characters from books that Fred and I like (Reacher from Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, Rhyme from Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme series, Corbett from Robert McCammon’s Matthew Corbett series, and Bolitar from Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar series). They are sweet, friendly, SUPER playful little guys and it’s impossible for me to choose a favorite (today I might be in love with Corbett, tomorrow it’s Reacher).
Because their mother was FIV positive (she was found in the trap the next morning; I took her to the vet for testing. She was obviously sick, and her test came back a strong positive. She was super feral, which makes it that much more amazing that her boys are so friendly, and I ultimately decided to have her euthanized), we’re waiting until they’re three months old to have them tested in hopes that the test will come back negative. Assuming that it does, we’ll then have them neutered and they’ll be going off to the adoption center. I expect that will happen around the middle of May.
In the meantime, they’re having the time of their lives!
You can read about the Bookworms beginning with this entry (there are links at the top or bottom of each entry; click on the one on the right to take you to the next one).
See all the pictures I’ve taken of these sweet boys over at Flickr.
Edited to add: In November 2010, Bolitar was adopted! Currently (1/29/11), Reacher, Rhyme, and Corbie are still in our house. Rhyme and Corbie are due to go to the adoption center when room opens up. ALL THREE OF THE UNADOPTED BOOKWORMS ARE STILL AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION and we remain hopeful that they’ll still find their forever homes.
Edited to add: Rhyme was adopted on February 5, 2011!!! AND Reacher went to his forever home on February 9th!!! That leaves us with just Corbie who needs a forever home.
Edited to add: As of the end of March, Corbie is now a permanent Crooked Acres resident. I couldn’t stand how beautiful he is, I had to make him permanent!
Edited to add: On September 7, 2011, the woman who’d adopted Bolitar returned him to the shelter saying that she was pregnant and her doctor told her it wasn’t safe to breathe in the ammonia fumes and poop from the litter box. He stayed here with us for about a month, and then went to Petsmart. He stayed there until December 24th, when he was adopted as a 13 year old girl’s Christmas present. We hope that this is his true forever home!