Daisy sure does like that scratcher bowl.
I love that little smile on Myrtle’s face. But it’s a POLITE smile, like she doesn’t really mean it.
Jay’s all “You can’t see me!”
“Here I am!”
Zelda’s keeping an eye on the feather teaser.
Nick says “Why you keep telling me how cute I am? You think I don’t know?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wren in my lap, keeping an eye on the dishtowel.
Plover’s letting me know that the pettin’ can start any time now.
Rufous looooves that green bean.
Happy crate of sleepy kittens.
So the big news in Love & Hisses-land is that something that’s been on the schedule since the beginning of the year is finally happening. We’ve gotten doors installed on the dining room!
Both doorways were very large to start with, so they’ve made the opening smaller and put up doors. They’re not done – there’s sanding to be done, and trim to install (and once that’s done, we have to paint), but at least the doors are up!
Door from the dining room to the kitchen.
Door from the dining room to the front room (and window onto the front porch).
Annnd from the front room to the dining room.
You might assume it’s intended to be a foster room, but it is NOT. It will, however, be handy when someone is coming to meet kittens – I can set them up in the dining room, instead of dragging them upstairs. It’ll also work as a place for kittens to be when I’d like them to have little field trips (in an attempt to stretch their boundaries.) Right now, it’s where the Nestlings are staying, and since there are doors on the room, they’re not confined to the playpen anymore. It’s not a huge room, but it’s certainly more than big enough for them, and it’s conveniently located next to the kitchen, where the bottles are made. (Eventually, once Daisy and her kittens are gone, they’ll move upstairs, of course.) And I really, really like that the doors have windows (though they are covered in plastic until we get the doors – which came already primed – painted.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Magnificent Khal continues to be magnificent. In case you wondered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Tumblr) yesterday.
YouTube link
Rufous and Wren at the bottle. I will never get tired of those wiggly ears. (Plover and Starling are not in this video because they require two hands to bottle feed (one to hold the bottle, one to hold them in place so they don’t march off the counter) and I only have two hands.)
Yes, Rufus (6 1/2 weeks old) and Wren (7 weeks old) are old enough to eat solid food. They do (well, Rufous eats solid food reliably. It’s more hit-or-miss with Wren, depending on her mood), but I supplement with the bottle and given their (especially Rufous’s) rough start, I don’t mind providing the bottle for as long as they want it.
Daisy’s all “Oh hi, guys. I have many extra toeses, and I am available for adoption.” Email Forgotten Felines of Huntsville at info (at) ffhsv.org to inquire.
You’d think getting 4 kittens to look at the camera at the same time would be easier than getting, say, 7 kittens to do the same, BUT IT AIN’T SO. Someone’s always looking away.
Information about these kittens, since I only really posted the details once or twice:
Plover (gray floofy kitten on the far left) is a girl. Her date of birth is April 23, 2023, which makes her 5 1/2 weeks. She and her sister Starling (brown tabby, far right) were found as hours-old newborns along with a deceased sibling on a horse farm where Forgotten Felines of Huntsville was doing a huge Trap-Neuter-Return job. She is shaped like a potato with legs (her floofiness makes her look even more potato-shaped than she actually is), and I have nicknamed her “Tater.”
Wren (the torbie in the back) is a girl. Her date of birth is April 11, 2023, which makes her 7 weeks old as of yesterday. She and her sister Felicity came to me when they were about 2 days old (and I believe they were both premature, they were so tiny). Their mother wasn’t producing milk and couldn’t care for them, so they came to me. Unfortunately Felicity passed away the day after I got them. Wren has done great and has thrived (she has the strongest will to live of any kitten I’ve ever seen.) She’s a talky girl, and I have nicknamed her “Mouth.”
Rufous (the orange tabby in the middle) is a boy. His date of birth is April 16, 2023, which makes him 6 1/2 weeks. He was, I believe, abandoned by his mother (or possibly left behind when she was moving her litter – I honestly am not sure about the details of his story). He was a day (maybe two) old when I got him. For a time he drank from the bottle very well. But then he got congested, and started fighting the bottle and required tube feeding (which I can do, but I haaate it) for a couple of weeks. Then one day he said “Gimme that bottle” and never looked back. He still has a fondness for the bottle, but is the only one of the bunch who is reliably eating solid food (Wren can take it or leave it, and Plover and Starling haven’t decided how they feel about it yet.) He doesn’t really have a nickname, but sometimes we call him “Mister Man.”
Starling (brown tabby on the right), as mentioned, is Plover’s sister (which makes her a girl). Her date of birth is April 23, 2023, which makes her 5 1/2 weeks old. As mentioned, she and Plover were found on a horse farm where Forgotten Felines was doing a huge Trap-Neuter-Return job, and they came to me when they were only hours old. Starling has always been a very slow eater (she SAVORS her bottle), which means that she usually eats last (because I don’t think it’s fair that everyone else has to wait 743 hours to eat because Starling is all “Ah yes, I detect notes of sweet cream in this formula and I can tell you used the filtered water, very good.”) She has a meow that sounds like a creaky hinge, and so we have nicknamed her “Rusty.”
They are all named after types of birds (Rufous is named after the Rufous Humminbird) and the litter as a whole is called the Nestlings. (I am fostering them for Forgotten Felines of Huntsville here in Huntsville, Alabama, and when they are 3 months old they will be spayed/neutered and adopted out.)
YouTube link
The kittens don’t know where she is, so it’s time for Daisy to get her knead on and then settle down for a nap with me!
Myrtle’s all “Well, hiiiiiii!”
YouTube link
Plover’s checking out the kitchen, and along comes Wren. (Please note: Wren was not hurting Plover, but I don’t like it when she gets too rough with them. Give them another week, they’ll fight back, but they’re still wittle babies, at least in my eyes.)(Not gonna lie, “Don’t RUN, that just turns you into prey” made me laugh out loud when I watched this back.)
BOOM. (Wren, the dish towel killer.)
It’s a sure bet that once the kittens get the run of the upstairs, one of them finds my pillow the comfiest place to sleep. I’m only surprised Jay found it before Zelda did.
Good night innernets. (Rufous)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2022: Mondo just hanging out on the windowsill, hugging the file cabinet. As you do.
2021: Now there’s no stopping him, I suppose.
2020: Paws up, y’all!
2019: No entry.
2018: Consumption of the KitNipBox is coming along nicely.
2017: Is very important to floss every day, as illustrated by Roux.
2016: “I gots ALL the toys!”
2015: Lucy’s Fools are 2 weeks old!
2014: No entry.
2013: He just lubs his mama.
2012: Meet the new guys.
2011: Don’t you just love the little spotted belly?
2010: “Bleh. This mouse tastes funny.”
2009: Look at the little smile on her face!
2008: No entry.
2007: It appears that Sugarbutt got started on that nap without me.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.