Summer & Kitten Updates

Where to begin - we sold the house, we've been swimming a lot, we've painted some pottery, we're still going to the library regularly. Yesterday, we stayed home most of the day. Today, we ran errands all day - made 12 stops and got a lot done.

Tomorrow, we are going to Gatlinburg to hike to Rainbow Falls. It is 5.6 miles roundtrip, and the hike is considered "strenuous." Not sure how well I will do.....

We've sold the house, and I've let the place go to the dogs. I was so tired of cleaning it and keeping it spic and span. But now I'm disgusted with my slobbishness so I tried to tidy it up tonight. But I'm glad I can actually leave my curling iron on the counter in the bathroom and put a magnet on the refrigerator again. It's not easy to live in a house that looks like something out of a magazine. Bleck!

The kittens are growing and getting cuter all the time. I've taken more pictures and will post more soon. I plan to start another blog - a public one - to discuss the fostering experience, and I hope it will help get them adopted. I can't come up with a catchy name for the blog, and I must have a catchy name!

You can definitely tell which kitten is getting the most milk (January) and which kitten is the runt (no name yet).

Miss Dora is so sweet. I think she's getting bored with kitten care 24/7 - I may need to put some toys in there soon. The kittens still sleep a lot, but now they will sleep in a heap together and not necessarily right up against their mom. When Miss Dora hears me coming, she hops out of the box for two reasons - a can of food and to get petted. I think she would like the same amount of attention that the kittens are getting.

Kitten Pictures

2 days old, first day here, this is the blanket and box they came in. I have washed the blanket.

This kitten is the only one this color. We believe it is a girl. She is named January Jones, and she doesn't have a tail.

Paul fixed the box to keep the flap up. He's good at coming up with solutions.

New blanket while other one gets washed. 3 days old. Mom is Miss Dora Jones.

Close up!

Miss Dora is out of the box eating a can of food. I'm feeding her really well, and she is making lots of milk hence the little round tummy on Miss January Jones.

The kittens either sleep or nurse or stagger around looking for their mom when she is out of the box eating.

Close up! Miss January Jones stands out since she is a different color than the rest. Two other kittens are solid black, one is black with white feet, and one is black/white just like mom.

They are starting to open their eyes. 7 days old. As of today, Miss January Jones is the only one who hasn't opened her eyes. She is the fattest kitten with the roundest belly. She is aggressive and knows where to find her meals and will root anyone out of the way.

We are having a very positive experience fostering. The mom is a gem, and the kittens are thriving. I won't go into the details about how the flea treatment went. Everyone was a trooper about it, but I won't be doing that again to such young kittens (despite the assurance I got from the vet's office). As long as they are not infested, I will wait til they are older before I zero in on the fleas.

We have "kitten time" 3 or 4 times a day ----- or more! We want them to get used to people and children, but we try not to stress Miss Dora. Once she eats, we watch them start to nurse then we leave them alone.

4 days old

The kittens are 4 days old today.

They have fleas. I knew the mom had them because the shelter told me, and I knew that the fleas would spread to the kittens. I just hate to see fleas on such a small animal. They aren't infested with fleas - yet, but we've got to get on this problem quick! You can't use many flea meds on nursing cats, but the vet's office did suggest a spray today that will be safe for the mother and the kittens. I will have to spray a towel and wrap it around the mom and try to hold her for 5- 10 minutes; this should poison the fleas. The problem is that she may not let me hold her for that long. The shelter also gave me a syringe of worm medicine for her. They told me she wouldn't like it. I dreaded giving it to her because I didn't want her to be scared of me. But she was a real trooper. To my surprise, she lapped it right up, even the little bit I spilled on her blanket. Maybe she'll do okay with the flea removal process too. I think she's feeling pretty grateful to me because I am the bearer of the canned food.

I will have to spray a wash cloth and wrap it around each kitten. I plan to do this while the mom is eating a can of food, but I'm afraid the kittens will get cold and mew piteously which will stress Miss Dora.

In honor of The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee (I have fixed the link to that website on my blog), I have decided that Miss Dora and her kittens will have a last name too.

Their last name will be Jones. And in honor of my favorite new TV show (Madmen), I will probably name a kitten January Jones. She is not my favorite actress (I don't know much about her), but every time I see her name in the credits on the show, I always like how that name sounds. Cool! And she is also in my favorite movie, Love Actually.

I decided that Abbie will name two kittens, I will name two, and Paul will name one. We just need to wait and find out which are males and females. Paul has already started terrorizing me with his ideas for a name..............

Abbie and I sit with Miss Dora's family several times a day. We like to watch them root for a boob. Since their eyes are not open, they blindly search. Supposedly, they can feel the nipples with their nose and mouth, but sometimes, they completely pass up a boob that is free and clear. Sometimes, after we watch a kitten take 5 minutes to find and get settled on a nipple, Miss Dora will shift a little, and the kitten will lose his hold. Or another kitten will root him off and steal his spot.

When it is time to go, Abbie has to give each kitten one last pat before she will leave.

Foster Kittens

We are SO enjoying our foster kitten experience. We've had them about 24 hours. Paul built an enclosure for them in the workroom of the garage. They have plenty of room, even when they get bigger and start playing.
The garage is so big, and we don't want them to roam the whole area so that they don't get lost or hurt or into something they shouldn't.
The mom, Miss Dora, is so good. The kittens seem to nurse all the time so she just lays there and lets us pet her. I feed her two cans of food a day - nursing makes her really hungry, and the shelter told me to expect that. She's sweet to us too, and lets us pet her as much as we want.
The mom is black and white and she has no tail (a bobtail). One kitten is black and white like her, two are all black, another is black with white feet, and another is a gray striped tabby. Two kittens have no tail. We try not to hold them anymore than we should, but it's hard not to want to snuggle them. Those little triangular ears....the teeny nose and whiskers.....the itty bitty paw pads....
I'm not going to apologize for blogging about them a lot!
I thanked Paul for the awesome place that he built. He thought of everything. I told him there was even enough room for another kitten enclosure and that we could take in another batch of foster kittens. He didn't even blink an eye. That's how I know I'm married to the right man.

Another Milestone For An Older Child & Cats

Abbie can clip her own fingernails.

That is a big deal. I didn't mind doing it, but she complains the whole time I do it so I'm glad she can do it very well on her own.

We should be getting foster kittens tomorrow. A mom and 5 brand new kittens. Eeeeee!