1 post tagged “fostering”
I really need to add the word "NO" to my vocabulary, but how do you say no to adorable little kittens like these? They're all boys and the orange ones have little inch-long stubby manx tails. They're eight-weeks-old and so if everything goes according to plan, they'll be ready in about a week and a half, they need time for deworming and to recover from being neutered. The black one has a regular tail. The orange boys are Remington, Riker and Roswell, although I don't quite know them apart yet, the black one is Reuben. All are very, very sweet. Mom is Riley and her picture does not do her justice! She's got a sleek build and medium-length hair and her steel blue coloring with splashes of cream are just gorgeous. She's also very sweet and friendly. They're all a little weirded out being somewhere new and don't know what to make of all the other cats around but will adjust quickly.
They've been around kids and dogs, so they should be fairly easy to adopt. Riley was a neighbor's cat that got left behind when they moved away. I have no idea how people can do that and live with themselves. Another neighbor has a male manx that goes in and out and he's obviously not neutered. When this nice family saw that Riley was pregnant, they brought her in to have her babies. The daughter in the house is pregnant too, so she felt sorry for the poor homeless mother. Riley took to the family's bichon quickly and would even snuggle with the dog. The elderly dog played Grandpa to the kittens and would sleep with them when Riley needed a break. I wonder if he'll be lonely now? Cats that get along with dogs are more adoptable, so that was part of why I said yes.
So how could I say no? Can you blame me? I have a soft spot for Siamese and Manx cats. One of our other foster homes has a litter of Manx kittens and just let them play with another litter of kittens for the first time yesterday. They were amazed to play with the other kittens' tails! They weren't sure what the tails were all about, but they sure were fun! That manx litter is all girls and they'll be ready in about 2 weeks as well. They were born at her house. I think most of them have little nubbin' tails. The manx kittens will be the first of hers that are old enough to be adopted. The first eight weeks goes so slowly, then suddenly when the different litters are getting ready it seems like time speeds up. I can't believe how quickly my litters are growing up. The next litter from my blog that will be ready will be Revolver's kittens. They'll be having their surgeries in 2 weeks. Buffy, the little bottle-baby will also be 8 weeks around then, although we'll see if they'll be big enough. We base being ready for surgery on age and condition of the kitty. Buffy's litter has been fighting coccidia and parasites and so they are a little on the small side.
Here are Revolver's babies. From left to right we have Smith, Annie Oakley (out front), Wesson and Colt. I enjoy taking pictures of kitties and try to get cute ones of them all looking. These guys have proven to be very difficult and not at all photogenic, which is a shame because they are way cuter than they look here! They won't all look at the same thing at the same time. But that's life when working with animals, you can't expect them to do what you want them to do. The same can be said about kids, but that's a whole different blog-topic! Annie Oakley is just gorgeous in person, she's a classic tabby. Wesson who looks scared in the picture is the first to purr when it's playtime. She likes to snuggle and be petted. Colt, the black one is the little explorer, always the first to investigate anything new, although Smith, the other boy is usually right behind.
Here are the little babies that I picked up last week at Animal Control. Mama is still very super skinny, and is enjoying her constant buffet of food. She likes the tuna flavor canned food best, and Royal Canin dry is pretty good too! Despite her condition, the babies are thriving. There are two boys and two girls. I'll be naming one of the boys Pepe Le Peu, one of the girls will be Flower. Any suggestions for 2 more skunk names? They're all adorable tuxedos, but with those splashes of white, they look like a bunch of skunks! I may just call one Skunk and not sure about the last one. Might just go with Bambi to match Flower. Mom still needs a name. The babies are about 2.5 weeks old here.
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