Happy Endings

We know yesterday's post was pretty sad. It made mum tear up writing it. Seamus was the first death that we had as fosters (and being a late comer when it came to having animals in her life, mum's first death at all), and it broke her heart.

So today, we want to show you a happy ending, and something that makes mum's heart sing when she thinks about.

Sally Smitten-Kitten came to us as part of a litter of three, who had been surrendered with their Mum at the shelter. All three were full of fleas and had the most disgusting ear mites. They behaved as if they had not been handled by people before, and were very frightened. Sally's sisters, Penny and Polly, both had broken tails.

This photo is of Sally and Polly nearly a week after they arrived at our house. Sally had previously been in hiding, and did not want to be seen or interact with anyone. She even seemed scared of her sisters. It took a lot of time and gentle work, but we finally got Sally to start coming out of her shell. More than anything, mum wanted her to know that people could be a source of love and comfort, and that there was no need to be afraid. She wanted Sally to be able to feel safe relaxing. Sally seemed to decide that not only were people good, they were an awesome source of cuddles. And she was not afraid to ask for those cuddles! Mum fell head over heels for her!

Sally also learned that other kitties were ok. Here she is with her foster brother, Sean Oscar. It took her a bit of time to come around to the Oscars, who had a fairly good start to life and were healthy and full of energy. The four boys and their sister were a little less genteel than what Sally was used to. In the end, we think she just decided that they had to be tolerated, even if they were silly! The Oscars taught the Smitten-Kittens about toys, which they had previously shown little interest in. When Sally went back to the shelter, she was loving, confident and sweet. She found her Forever Home, and we are sure that she and her family will have a very happy life together. She was very brave in opening herself up to people and other kitties, and we are very proud of her. We have a photo of Sally on our fridge now. She makes us smile:)

Adopted

After a week of departures and crossings, it was great to receive some positive news.

Little Polly Smitten-Kitten found her Forever Home. I thought there must have been some kind of problem, as I had not seen her on the adoption listings. I was mistaken! She went up on the listing late on a Friday night, and by Saturday morning, there had been several calls about her. The shelter does not put kittens on hold on the phone, as they want people to meet and spend time with the kitties (and dogs) to try and make sure they are a good match. As one of the callers was on their way to the shelter, another couple picked Polly out. The caller arrived as the couple was filling out her paperwork. The caller then proceeded to try and fight the couple for Polly! Needless to say, the caller did not leave with a new family member that day!

Meryl was adopted on Sunday. She went home with a lady the adoption coordinator said was one of the loveliest people she had ever met. We think they will be a good match:) The adoptions of Polly and Meryl mean that all the Smitten-Kittens and Oscars have found homes. Hooray:)

We took Calvin in for a vet check today, as he didn't seem right. His gums were a little pail and he is not carrying as much weight as he should be, but otherwise the vet believed he was ok. He didn't have any worms, eggs, blood or other nasties in the poop sample he graciously offered in the car on the way to his check up. The vet believes his tummy enzymes are a bit out of whack, and that is making him feel a bit sick. We've started him on probiotics to try and help him out, as well as re-worming and treating him for coccidia, just in case. He seems brighter already this afternoon.

Meryl is a Good Girl

Scritch scritch scratch!

Shake Your Tail Floof

Meryl was allowed downstairs on her last night. All four of the little ones now try to suckle off her, so we wanted her to get some time to herself. That time to herself coincided with a visit from me, and that made her tail go 'poof'! She has some power in that tail, as you can see. Kittens are weird, aren't they?!

Mum was tagged for a meme by the mum of Tom, Tama-Chan and Sei-Chan, fromThe Poupounette, so I will let her take over here.

01. What is your name? Lissa.

The following answers must all begin with the first letter of your name.
02. A four letter word? Love

03. Girl's name: Dr. Linda, Fui and Suey's V.E.T.

04. Boy's name: Lincoln, our little baby nephew

05. Occupation: Lawyer- something neighbour Kramer is going to need if he keeps trespassing on Fui's garden

06. Color: Lilac, a beautiful colour and beautiful plant

07. Piece of clothing: Leggings

08. Food: Lemon Meringue Pie- yum yum yum!

09. Item in the bathroom: Lip gloss

10. Place/City: London, where my mum and dad met.

11. A reason for being late: Getting lost

12. Something you’d yell: 'Look out'! as I'm learning to drive :P
13. Movie: 'Life of Brian'

14. Something you can drink: Lemonade
15. Band: Led Zepplin

16. Animal: Lion
17. Street name: Lambton Quay (In Wellington, NZ. I had an apartment there).

18. Car: Lamborghini (sp?)

19. Song: 'Let Love Be Your Energy' by Robbie Williams
20. Activity that includes more than one participant: Limbo. Hahaha.

We tag anyone who would like to play:)

I Knead You!

Haha the title makes me MOL. I am a kneader. Always have been, and I think I always will be. I especially love to knead on blankets.

I tell you this by way of introducing something that makes mum smile a lot. Fui is not a kneader. Never had been, except for one occasion when he tried it for 2 seconds about a year ago. Mum thought he never would be. That was, until last week. During wake up cuddles with mum, he kneaded on two seperate mornings! Mum thought it was very cute, because he is so big and goofy.

My eye is looking a lot better. My third eyelid is still pretty bloodshot and around my eye is a tiny bit swollen, but it is improving. In four days, my eye will no longer be target practice for mum's goop shooting skills. That is a day I'm looking forward to a lot!

Tomorrow is a day Meryl has been looking forward to. This morning, she weighed in at 1.1kg, and that means whippity snip time is upon her. This photo is of Meryl on the day she first came home, with her brother Brad.

This is her now, looking strong and beautiful. The hair is growing back on her bald spot, too! We think Meryl will do a good job of finding her Forever Home. Last night, my old foster mum Kate came over, and Meryl spent the whole time making big 'I Love You!!!!!' googlie eyes at her.
Have a happy weekend, friends:)

Theatre Thursday

Our Dad asked us to put up some videos of the fosters, in particularly the Bunnys and Tillie, so he could get a better idea of what they are like. As we are nothing if not accomodating, we would like to present the following for your consideration:

Stella's girls in 'Two Screaming Two Week Olds Learn To Walk'

Tillie Tuxedo-Saurus Rex in 'Play Tillie, Play!'

Jasper & Calvin Bunny and Meryl Oscar in 'Run Bunny!'

Jasper, Calvin and Ruby Bunny and Meryl Oscar in 'Run Bunny! Part 2'.

Spoke too Soon

It looks like the busy time is not quite finished afterall, but we will find out tomorrow when it will be. It's both good and bad that it is continuing- good because of the opportunity, bad because we are missing out on the extra chin skritches.

Stella and her babies have taken up residence under the dresser. All four babies now have open eyes and ears, and are looking much more kitten-like than rattie-like. Stella and I have been spending time hanging out on each side of the door to her room, which mum thinks is cute. She is a lovely little ladycat. She is so friendly, and a real cuddlepuss with mum. She does this cute thing when mum bends down, where she rears up on her back legs to touch her nose to mum's. Mum had to take Meryl back to get checked out today. She has a lump and a hairless patch on the back of her left ear. It looks like a mosquito bite, but the hairloss is weird. She was cleared of ringworm or an abscess, and now we just have to watch and see how it develops or changes. Hoperfully it should just go away. Mum is very glad that it wasn't ringworm, as we don't really have anywhere to isolate her for a long period of time at home except the bathroom (which gets cold), and there is no room in isolation at the shelter.

Don't you think Calvin is a cutie patootie? He is a very perfect looking young mancat in training. He looks like the pictures of kittens that they stick on the side of a tissue box.

Have a happy week, peeps:)

More Introductions!

We have another new litter!

This little lad is Calvin Bunny. Isn't he a darling?! He has something that his brother and sister are missing. A tail!This young lady is Ruby Bunny (thanks for the suggestion, Poppy Q!).

And this young man is Jasper Bunny.

The litter originally had 5 members, but two have gone out with another foster family. Of the five, there were 4 boys and 1 girl (just like the Oscars!). The other two boys were 1 ginger with tail, and one champagne without a tail. We think one of the parents may have been a Manx, which is quite exciting. It was a shame to split them up, but we also have to be careful not to get too many in the house, as that would just make things too difficult, and prevent any of them recieving decent socialisation. One of our goals with the kittens it to help them become outgoing, and confident in approaching people coming to look at the kittens. Mum was thrilled to see that Sally was running over to say hello to people, when she visited her this morning.

You might wonder why Mickey, Heath and Penny did not run up to the sides of the cages. For one simple reason- they were all adopted yesterday! Wahoooooo!!!! :)

Tillie is happy to have some young playful kittens to have fun with, as Meryl is a bit reserved.

Although she has a unique way of showing it! Hahaha!

We hope you have a wonderful week!

Life Goes On

Firstly, we'd like to thank everyone for all their kind words. The support of the CB is amazing.

I sat with Stella and her babes for several hours last night. She settled down, and gave them a few good feeds over the time. She also toileted the babies. This has helped to put me more at ease than I was previously.


I am almost certain that Stella is still a kitten-cat herself. You can see my hand in the photo above, and I don't have big hands. I'd say she is half of Fui's weight (and he's not even that fat anymore!). She also has very new looking teeth.

The babies seem content. When they are not feeding, they are sleepy and quiet. From what I understand, this is a good thing, and means they are getting enough food.

We thought you might enjoy these videos of the beautiful girl, and her little ones.





We also have some exciting news. Young Brad Oscar lived up to his namesake, Brad Pitt, and was the star of an article in our city's newspaper about the shelter. He was adopted yesterday, but we are hoping his newfound fame will have rubbed off on Mickey, Heath, Sally and Penny, and that they will quickly find their Forever homes. Isn't he a poser! He is such a gorgeous boy.

Polly and Sean are both over a kilo now, and are going back tomorrow for their surgeries and to go up for adoption.

I think that's about it!:)

Guess What!

Wand toys are FUN!

We also have a surprise. It is going to be revealed tommorow! We have a few clues:

-The surprise will not be going into the usual kitten room.
- It is made up of two distinct parts.
-The two parts are different sizes.
-Over the coming weeks, one of the parts will change a LOT.

Any guesses? Muahahaha!

An Exodus and Introduction

So long,

Heath

Farewell,

Mickey

Auf wiedersehen

Brad

To our potential to have babies!

Sally

We're off to have our bits fixed, and will then be going into the cages to be put up for adoption. Meryl, Sean and Polly have stayed in our foster home, as they have some more weight to put on.

Penny

Our foster mum brought a surprise home for them. A pretty little tuxie girl! She was all on her lonesome, and our foster mum could see she could use some lovin'.

She doesn't have a name yet, and we are looking for suggestions:)

We hope you're having a lovely weekend:)

Boys Smell

Hi, it's Penny here. Penny Smitten-Kitten. I have something serious to discuss with you today.

Now, I came from a litter of girls. It was just me and two sisters. But then came the Oscars. They have four boys in their litter, and only one girl.

I know what I have to do. I have to keep those boys clean! Come here, Heath!

It's serious business!

No!

It wasn't us, Officer Foster Mum!

We promise!

Don't we get a phone call or something?

Officers Report-
Mickey, Brad, Sean, Meryl, Heath, Sally, Penny and Polly were released from the carrier in the bathroom when their food, water and litterboxes had been changed. They have a history of requiring crating when cleaning is being done due to numerous incursions onto the landing, and I suspect will require further crating in future. They are developing a talent for visual propaganda, pretending they don't have enough room when photos are being taken. These are some dastardly kittens!

We would also like to wish our new friend Rusty a very Happy 18th Birthday!

Cute kittens on Friday

----- Update----
We are currently getting ready for the increasing possibility that Tropical Cyclone Hamish will affect Townsville. We have our cyclone plan ready, and are as prepared as we can be. There is a likelihood that if it does hit, we will lose power, so just wanted to say that we are ready for it, just incase:)
-----------------
Well, we're cute every day. Heath, Meryl, Brad, Polly.
Don't you think?

Penny

But after a long week, we can be even cuter.

Sean and Brad playing tunnels (or bridges?)

Enjoy your weekend:)

Mickey
From the Smitten-Kittens and Oscars.

P.S. It was Polly peering out the window. We think she has spent too much time reading about Agent 007.5's adventures!

Making Friends

The Smitten-Kitten girls are really starting to get along with the Oscars- even Sally! She still doesn't like it when the Oscars try to wrassle with her, but otherwise is doing well. She will happily share food and water bowls with them, and was even caught giving Meryl's ears a tentative clean!

Polly joining in on a bit of fun with Brad, Meryl and Heath

Sean and Penny sharing a meal.

Mickey, Penny and Meryl hanging out together.

The personalities of the Oscars are becoming clear. Heath adores attention, and wants to spend every moment snuggling. Brad is very playful. He will often rear up on his back legs waving his front paws around if he sees any potential toy- and this includes hands, moving blankets and ties on clothing. Mickey is more reserved, and likes to sit back and watch. Sean is the smallest of the five, and is the only shorthair in the litter. Mum wonders if he has a seperate father to the other four, and if he was possibly conceived them. He reminds mum of Seamus- he runs around like the little engine that could, wanting to be involved in anything and everything. Meryl is a sweetheart. She is very gentle, and sweet with the Smitten-Kittens. It's going to be great to get to know them better.

On another note, mum thinks Polly is well out of the woods, after her illness. Her energy levels continue to increase, she has the appetite of a horse, and her body conditioning is becoming really good. Thankyou very much for the purrs for Polly. We really think they helped a lot.

Mum also wants to thank you for your purrs for her. She was feeling a little overwhelmed the other day. Thankyou for helping her to keep things in perspective, and remember all the good things that there are in this world:)

Discoveries

When our foster mum came in to clean up, we found a fun new toy. She watched us like a hawk with it, though!

It makes for a good hiding spot and cushion.

And hiding spots are important...

Especially when you've got new kittens to hiss at!