Favourite Foster Foto Friday

The Smitten-Kitten Edition
The Smitten-Kittens were three sisters who came to us unsocialised, terrified, and riddled with fleas and huge amounts of ear mites.
Little Penny, in the middle of a yoga session.
Polly, getting right into old Beverly Hills 90210 episodes.Penny, showing off her big smile.This photo is a favourite because it marked the moment that Polly really started to eat again, after being so sick.Sally, who became one of the sweetest little snugglepusses we have ever met.Sally and Penny having a play.Polly, showing off her beautiful eyes. Today, an injured possum was brought into Mum's work. It was amazing to see one up so close. It had been hit by a car, but is now in a specialist wildlife centre where he will hopefully make a full recovery.
Have a happy weekend:)

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.

A Note From Sally

Hello Everykitty,
This is just a quick note to let you know I found my Forever home on the weekend. Now my foster mum can stop trying to hatch plans to bust me out of the joint!

Oh yeah, that little nutball Sean was adopted, too. So it was a good weekend for us.
Did you know that the day after Brad's photo was published in the paper, the shelter had over 50 phone calls asking if he was still available?! The families that ended up adopting Mickey, Heath and Penny had also initially come out to the shelter to meet Brad. Unfortunately for them, Brad was adopted on Friday, and the paper was printed on Saturday. But I think they still got a good deal in the other Brady's and Smitten-Kittens.

In other news, my foster mum has had to confine Calvin and Jasper in the dog crate. Calvin has been obsessively trying to suckle off Meryl, and the poor girl was simply beside herself. She had boy kitty spit all over her tummy! My foster mum put Jasper in there too so they can play. Hopefully now Meryl can get some peace. Her ear is not looking any better, but it's also not looking any worse. Hopefully the coming days will see improvement, as she is getting close to desexing weight, but needs to be on the mend before she can go up for adoption.

It was nice knowing you guys!:)

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!

I'm Still Here

Hello:) Do you remember me, Sally Smitten-Kitten?
You may have noticed I have been a bit absent from recent posts. There is a reason for that. I love cuddling with my foster mum while the others run around like the crazy kittens that they are. I do play sometimes when she is there, and a lot when she isn't- when I think she can't see me!
My favourite thing is to be cradled like a baby, and have my chest rubbed. It makes me purrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
My foster mum really enjoys cuddle time with me. She remembers how frightened I was when I first came to her house. The first time she reached into the carrier to get me out, I was pressed in the corner hissing. Seeing how far I have come makes her heart happy. She thinks I am one of the sweetest little souls she has known, and says she has a lot of respect for how I have let myself be open to a new life, and to trusting.

I am getting along well with the Oscars. I'm still not keen to get involved in much wrestling, but I don't hiss anymore, and will share toys with them. I really enjoy playing games of football with a ping pong ball with them.

It looks like we're out of the Cyclone Hamish woods. It passed us while still out to sea. We got a bit of rain and a few gusts of wind, but that was all. We don't have a generator, but have access to a barbeque and gas cooker, and battery powered lamps for our safe room. But it looks like that wont be necessary this time!

Also, I wanted to tell you about something that our good friend Loki is doing. Do you remember Fui and Suey's post about Loki's Primate's book,
Best Friends, No Matter What? Well, Loki is conducting a Copylefting experiment with the book. This is a link to his post about the experiment. The book has been copylefted into a file of 2MB, and is free to download and distribute. It is being done as a way to get the book out there for people to see.

Now, we said in our last post about the book how much we like it. It has a great story, and fun pictures. We are planning on buying a copy for our little bean friend, who loves kitties. We recommend having a look!

I hope you have enjoyed a weekend of fun and cuddles, too:)

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!

In My Garden

I spent the other evening hanging in my garden. It was nice to relax, and feel the grass between my paw pads.

And we can't forget playing, which is the super most fun thing ever! Mum likes this picture, even though you can't really see it clearly.

But the whole time I thought there was something a little amiss. I'm not sure what it was.

I don't suppose you have any ideas of what it could be?

P.S. We have great news! Freja and Athena were both adopted on the weekend! Hooray!