Foster Cat Journal

I don't often see my foster Mamas feeding their offspring, as my foster Mamas are usually feral and won't nurse in front of me. Last night I saw CallaLily, dwarfed by her kittens. Not all of them could even take any nourishment from her now that they're 8 weeks old. There's just no room for all five of them!

The kittens are eating solid food, but I guess old habits die hard. In a few days, Mama is going to be spayed and the lunch bar will be closed! Calli needs a break. She's quite thin and I can tell she's tired. She's been an awesome Mama, but this Mama needs time to regain her strength so she'll be ready for a forever home soon.

Sunshine & Shamus no longer have to worry about being eaten up by fleas and can finally get a good night's sleep. Now if I would stop drinking tea, maybe I would, too.

Malibu, Nova and Felixia are back at ANC HQ waiting to find their forever homes. Fe is doing much better now that she's had a good course of antibiotics and is beginning to put on some weight. Nova, we hope, will be adopted soon. Malibu has continued to come out of his shell and is a very loving kitty. He's getting rather big and we're a bit worried we won't find him a home soon. Seems the younger kittens go first. Isn't that often the case?

As for my own cats, poor Gracie STILL battles miliary dermatitis. Her flare ups are still bad, still constant. She's still getting bi monthly shots and occasional baths (but I should give her more). It's been almost a year since this started and I have little hope we will ever find a cure for her. It's very sad. I fear my last options are either to put her on steroids, which I've avoided at all cost, or try to re-home her, which would make me feel like a failure. She may be unhappy with all the other cats here, but she was fine for years, then suddenly broke out. My thought is that it can't be the other cats bothering her, then...but...then what is causing her allergic reactions?

Bob has been doing fairly well, though I'm starting to worry about him He's not eating as well as he did...is it his sense of smell starting to go? He's vomited a small amount of water the past two mornings. I fear pancreatitis flare ups with him!

Nicky still has problems being constipated and he seems a bit down. We've been giving him stool softeners, but not enough. Gotta ramp up on that. I think this cat has a funny metabolism. First he would get urinary blockages up from his food and that meant lots of ER trips. He's not blocked any more, but now his colon is getting packed up. I can't figure out what is the culprit. The other cats don't suffer with this problem-even Nicky's own sister.

All the other buggers are doing fine. Some times I forget they're all getting older. How is it that Nick and Nora are 9 now? Spencer is about 7 and no one knows how old Bob is, but it's easily over 10. Where did the time go?

The foster kittens and Cali, the mama are doing better this morning. Everyone ate their breakfast and started to play right away. No litter pan accidents, thank goodness and their overall condition seems much improved.

No names picked out for the kittens yet. Will work on that today. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I promise to catch everyone up on Henry Co. Kitties. Many of them got the funding they needed and are poised to be rescued. Final paperwork and details still need to be worked out. Not all the kitties are going to be rescued, but a good, big number of them are. I don't like to say-"not all" but no matter how many we pull, there will always be some left behind.

I hate it and so do all the folks involved with this...there aren't enough people to do what is needed. There aren't enough foster homes...etc...we're doing our best and then some.

My little foster, Felixia, who just weighs 2.5lbs at 10 weeks, fell ill last night and was lame on her back right leg this morning. She visited with Dr. Larry a little while ago, who gave her an exam and tried to get some x-rays of her leg but she was in too much pain to allow much of that. We saw most of her leg and it looked good, just not her hip. She has a bit of a temp (104) and he suspects an abscess is brewing so she'll be on Clavamox for 10 days. Hope that does the trick or she goes back for a good look at her hip---which would require a tiny bit of sedation first.

And...super Deb found flea dirt on her so she and the two other fosters just got Advantage treatments and I just had to clean out their room and have fun with flea spray. Hope nothing is brewing in there. I never had a problem with fleas before, but it's gonna happen sooner or later so I better get used to dealing with it.

More soon, I promise and I hope to have FINAL "time to celebrate" news on some of the Henry Co. Cats. Your donations amaze and delight me to no end. You guys KICK ASS and I love you for it!

Left to Right: Felixia, Nova & Malibu

Fostering still goes on here at Covered in Cat Hair HQ. Last night I had a very full lap of loudly purring kittens. I managed to get a sound clip recorded on my iPhone. Came out good! I played it back for the kittens and they were all very curious about how I was pulling off such a realistic purr.

I hope you can keep my secret!

Nova helping herself to a place on the cat bed with Malibu

Malibu is settling down. I'm very proud of him. Nova is helping keep him from running off when I enter the room. If she doesn't, he doesn't. Malibu has also started snuggling with Nova more and more. I hope they get adopted together!

Looks like the kitties will be leaving soon. I need to take in a Mama and 5 kittens pretty soon so these guys will go to our main adoption bldg to wait for their forever homes. It's been nicer than I expected having big kittens here. They're all so sweet and friendly. I have no work. Just love 'em and play with them. Nice and simple.

Felixia. A tiny sweetie pie.

I wish everything was that easy.

Speaking of which-am bouncing emails back and forth with the ladies about how we can help those Henry Co kitties. We're doing our best, but are getting stuck on the 2 week foster/boarding placement we have to come up with right away.

Stay tuned.

We always make sure that our foster cats are helpful, as well as cute.

I didn't even get a chance to post anything about my new arrivals, Ernie, Nova and Felixia! They're all orange or buff tabbies of different ages and sizes. Today, Ernie, who will be named, Bernie (after Bernie Williams) was adopted by a family who already has two cats; one 18yr old who loves other cats and a 9 yr old who's not sure about that.

For the record, Ernie is a very outgoing, friendly and cute little bug. He's got extra toes and big, baseball mit paws.

We wish Ernie good luck and best wishes for a life full of happiness and love in his new home.

Makin' room for more!

A rare moment-Malibu sitting still.

Malibu's been here for a few days. I'm having a tough time warming up to him because once he decides to hang out with me, I get attacked. This guy has a strong drive to nurse, so I'm constantly pushing him away and trying to keep his wet nose off me. Yecch.

I feel guilty. I should be non-judgemental about my fosters and give each and every one of them the same loving care. I like Malibu! He's a good kitty. He's still quite skittish, but even when he hides under the night table, he purrs! I can hear him from a few feet away. It's pretty amusing.

Malibu enjoys channel surfing now!

He's slowly improving, though I need to spend extra time with him because tomorrow...drum roll...I'm getting three more kittens!

Who is ready for some company? Hmmm, let me guess?!

Four kittens aren't bad, but four older kittens, well that's like eight little kittens in craziness! In a way, it's been very peaceful with just Malibu here. He's very tidy and doesn't get into anything. It's been a good break, though I better take a nap today, too. I have a feeling I'm going to need to be well rested tomorrow.

Many people ask me, "How can you foster those cute kittens? I'd want to keep them all! I'd be too sad to let them go!"

Well, I'm sad to see my fosters go, but I'd rather be sad because they left to go to their forever homes, than sad that they died because I couldn't foster them because I already have a house full of cats! Okay, I have a house full of cats, but not "FULL" of cats.

So THIS is why I do it! I cry, then a few days later, I get a gift. This (see below) is who was once called Pixie and Twinkles, now named, Sprite and Cherri.

Are they un-f-ing-believably happy or WHAT?!

Do you suddenly realize that all the pain you may have felt is erased or at least greatly softened by this photo? By knowing "your babies" are doing well? Thriving? Joyful?!

Does THIS photo make you happy?!

Yeah! HELLO!

Being a foster mom is GREAT!

I want all of you to get off your butt and offer to foster ONE kitten or ONE cat or ONE LITTER of kittens from your local shelter. It's not a lifelong commitment. It's not expensive. It's a beautiful way to give back to your community and to those smallest of creatures who are helpless without you. And YOU get something, too. Along the way you'll get such a big dose of love and affection it will stay with you long after they've gone to their forever homes. Then you get another big dose when you find out they're doing really well and are HAPPY!

FOSTER A CAT TODAY!

P.S. and say hello to Snowman; Sprite and Cherri's older brother. He was a rescue boy, too!

Thank you so much to Alpha and her wonderful family not only for giving these kittens a loving and fantastic home, but for also providing these great photos and giving me the permission to share them with all of you!

It's back to Kitty Boot Camp! This week's "camper" is Malibu, a buff short haired boy with a very sleek Oriental Shorthair/Siamese elegance to his form. Originally, he was the friendliest of his litter and the most outgoing. I believe he was overlooked, giving his littermates more attention, since they needed socializing. By the wayside for too long, Malibu became timid so it's off to visit me for some alone-time to help him shake off his bad habits.

Malibu was very shy his first day. He wouldn't let me get too close, but he did surprise me by being willing to let me pet him once I, er, sort of, um, cornered him. Last night he was willing to jump onto the bed and keep me company while I folded laundry. Yes, it's my secret power over unsocial kittens-I fold laundry and ignore them! Works every time!

Malibu kitty is SOOOO skinny! I'll have to get a better photo of him one day so you can see he's almost invisible if you look at him from certain angles. He's very quiet and has a bit of licking, drooling nervous behavior to work out. I hate drooling! Two of my own cats do it and it's gee-ROSS!

In a few more days, Malibu will be joined by more big kitties. This is the point at which my Blog posts will become shorter and more infrequent due to the fact that I can't type and pull my hair out at the same time. Kittens that are over two months old do not get TIRED. EVER! Yet, I will be tired running up the stairs to see what they've knocked off the shelf, NOW or if yes, that WAS the TV set that just got knocked over and exploded all over the floor. I feel tired just thinking about it. 'Nuff said.