Happy Ending: Ellie

Finally!
A little late...but:



Miss Ellie has found her forever home, after 3 1/2 months in foster care and gaining 20(!!) pounds!

She was adopted by a dear friend of mine, who has already adopted two kitties (see Alice and Dinah below). I'm so excited that I still get to see her and watch her enjoy her life! She is fitting in nicely, her health is great and she loves everybody: people, cats, dogs, birds, the rosebush, the fence...you get the picture. Naturally, her foster mom was very sad to let her go, but she did take home a litter of kittens to help ease her empty nest syndrome :)

Here are: Ellie's Foster Mom, Ellie, and her Forever Mom:



THREE CHEERS FOR ELLIE!!

Update: Mama and Bitties!

Well, we've reached 4 weeks--the halfway point!

And even though they are only a month old, these kittens are huge. If I didn't know better I would think they were closer to six weeks old. They are starting to form their personalities, although they are hard to tell apart since they all look the same! I think the same two come to the front door every day, three are constantly wrestling, and one little peanut is always hanging out in the back. We'll work on him.





Mama is growing on me more and more. She's just such a tiny thing, always wants love, and seems to have made a new friend herself:

Pic of the Day

Foster kitten at 2 1/2 weeks old!

Here we go again....another Kitten Season.

Kitten season is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing being that it enables me to have a job, which in this day and age is definitely a good thing! And, obviously, kittens are cute. You are hard pressed to find an ugly kitten, let me tell you.

The curse? Well, pretty much everything else.

Kitten season is the time during the warm months (spring/summer) where many kittens are born and then brought to shelters. However, as time goes by, the 'season' is slowly turning into February through November. That's more of a YEAR than a season!

It starts off slowly: a pregnant cat here and there. Then come the nursing mama cats and the unweaned itty bitties hidden in shoeboxes and under towels. And then the real avalanche begins: 3-4 week old kittens left in boxes overnight, hissy spitties, more moms, kittens with severe Upper Respiratory Infections with their little eyes swollen shut, you name it. Then, as the season winds down, in come the older kittens. The ones that couldn't find homes.

At times it becomes overwhelming. There are so many kittens and only so many adopters.

Needless to say, kitten is a busy time for a foster parent. There are many foster homes that foster continuously throughout the season. Once one litter has grown up and been adopted, they take home another one. Like a revolving door! These families can save well over 20 kittens in one season. Just think about that! 20 little munchkins that will go on to impact the lives of the families that adopt them. Amazing!

I just took home my first litter of the season. I have to admit, I was getting a little antsy.
Empty nest syndrome. :)

And it begins: a mama with six ALL ORANGE bitties. Did I mention that I love orange kitties?!






It's going to be a very busy season.

All Grown Up

Here is my first foster.

Before:


After:

King Midas of Whiskerton started off as a 14oz, hissy spitty, semi feral kitten.....and became a 16+ lb Maine Coon mix. He is very much a mama's boy and typical of anyone's first foster, I kept him.

He's the best.
:)

Love of My Life -- Another Ellie Update!!

We've got fur!!



After one month in foster and five weeks of treatment, we have new fur growing in!! Hooray!

The best part? Ellie is now starting to act like the puppy she never got to be. She gallops around, saying hi to everyone: people, dogs, cats, the wet floor sign--doesn't matter! She loves you!
The other good sign is that her entropion no longer appears as severe as we thought. She's able to open her eyes and doesn't seem to have much drainage.



We have her set up for a spay and possible eye surgery next week, so we have our fingers crossed. If she keeps improving at this rate, she should be done with treatment within another month!



(Don't you love this one? Looks like a mugshot! Too funny.)

Pic of the Day

One of four puppies born after an emergency c-section.
Spay and neuter!