KITTEN UPDATE!

Wellllllll, Im back! (the human here, btw) And I wanted to share some photos and updates of the 10 cats we rescued in September!

Long story short, no homes could be found in Sacramento. There are WAY too many cats here, and a MASSIVE feral problem. There are kittens and cats of every age, color, and personality in every shelter in & around this city. No shelter or rescue could take them, and efforts to place them myself (on craigslist, facebook, through friends, at petfinder, etc) all came up with NOTHING. So, of the 4 babies, we kept one- "Gizmo", now "Biscuit", (arg! I know, but we could NOT give her up!), "Junie", now "Zilite" (zee-lee-tuh) went home with a friend of mine in SF, and the other 2 were flown to Seattle and last I heard 1- "Ninja"- had already been adopted the day she became available!, and Im sure the other- "Gollum"- has since been as well, and if not, he will be VERY SOON.

As for the others, the mamma cat escaped before her spay (ARG!), but has been hanging around again lately so we hope to get her fixed ASAP, we re-released the long-haired cream male after he recovered from his neuter, as he was totally miserable indoors.

I continued working with the remaining 4 youngsters which mixed results. All improved quite remarkably except the tortie, "Charm." She remained jumpy, was always the first to run & hide, and never got to the point where she wanted to play, unlike all the others who LOVED to. The white/orange tabby, "Creamsicle," eventually hit a plateau, and because I was going back home for the holiday I had to eventually make decisions on them all; it had been well over 2 months and I couldn't go on feeding & caring for them if they were not going to be adoptable.

It came down to the fact that Charm & Creamsicle both never got to the point where they enjoyed being touched. On VERY rare occasions (while eating canned food) they would appear to enjoy a quick rump scratch but this was very fleeting. Usually they would flatten & shift their body to avoid being touched, and would only allow it while eating as it was. The other 2, "Flirt" the calico, and "Bowie" the long-haired orange tabby make HUGE strides, LOVED being pet/played with, were much more curious and out-going, and I knew they would be happy as pets and were adoptable.

So I made the decision to fly Flirt & Bowie to Seattle as well, and re-release Charm & Creamsicle. I still feel iffy about releasing Creamsicle, I think he would've been quite happy as a pet, but the challenge would be in finding an owner willing to live with a cat that would probably never be handleable, and that type of owner is very hard to find. I might end up re-catching him in the spring and driving him to Seattle with me if a foster home could be found, but thats still very up in the air.

As of right now, Flirt & Bowie are in foster care (in different homes) getting one-on-one attention and socialization with very skilled people. They are in the care of a no-kill shelter and will be adopted out in time, however long it takes, no risk of being PTS just because they are a little shy.

***HUGE thanks to my best friend Beth, for scoring these 4 special kitties spots at this awesome shelter!!!***

and now some photos of the last 3 months--

first, THE BABIES:

Ninja, Gollum, Junie

Junie, Gollum, Ninja, Biscuit

discovering the mirror!

hmm, whats this?

watching 4 synchronized kitten, heads wiggling back and forth watching the feather provided ENDLESS entertainment for us!

they all love hair, but especially Junie! (they love Tony's beard especially.. lol RIOT)

fun with a box!

Biscuit & Junie

Biscuit (need to get her a new tag now that we've given her a proper name..)

last photo of Ninja before flying to Seattle

last photo of Gollum before flying to Seattle--he's all pink and hot from chasing Da Bird toy!

+ + + + +

now, THE FERALS:

the first day photos:

Creamsicle & Charm, the morning before capture!

Creamsicle & Cream huddling around mamma

Charm inching out for food

poor little Bowie

AFTER photos:


Bowie now--YES, this the the same cat as above!!! I am so in love with this amazing boy. He is SUCH a lover, and has a HUGE personality. he was so weak and sickly, but after 2 weeks of a steady diet he just suddenly blossomed! I hope he finds a home to cherish him very soon

pretty Charm and her cleft lip/palate (hard to see on a black face!)

Charm, Creamsicle & Mamma

Creamsicle, Flirt & Bowie

Flirt <3

Creamsicle, he really blossomed at play time

tired from chasing Da Bird


taken at my mom's house, a few days after their flight. everyone took it remarkably well except poor Bowie. it took his a few days to settle down again.

and some photos of the re-released cats, Creamsicle & Cream, that I took yesterday! they look great and are SO happy. I love that they all hang out together as a family again (mamma had disappeared until Creamsicle & Charm were released), PLAY together, etc.

It was really hard for me to release Creamsicle, he really made a lot of improvement but just wasnt adoptable in time. He was very scared and confused going back outside and would meow at our windows every night that first week. I was over joyed yesterday to see him & his brother playing together, rolling around in the grass, and soaking up the sun:

Cream had just pounced on Creamsicle--adorable!

gorgeous boy

it was awful seeing him suffering indoors. he just laid frozen in the back of his cage all day. wouldnt even eat if I was in the room (even mamma got to the point where she'd eat out of my hand!) I know he would never adapt to pet life, so Im happy to see him thriving in the "wild"


even mamma came out to say hi (I saw Charm too a bit later but it was shady in the yard by then and shes black so didnt get any photos; she usually only comes out at night. same with mamma)

and of course, my favorites from the day:






now if that's not a happy cat, I dont know what it--PURE BLISS.

will post some new photos of the beasts this week, but for now--BED TIME!

-Margaret