Oh, Sigh...

There's one less girl around here now. Dearest Dolly found her new home on Saturday.


Her new mom is really the best of the best. Of course, she knew about Dolly's fractures and the possibility of arthritis developing in her hip. She also knew that should that happen, Dolly may require surgery if it gets too painful.

She called the shelter vet for some straight talk about Dolly's condition, asked some good questions and got what she needed to make an informed decision. She drove the 45 minutes or so on Saturday knowing full well that once she met her it would be all over.

And it was.



Mom has already written me:

"The trip home was uneventful, and Dolly settled in quite quickly! She also decided she would be a dear, and has been very sweet - so snuggly! so purry! so adorable!"

Of course. What else could she be? She's been all those things from day one. Who knows what befell her at such a young age, but she's been such an inspiration and fluffy reminder to not spend too much time on the pitfalls. Bounce back up! Choose to be happy! She's been a blessing to me and I know she is in her new home as well.

P.S. Not only was this special adopter willing to deal with some possible issues down the road, Dolly had another family waiting in the wings should this one not work out.

If this blog has done nothing else, it has reminded me over and over again of the goodness of people and the love they have for animals. Thank you all for caring as you do. You make such a difference in this world. All life matters.

Boy Meets Girl

One thing I've learned about kittens under the weather is that when they decide to turn the corner, they do it full speed ahead!

Don't let Allen's groggy appearance here fool you. He's doing great after a very hard day of exploring outside the bathroom and stuffing his belly. He's fat, fat, fat! He's gained half a pound in less than a week. Pretty darn good considering that's 30% of his body weight.

The down side of opening the door of his private suite was that Dolly discovered his heated bed. All the poor boy wanted to do was sleep.



She's several times his size and a bit - let's say extroverted. Though she behaved for the most part, there were a few instances requiring the referee to step in.

Allen is healthy. All is well with the family.

Oh, Dolly

Now you're just being silly.

Allen

I have a new tenant in the bathroom. It's Allen.

He's been here nearly a week now, feeling pretty puny. He's been tested for this and that and so far everything's negative. But the little guy has some serious digestive system issues.

I'm doing everything I can to help him along. He's so gentle and sweet. Even after his daily bath - yes, it's necessary - he sits and gazes at me while I comb and dry and comb and dry. His little eyes seem to say that he trusts me and knows I only want him to feel better.

I think he'll go to work with me tomorrow so I can keep an eye on him. I'm such a mother hen.

Update! OMG! OMG! OMG! He ate some crunchies during the night and now he's drinking water! Apparently what he needed was some positive energy from the blogosphere! I should have posted him sooner. Thank you for the good wishes!

Confidential to my friend in Finland: I got it!! Oh my! Please, please email me so I can write you back!

Well Helloooo

Dolly!

Isn't she though? This jewel came to the shelter on December 4th, roughly 10 weeks old. All by herself, with a fractured pelvis and hip. Not that you would have known, mind you. Active as all get out, she was! But the hitch in her git-along gave her away.

Since there was really nothing to be done but allow them to heal on their own, Dolly needed to be confined to a kennel or crate for about 6 weeks to prevent her natural uber-enthusiasm from doing any further damage.

She stayed in the Vet Treatment area of the shelter for a while, then on December 23rd I brought her home for the duration of her convalescence. She was kept away from the other kitties in a large wire crate I keep in the basement for such occasions. It's replete with a soft blanket covering the bottom, an even softer bed with a heating pad, a scratching gizmo tied to the side and of course a toy or two to bat around.

She was such a patient little patient. The other kittens would barrel down the stairs with me on laundry day. Dolly would sit up and take notice; watch the babies chase each other back and forth across the floor. Her crate was up high on a workbench where she had an excellent vantage point but the other kitties couldn't get to her.

When I'd go down to feed or visit with her, she'd throw herself backwards over the edge of her bed and s-t-r-e-t-c-h her forearms between the bars for pets. Every time. I'd open the door of the crate and rather than try to escape, she'd climb up my chest and snuggle so close it was all I could do to hold her far enough from my face to get a good look at her. Purr, rub, purr, rub, repeat.

Dolly came to work with me last week for a new set of x-rays. She is healing quite nicely thank you, and the doctor declared her confinement to be over! Freedom!

Ida has been the solo kitten for a while now and I don't know which little girl was happier to finally have a playmate! The moment Dolly saw her she pounced, throwing her arms around Ida's neck and the rasslin' began. They were inseparable from then on.

Don't let the fact that Dolly is on the bottom here fool you. She was just as likely to be the aggressor, and most often she was. They ran and played and slept together from the minute they met.

Ida has now gone to her new home. Her mama gave her papa a kitten gift certificate for Christmas. Ida stole their hearts.

Dolly was a little confused at first I think, but she's fine now. She plays with Minnie and Rosie and sleeps under the covers with me.

She's scheduled to be spayed on Friday and will be ready for adoption. Her new family will need to understand that there's a possibility she may develop arthritis in her hip some day. Of course, she may not. They'll also need to be willing to spend a great deal of time with a purring kitty cat draped around their necks. No compromises.

Girl Kitty, Boa Kitty

I've been holding out on you a little. Miss Ida is still here. She was the tiniest Costello kitten and took a while to achieve surgery weight. Then she got a cold.

There had been some inquiries about her before Christmas, but for this reason and that, they didn't work out. So she has been coddled and spoiled by Rosie, Minnie, Iris and moi since Buster left on Christmas Eve.

But not for long, I fear. Her surgery is scheduled for Monday, at which time she will also be posted on the Humane Society website. I expect to get lots of emails as there just aren't many little ones available these days and she's just so darn beautiful.

I'll be picky about where she goes, so if you're interested drop me an email and convince me that she's yours!

Thank You Most Sincerely

Thank you to all who have left kind words and well-wishes. You are a thoughtful bunch of people and I am most grateful. I'm doing very well and will be re-charging my batteries for a while yet.

For a surprise treat today we have a Special Guest Contributor! You all remember Lucy and Molly/Lilo? Their mama has quite a knack for sharing their antics on facebook. She has provided many a giggle with tales of her girls. She does love them so.

Yesterday she outdid herself. I have received permission to post so without further ado, please enjoy.

Adventures in Cat Parenting

Well, that was fun.

Lucy and Molly, working as a team, managed to get into the cabinet where their treats are kept. Having accomplished her goal with the help of her sister, Lucy abandoned their partnership, grabbed a package of freeze-dried duck hearts, and made off with them.

At this point, the growling and snarling alerted me to trouble, and I came in to the kitchen to find a snarling, nearly mindless wild creature holding a package nearly as large as she is. She darted into my bedroom, but I chased her back out and shut the door.

I proceeded to chase her around the apartment for about ten minutes. I'd catch her and pick her up. She'd writhe and attempt to reach my hands with her back claws. She couldn't bite me without dropping the package, but any attempt to pull it away from her was met with a claw attack on my hands.

Finally, knowing I couldn't leave her to it or she'd eat herself sick, and unable to get her to release it, I hauled her into the bathroom, turned on the bath faucet, and stuck her under the water.

This did not, as I hoped, shock her into dropping the package. At this point, she'd chewed a hole in the package and began shaking her head wildly as I tried to pull it away.

Result: duck hearts flung all over the bathroom while we continued to fight over the now-empty package. She eventually realized it was empty, dropped it, and lunged for a duck heart. (In the midst of all of this, a gray paw slipped under the door and palmed a heart, then vanished. Molly usually stays calm and cool while Lucy goes nuts over food, and wins out.)

I grabbed my soaking wet, still-snarling kitty and tossed her out of the bathroom so that I could clean up my bathroom, which looked like a scene from a horror movie.

She's now sitting on my knee, returned to normal, trying to dry off and feeling very sorry for herself.

HMPH.

Thank you from my heart, Jessica. This is hilarious and sweet and I love it.

Winter Hibernation

The kitties and I will be taking a hiatus for a while. There are currently no babies, I've had a very minor surgery, and there are some projects around the house that are better accomplished without little ones here.

I'll no doubt post a this or a that now and then, and will return to regular programming when new kittens arrive. I'll also put together a post of all the recent adoptions and updates. There are lots of happy stories to relate.

So in the meantime, a few moments with Iris and Ida. Such a lovely pair, no?