yea! just heard back from giz's new parents.. she's doing well. Was a little scared at first, but has come out of her shell.

*big goofy grin*

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 7:38 PM ~

the first one is us waiting for Kirsten at the shelter to go be spayed. the second photo is of a number of the kitties. The cage on the left were where my five were stored, then there were two other cages of kittens as well.

can you say "overwhelming"?

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 1:45 PM ~

yea! got gimmie adopted today.. Im so glad. She was so obnoxious, but she grows on you, and if I could have I probably would have kept her. Here's hoping that they bond to each other and are very happy with one another.
Star and Stripe are still up for adoption. Im thinking its going to be a while for them, as I asked that they go together. they were so bonded, that stripe was starting to nurse on star. and she let stripe do it (man I hope who ever adopts those two comes up with better names!! lol) Since stripe has had that vaccine reaction, Im sure that's going to make her more difficult to place, and that they should go together will also deter people, but I KNOW the right family will come along in the next week.. possibly two. *crosses fingers that who ever adopts them brings them to the clinic that I work at* But even knowing all this I still cried on the way home. Leaving kittens at the shelter after they are ready for adoption is VERY hard.

I also gave the kittens their first shot of distemper vaccine. Went over fairly well. the girls were hard to catch. I so need to get a TV in that room, so they get used to the sounds of people.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 1:38 PM ~

I gave jack his second dose of dewormer today.. it did NOT go over well at all. it made him go all foamy at the mouth, he was quite ticked off at me. I tried to hide it in some wet food.. a total treat for him, but nope.. he ate around them. so I tried again, and poof they went down.. but he was so unhappy about it that he ran to the other side of the room when we were done.. I tried to coax him back with his ultimate favorite food - turkey baby food, and he came closer, but made sure he stayed an arms length away from me. I feel so bad, but he so needed it. well not that Ive seen any more worms coming from him, but I most definitely want to keep it that way!!

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 9:57 AM ~

Pumpkin and Giz were adopted today. :) I had a couple people looking at gimmie, but sadly she didn't get adopted today. I am going to go back tomorrow and try and find her the perfect home. I am very much wanting it to be my home, but unfortunately I can't bring any more cats into the house due to the fact that jack is Felv positive, and the FIP.. *sigh*

Tonight driving home from the movies we hit a kitty running across the road. The cat ran off, so we have no idea how injured it is.. hopefully not very. Totally shook me emotionally though. Driving home from that, I saw a couple more kitties dead on the side of the road.

I really hate people.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 11:35 PM ~

there are going to be 22 kittens up for adoption tomorrow.. i hope mine are adopted.. cause I absolutely hate leaving them there after they have been up for adoption for a day.

We had "day of beauty" for my kitties today.. I really need to make a point of doing that at least once a week if not more, cause they are starting to fight me on it.. I trim their claws, comb the fur, and brush the teeth. Ollie refuses to let me do it if there is anyone else in the room. Its like he is embarassed. he still growls at me when I restrain him, but at least he's not fighting me. Im so lucky that he keeps his fur so well. we get a lot of cats in the clinic with huge matts that get so tight they pull the skin and are uncomfortable. Every once in a while he gets a matt, but they are small and are easy to pull out. Most of the time I can get them out with out him getting too mad. Im surprised the brushing of the teeth isn't harder than it is.. but since I only need to get the outer sides it works out well. I think they might like the flavor of the tooth paste too. Not overly, but its tolerable.

Ive gotten to the point with Eli that I need to talk to the doctor about his tear ducts. cause his eyes are looking horrible, the skin underneith is looking quite inflamed, and he hates it when I clean him off. I can't keep doing that, he'll never want to be around me. I'll let you know more about it when I work up the courage to talk to someone about it. hard to do since there isn't much time in the day to chat with someone at work.. and since Ive only been there a short time, I don't want to seem like im taking advantage of the perks of the job..

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:38 PM ~

Can you guess who is who? if not, view the properties of the pictures, their names are in the file names.



I have some good shots of the elders, but I'll process those later. They are going back tomorrow and will go up for adoption this Saturday. If your in Southern Maine and you want to adopt a kitten.. they'll be avalible!

:)

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:29 PM ~

well blogger is down so I have no idea when I'll get to post this. Its Wednesday night. Its quite warm here, but the kitties don't seem to mind.

The elder set is getting VERY sneaky at not taking their medication. I drop it into their throats, and wait till they swallow it, and then I check to make sure its gone, but twice tonight I found pills on the carpet.. *rolls eyes* Someone also still has quite loose stools, but since they all seem to be doing very well.. active, eating, growing, playing, friendly... Im just going to let this one go. Their lymph nodes are still swollen.. but there isn't much I can do about that either. I will miss them. Gimmie has decided to lay on my shoulders instead of sitting on them. its really sweet. she also had a slight nibble on my ear. Pumpkin crawled right up into my lap this evening.. he's so friendly. He's getting past his bite everything that moves stage. he's still nibbling.. but its just a taste.. not an actual nip.. He likes it when I crawl around on the floor too. Likes to be between my arms and legs.

I've left the younger ones out for the past day or so.. they did well yesterday, but today someone had gone pee on the towel I keep in the cage... so back in the cage they went. Fozzie didn't seem that interested in eating. If I put food in her mouth she ate it right up and seemed very interested, but not so much in the fact that I was the one to put it there. She's still hand shy.. so is Miss Piggy... although we are working on her.. was patting her tummy this evening..

Muffin has decided she likes looking out the window in the bathroom. Its the only window on that side of the house, so I suppose I can understand. It was ollie's favorite place to sit for a while.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 7:10 PM ~

*flomps in chair - covers self with a quilt*

ok.. Im a little scared now.. Stripe's lymp nodes are swollen. This is NOT good.. she's be on antibiotics since Saturday now.. they shouldn't be swelling up. a few of the other's aren't not swollen if you know what I mean. Only one of them weren't at all.. but i can't remember at the moment who it is. Stripe also had a belly full of gas. felt a lot like kodi's did .. I can't go there though. she's fine.. she's fine.. she's fine.. she's just having a reaction to the vaccine, and it will be fine..

the kittens are getting good at not taking their pills.. its frustrationg. They are going back Friday though, for a Saturday adoption - providing everything goes well at their check up friday afternoon - when they get spayed / neutered.. if not I guess I'll take them home on saturday..

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:16 PM ~

peanut has hit one pound.. yahooie!! lol
fozzie is 1lb 6oz.. I couldn't get anyone else.

my elders are doing well. The growth on stripe's back has diminished. I haven't found anyone who hates clavamox as much as she does though.. starts pawing at her face after I give it to her. Only Gimmie is under weight at this point, and she'll definitely be ready by the end of the week. I thought I'd bring the elders in on Thursday but I called this morning and there is no one there that early. But there is on Wednesday.. hopefully they wont go up for adoption till saturday. I can bring the kits in on saturday too for their vaccines. *crosses fingers that all goes well*

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 6:19 PM ~

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 8:30 PM ~

the medication went over way way better this time than last.. guess that since their mouths are a bit bigger now they didn't feel so overwhemed with the .25 cc in it. Star threw up afterwards, but the pill didn't come back up, which is what matters.

Peanut was wagging his little tail yesterday.. it was ever so cute. Gonzo likes 'attacking' his mother. Im a big kitty.. yes I am.. im gonna get you.. this set is going to be hard to give back..

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 11:19 PM ~

well the elders have coccidia.. so they are on albon for 10 days.. fun fun. NOT. Gimmie does NOT like to be pilled at all. I have to give them strongid as well.. which they also hate with a passion, and I have the scratches to prove it. why they make a dewormer that smells like bananas is a mystery to me. could you please make it smell like tuna?? Gim also has the inane desire to sit on my shoulders.. she likes to scale my back to get there.. must make note not to ever go down there again with a thin shirt on..

The kitten's eyes are changing over.. *whimper* they are getting so big.. they are all eating solid foods now.. sampling dry food as well. Peanut's breathing is still obvious. I wouldn't call it labored.. but his whole chest still collapses with each breath. I was talking to a gentleman at work the other day who had a cat with a deviated septum, and he lived a nice full life. *crosses fingers that is what it is* I should probably bring him in soon and see if they can xray him and get an idea what is going on.. but he's eating well, and pooping well, so it doesn't appear to be what mew had.. thankgoodness!!

My guys are all doing very well. Em was sneezing the other day.. pretty bad too. Figured Id give it one more day and then go in and get something to help her through it. There is nothing they can give for URI.. but they give antibiotics to make sure that a secondary infection doesn't take hold.. but she stopped.. so that is good. Eli's face cleared up for a day.. but now its all goopy again. I really do need to get him in to the vet for a tear duct flush.. (did I mention this before? Its a surgery where they go in and clear out the tear ducts - which will help if his are blocked, but not if his eyes are just producing more tears than his ducts can handle. Im sure they are blocked though.. from the URI) Jack is about a week away from his second deworming dose. I haven't seen any more worms, and his stool doesn't smell nearly as bad as it did. Ollie is getting more and more comfortable with his new siblings. there are still occasional spats, but he plays more. Its so cute to see him chasing Eli through the house, then eli turning around and chasing after him. Muffin is still awful cute.. despite using me as a door mat.

You should also check out this its too cute. I particularly liked gem, which was an acronym for green eyed monster.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 7:14 PM ~

and peanut is.. ready for this... the one on the bottom. :) cute hun?
Im trying to find another good shot of him but its hard.. he thinks the camera is a game, so in a lot of them he's peeking out around something, or his back is turned... I'll upload two of them so you can see.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 9:10 PM ~

can you pick out the runt?

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 6:09 PM ~

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 5:14 AM ~

btw.. there were a couple of comments about the catnip pad.. cat nip is very easy to grow.. its like any other herb.. in fact its part of the mint family. There are cases of cats who don't really react to cat nip that love mint... one person I read about gives their cat herbal mint tea bags.. :) I had a small problem with growing it because I failed to keep the container watered.. and it dried out, but that is what your supposed to do anyway, so I just clipped off the roots and gave it to them. Fresh nip is great too. Be aware though.. they eat it. totally not a problem, its good for them, but it freaked me out the first time one of my kitties actually ate it. Before they had just rubbed around in it.

kittens often don't react to nip at all.. its something they grown into. some are more prone to it than others. Eli is a nip o holic.. my first kitty Tigger was as well. he tended to get vicious when on nip.. not violent.. just in such joy he didn't want you to interupt it, even if you were just giving him more, he didn't understand... man I miss that kitty.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:47 AM ~

Peanut is getting so big.. I had to do a triple take the other day to make sure it was him. :) its great. Still not interested in food, but that's ok.. neither is gonzo or fozzy... although walking on the side of the couch like spiderman is one of their favorite activities..

Five of the elders went back to the shelter on Thursday.. Hanz, Franz, splat, edgar and willow. Willow and Hanz were adopted by a guy who commutes from florida to maine.. had his cats for 15 years. Franz was in someone else's hands but unfortunately they couldn't adopt him because their vaccines weren't up to date on their current pets. franz and splat were looked at by another family, but they just couldn't "make a connection". Edgar and splat were considered by a family with two children.. the girl wanted what ever kitty she had in her hands. :) The dad and the son wanted Edgar. I pointed out he was obnoixous, but they were willing to take him. They also go to the clinic that I work at, so I'll see him again. Splat and Franz were starting to get quite grumpy at this point. Another family came in with two boys. I didn't get a good feeling about them, and when the younger boy asked to hold splat, he dropped him right away. They ended up taking another kitten - jenny - that was avalible. One of the other volunteers knew of someone who was looking for a kitten. She called up her friend and she came down with her son. They had recently adopted a kitten from the shelter who was quite sick, and died soon afterwards. I assured her that franz was very friendly - just a little grumpy after the day he had had and after just being neutered - and VERY healthy. I was so lucky with this set. She adopted him. Then towards the end of the day someone had come in for the kitten shower, and suzanne was saying I was a foster parent with kittens up for adoption. I showed her splat, and she said that she had an all black cat in mind before coming. it was a perfect fit. She took my email address and said she'll let me know what she names him :)

after being there for 8 rounds of adoptions, so far only one kitten wasn't adopted the day they were avalible - and he was adopted the next day. Leaving him at the shelter after being up for adoption all day was quite hard.. and I was so glad I didn't have to do that again.

Five down.. 11 to go.. lol. well 12 if you count charlie...

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:42 AM ~

five am. Yes.. five am. Someone decided to play with a jingly ball. I figured it was Eli. I got up, saw muffin, heard the bell. Saw Eli. heard the bell. Jack? yup.. Jack was playing with the ball. I took the ball away and went back to bed He found another one. I gave up and got up. now of course he's not playing with one. Silly kitty.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 5:22 AM ~

well the little ones are growing like weeds. I can't even weigh them any more, they don't sit still on the scale. I have to really look to see which one is peanut.. its awesome. Tonight I put a dab of real cat food on their muzzles.. peanut gonzo and fozzie weren't all that intersted, they chose to go explore.. but Miss Piggy and Kermit went and ate some of mom's food. They both started out by chewing on the paper tray the food was in.. it was cute. Afterwards Miss Piggy went off to groom herself. they are getting so ultra cute!. I have a few more picts to edit and post.. you'll love them.

I have five of the elder kitties that are going back to the shelter tomorrow. Hanz and Franz and Melody and splat and Edgar. Im not 100% sure that splat and edgar are heavy enough.. Im 90% sure on edgar .. mr teeth and claws.. man that kitten is obnoxious. He was attacking my hair today. And Im 50-75% sure about splat. sometimes the scale read 2.35.. sometimes it read 2.5 its a totally whacked scale.. its so old.. but hey.. its better than holding them in your hand and trying to guess their weight.. lol.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 9:58 PM ~

my eli is a little cat nip insane..

Ive known this for a while.

I just made a catnip pad for the kitties (ok.. for eli) its quite cute.. its purple with kitties on it.. its flannel. I put in some cat nip I grew a couple of moons ago.. he's having an absolute field day with it. biting it, attacking it, rolling around on it.. which of course peaks the interest of muffin and jack.. who come play with him.. but he's not really playing.. he's nip-i-fied..

man I wish I could do a little movie of him for you, cause still shots just don't capture the utter rapture he's in..

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 2:51 PM ~

the kits have a new milestone.. they are now going pee in the box!!! I saw gonzo digging around in there, then his tushie was a little wet. I then changed out the litter box, and put everyone in it. Peanut - all 8.9 oz of him started digging around and then he made a piddle.. :) then kermit joined in the fun. Not much better than a clean litter box to mark when your a kitten.. the only thing better is to have someone digging around looking for your "little treasures"

which seems to be the favorite past time of the elders.. lol they love getting in my way, watching me dig, occasionally they will get in the box and either try to find one for me or make a new one for me to find.

they had free run of the whole room today cause I was running late, and they made an absolute sty out of the room again.. even pulled a label off of one of the food cans. I eventually found it stuffed under the heater.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:38 PM ~

ok.. my little nutcase is now .. ready for this? 8.4!!! his breathing, while abnormal, wouldn't be something you would notice about him now, if it wasn't mentioned to you. Miss Piggy is 14 oz.. :) they are walking much better now, running fairly well, and starting to get teeth - well except for peanut.. I think this is the first thing that he is last at doing.. no wait.. having BOTH eyes open he was last at.. but second in having an eye open. They still don't know what food is for, but they like dunking their noses in the water bowl. MP and Kermit aren't all that adventurous.. they usually stay in the cage and play with one another while Im in there. Gonzo is mr explorer.. peanut is usually on my lap or asking for help getting there.. fozzie just toddles around. I put a second towel in their cage so they would have a "mountain" to explore, they loved it.

The elders are .... well they really are too much. I never thought Id say that, and frankly if I had a few more hours in my day I probably wouldn't mind them a bit, but with my work day, and travel, and eating and sleeping, I don't have much time for much else. I haven't been able to even work out for the past couple of days. I brought home some more supplies for them on tuesday. a banana box FULL of litter and food. Im already thinking its not going to last the week. They are now eating four large cans of food plus some per day, plus the bowl or two of dry food.. I also got a new toy. the small pieces of wood covered in carpet, with a spring coming out of it, with a puff ball at the top. that was a big hit. One of the calicos I named stripe (cause she hangs around with star) got a hold of that puff ball and became so territorial of it I was starting to fear for anyone who went near her to find out what she was complaining about. Ive got names for just about everyone, except one or two calicos and the fluffy black kitty. I named the fluffy tigers mike and ike. The short haired tiger is pumpkin. The calico with a dot on her head is star, the one with the white eye is stripe. the calico that has the most white is gimmie.. the black kitty with the white chest is Edgar. so thats *counts in head* seven.. so there are two calicos and fluffy who don't have names.. any suggestions? (fluffy is a boy, the other two are girls)

As for my own brood.. they are doing well. Eli is starting to sneeze again. I think he's going to have to be on doxy all his life.. poor thing.. he doesn't like getting pills. Muffin had a growth spurt. she seems absolutely huge now.. as does Jack. Part of me wants to believe it is because I spend time with the little ones, but Eli hasn't seemed to have gotten any bigger. I would have been totally happy with Muffin staying little all her life, but alas, it was not to be. That's ok. I really love bigger kitties. There was a HUGE cat at the shelter a month or so back.. huge is an understatement. He wasn't overweight.. just had a huge head, stood taller than I have ever seen a kitty stand. He looks a lot like my Ollie (second button from the left up at the top there if you want to see him) I would have adopted him in a heart beat if I could have.. oh well. One day when I can start adopting kitties again, I'll have to keep my eye out for a large one!

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 10:23 PM ~

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 1:41 PM ~

I went and took care of the kittens last night. Charlie had thrown up again. I changed out the litter she was using, cause it had started soon after I gave her this new brand. It looks like Styrofoam.. I really liked it, but if it was causing her to throw up.. then out it goes. She threw up again this morning.. *crosses fingers that it is just a left over reaction to the litter* The kits seemed a bit dehydrated. Peanut went from 7.4 to 7.1 this morning (yes.. seven!!) so Im going to go stuff them full of KMR.

Peanut has also shown signs of wanting to eat. only problem is that he wants to eat litter. yes.. litter. Three times now he's found a pile of litter at the edge of the cage and gummed it.. I had to pull a few pieces out of his mouth. This morning he dipped his muzzle in the water bowl. it was uber cute. Gonzo's eyes have turned an incredible shade of blue. its mesmerizing.

the elders are doing well as well. I fed them two huge cans of food last night and they gobbled it all down. wont be long now. :) I am thinking Im going to bring them back in time for the "Kitten Shower" that the shelter is going to be having on the 14. its a fundraising day for the foster kitten program. We are always in need of kitten food, litter toys and other accoutrements for kittens.. I personally would like a good digital scale, so I can keep a good eye on their weight. I have a food scale Im weighing peanut on, but its not going to last much longer.. and Im weighing the elders on an old baby scale that gets out of whack after almost every time I use it. I donated a cute kitty set of a photo frame, place mat, bowl and treat jar I found in a set at the store for a raffle. Im thinking of making up a few pillows out of the left over fabric I have from the making of the litter box box. Should be fun. If you are interested in contributing to the fundraiser for the shelter, let me know and I can get you in contact with them.

posted by ~*Connie*~ at 11:03 AM ~