The School yard Kitten

The Vet office I was working at in May of 2012 was directly across a busy street from a school. the school has a large front yard with many very large azalea bushes. Apparently the perfect place for a mother cat to hide her kittens. That is until one of them is found. That was when I met this tiny little baby:

Little Bitty Kitten

 One of the school children had found her and the Teacher took her  across the street to us knowing that we would be able to help it. The tiny kitten was a little girl and she spent the rest of the day hanging out in the vet office soaking up all the love and attention that a kitten can handle. The rest of the time she stayed nestled in my pocket where she slept the day away.

Happiness is a kitten in your pocket :)

I took her home with me that night and set her up a little play area where she would be safe. My couch at the time was just high enough off the ground for kittens to get stuck under and there are a lot of cords and plugs behind the TV stand for tiny kittens to get in trouble with. My cats were unimpressed. I swear they give me the same look my husband does when a new kitten comes home with me. It's like they are all saying "Really? Again?". 

Kitten's playpen (It's actually my rabbits)

I made the Kitten a tiny collar and a harness so she could explore outside a little bit. We called her Honey B short for honey badger, because she had a pint sized little cattitude that let us know she didn't care what we thought . She was sweet, but Very sassy! Such a cutie.

Honey B strolling around the backyard

Honey B in her tiny harness

I only had her for a week or so when I heard that one of our very good clients who was also my friend lost their recently adopted kitten to a fatal illness. They were heartbroken and I was very sad for them because the kitten they had adopted was such a sweet little boy. I knew that they were very sad without him, and so I offered for them to meet Honey B.

What's a new home?

 They Loved her from first sight! It made me happy to see a bit of joy on their grief stricken faces and also to know that Honey B would have a great forever home with a loving family. They needed a night to prepare for new kitten and then would pick her up the next day.

I'm going home!

The next day was bitter sweet. I was so happy for her and for her new family, but I would miss her. Her new family named her Shira after the princess of power from the 80's cartoon He Man. I loved it! I used to watch that cartoon when I was little too. It ended up being a very happy day with Shira getting a home! 

The End

and there were other surprises in store that day too.......
but I hadn't met them just yet.
 Read about them in A tale of two kittens

How I got into fostering feral kittens

 In June of 2012 ,on a lazy day I was talking to my niece about some cats that I had seen in a graveyard down town. I told her how I had always seen them hanging around and wondered if anyone else knew about them. We were bored so I suggested "Do you want to go look for kittens?".  "Sure." She replied. So we hopped into the car and took off.

We first went to a few places that were away from down town that I had heard reports of kittens being there from several sources. No luck in the first few places though. When we pulled up at the graveyard we saw a few small black kittens on the hill going into the brush. We quickly jumped out of the car and followed them into the bushes. 

Two of them ran into the thick brush and climbed up on a fallen tree and the third ran down into the drainage ditch and headed for a culvert. My niece was looking around in the brush and I heard her exclaim "There is one right here!". As I looked over she had reached down and picked up a small frightened black kitten. We quickly whisked him away to the cat carrier in the car and went back to find the other two. 

Andrew, the first kitten my niece caught

We made our way back into the brush and could see one of the other kittens still hiding in the brush surrounding the fallen tree. It was very reluctant to let us approach it and ran from us when ever we tried to get closer. I went down into the drainage ditch in an effort to head him off as my niece flushed him down the hill. I narrowly missed grabbing him as he slipped into the culvert. I tried reaching in the pipe to see if I could find him, but I was met with growling and hissing and I decided it best to back off.

At that time we decided to get the kitten we had found home and settled in before regrouping to come back for the other two. I decided that I would need a trap to get the other two kittens because they seemed a little on the not so nice side. My niece and I headed over to the hardware store to purchase a live trap and then headed back to  the graveyard.

When we got there it was obvious that the kittens were still in the pipe so we set the trap at the mouth of it loaded it with fishy bait and waited. The kittens knew we were there and were not going to come out with us watching so we tool a drive around the block to give them some time to think about the yummy smelling sardines in the can at the back of the trap. 

After our little drive around we made our way back to the graveyard to find that there was a kitten in the trap. Just one. well, it was a start and the very first feral kitten I ever trapped. At least I thought it was a kitten. When we got closer we realized that this was a pretty big kitten and not a kitten at all. It was momma! and she was not happy to see us. 

My niece asked what we should do. I told her the most responsible thing to do would be to have her fixed before putting her back so she wouldn't have anymore babies. She asked why we should put her back now that we had her, and I had to explain that feral cats that are adults rarely ever adjust to indoor life well. She would probably never become friendly and always be mistrusting of people, so it would be better for her if she just went back to the environment that she was familiar with. 

I called the local Neuter scooter and set up an appointment for her, but they wouldn't be able to do it for a week or so. I decided that I would set up an extra large dog kennel in my garage and keep her there until then because I knew we probably would never be able to trap her twice. We came out of the bushes to go back to the car and saw a man putting out cat food at a feeding station by the tree. I introduced myself and asked if the trapped cat was one of his. He said that it was, so I explained that I wanted to take her to have her spayed and that I would bring her back afterwards if that was alright with him. He agreed and I left my phone number with him.

Once we got the momma cat home and settled into her over sized dog kennel out in the garage we set back to put the trap back out for the remaining kitten. He was still in the drainage pipe and was not coming out for anyone or anything. We set the trap in from of it and barricaded the sides so he would have to exit through the trap (he had already jumped over it several times that day). Then we covered the trap with brush and leaves to conceal it so when he was trapped he wouldn't be out in the open. At this point it was getting late and dark, so we decided to wake up super early in the morning and check the trap.

The next day 4am came early and found me and my niece back at the graveyard. Success! There was a small black kitten in the trap. We had gotten him! I got him back to the car and transferred him to the cat carrier and set off for home. He was happy to see his little brother when we got there. Both kittens were covered in fleas and even had some ticks on them. I had ticks on me too from tromping around in the brush so it was no wonder that they had some. After all they had been living there for at least 6-7 weeks as that is how old they seemed.  

Alexander and Andrew

They were too small for any of the flea preventatives that I had at the house, and to small for most brands anyway, so manual removal was my only option. I got a small bowl of alcohol and my trusty flea comb and started picking all the fleas and ticks off their tiny bodies.  The bottom of the alcohol bowl was soon full of dead fleas and ticks and the kittens were feeling better. I gave them some dewormer and a bath to remove the rest of the dead fleas.

Skeptical kittens

 The Kittens were very timid and scared as they had never been around people much before. My niece and my nephews played with them everyday helping them to adjust to people. It was working out quite well, but they were still hard to catch when the were outside of their kennel.  I devised a plan to make them easier to catch while they were out playing. I made them some tiny kitten harnesses and attached a leash to each kitten. This way when they tried to run away they could be easily caught by grabbing the leash. Which came in handy when they shoved themselves into hard to reach spaces.

Andrew takes a nap on the couch wearing his harness

 After a week or so I was able to take the leash off the harness for short periods of time without having to reach into tiny spaces to retrieve a frightened kitten.  They were getting friendlier and were actually enjoying interaction with us. Andrew was the first to warm up to us. Alexander still seemed skeptical. He liked his chin scratched and his belly rubbed, but then quickly grew suspicious and would run away.

Alexander earned some off leash time


I made an adoption flyer for them and put it in the lobby at work to see if anyone might want to take these two little cuties home with them. A few days later one of the clients wanted to talk to me about them, but it wasn't about adopting them. She knew the lady that was in charge of taking care of the feral colony that they came from. The man that I had run into at the graveyard had told them that I took the cat and her kittens, but that was as much as he had told them. They had no idea where she went and they had been worried about her and her babies.
 

Look at that sweet little face!

Andrew

I told her that I had the mother set up in a big kennel in my garage waiting for her spay appointment and then I intended to put her back where I found her after she had healed. She asked how the babies were doing and I let her know that they were adjusting to inside life quite well and seemed to be happy now. I gave her my contact information so that the lady in charge of the colony could contact me.  She was happy to hear that the kitties were safe and being cared for. I told her that I would let her know when I put the mother back outside.

The boys resting after some play time

 In the meantime the kittens were still in search of their new home. I was hopeful that someone would see their picture at work and fall in love with them. It happened sooner than I expected too. A few days later a woman came in and said that her friend had told her about two kittens in need of a home. She had a lonely kitty at home that needed friends again. 

Sleepy Andrew

The boys playing

Are you still taking pictures of me?

 

 She sounded like the perfect home for them! I was so happy that they had been able to find their forever home so quickly. They really seemed to like her and they purred when she held them. She feel in love with them instantly and it was like they had always been meant to find one another.  It was bittersweet to see them go, but I knew that they were going to a great home.  She came back the next day with her kitty carrier and took her boys home.

Later that week their mom went to be spayed. After she recovered she was returned to her colony and has been doing well. I now foster kittens that are trapped from that colony in an effort to keep colony numbers down and to give the kittens a chance to be part of a family. The colony is well maintained and all the members are spayed or neutered. Only the occasional newcomer brings in new kittens now. 

The End

Four tiny tabbies (Part 8)~ We've been fixed

To read this story from the beginning click here.

To read the previous installment click here.

The kittens were getting close to their scheduled spay/neuter date. They were all getting so big! I was concerned though because at 4 months of age, Belroses' testicles still had not descended.  When I brought him into work with me to have the Doctor look at him she was almost certain that she could feel one testicle in his inguinal area but said that he was bilateral Cryptorchid for sure. His brother, Mathew Purry had this problem as well. The doctor advised me that he should still be neutered and should go to his appointment as scheduled. His surgical procedure would just be a little different, because is the other testicle she couldn't feel was still in his abdomen they would have to go in and find it.

The kittens waiting outside the Vet ready to be Spayed and Neutered

Later that day after surgery was over I was happy to find that both of Belroses' testicles had been hanging out in the inguinal space just below his prepuce. This meant that they did not have to open his abdomen to find them and he just had two simple skin incisions. Good news for him! Everyone did great with their surgery and were on their way to finding forever homes!

Kilara in her "cone of shame"

 The girls had to wear Elizabethan collars to keep them from licking open their incisions. If they had they could have opened their abdomens exposing their insides or gotten an infection. I used harnesses to keep the e-collars on so they couldn't pull them off. I did have to take them off to let them eat, but then right back on! Kilara took a quick second to lick her belly after her dinner one night and pulled open a teeny spot in her incision. Sneaky kitten! I had to watch her more closely after that.

Berrilee resting. The E-collar didn't really bother her at all.

 Berrilee never really minded the e-collar and just kept on playing with her brother like it wasn't there. Belrose got to get away without wearing one. I kept a good eye on him and he never once tried to lick his incisions, so I let him off easy. 

Belrose didn't have to wear a collar after all

I tried to confine the girls in a small kennel to keep them quiet and calm after surgery, but Kilara was not having any part of it! She kept sticking her paws out of the cage and flipping all around crying, so I had to let her out before she hurt herself. All that moving around was not good for her incision! She was much more calm after I let her out and did pretty good keeping herself quiet. Berrilee was calm on her own and took the first night pretty easy. After the second night and another dose of pain medication every one of the kittens was back at full power.

We Make these cones look cute!

 I was starting to feel a little sad though, because I knew it was getting to be time for them to leave. They stayed with me for about a week after getting fixed and then I signed the papers that made them official Suffolk Humane Adoptees. They were no longer mine.

Berrilee

I got them all packed up and took them into work to get them settled into the adoption kennel. They didn't seem too scared by the new surroundings and they were curious about the kennel so that made me feel good. 

Hey there are more play places down there!

And food over here!

Even a hammock!

Then all there was to do was to wait for their new families to fine them! I bet that they will get great new homes, and only time will tell.

The kittens went up for adoption Oct 10th 2013

Four tiny tabbies (Part 7) ~ Silly little kittens

To read this story from the beginning click here.

To read the previous installment click here.

There is nothing special to report on this installment, so I thought I'd make a post about the kittens and their silly quirks. You know, what makes them adorable and one of a kind. 

Kilara

Pretty little Kitten, Kilara

This pretty little girl most closely resembles her mother, Gina. She has a sassy sweet personality, but she will make you work for her love. She likes to play hard to get and will come to you for petting and then walk away and stare at you from a few feet away as if to say "Come get me, I want to be with you." She is a true cuddle bug once you win her over. She is less likely to play all the time with her siblings. When she does play though she is quite the rough houser!

Kilara's favorite sitting pose

As you can see he favorite pose to lay in is on her belly with all legs straight out. It's so cute when she does this and she will swish her tail when you talk to her. Meal time is never an issue and she will gobble all her kibbles happily. She is a champ when it comes to using a litter box and has been potty trained since she was about four weeks old. Her favorite toys are fuzzy mice and sparkle balls (look like big craft pom poms that went to Mardi Gras).  She will carry them around in her mouth and grumble at any kitten that tried to take them! 

Berrilee

I don't care that this is the toy bin. I fits, I sits.

Little miss Berrilee is the princess of the litter. She has to have your attention, or else she will find a way to get it! She loves to play with her brother and sister and ambushes them all the time. This spunky little girl lives for adventure and loves to explore everything in her world.  "Leave no toy unturned" is her motto. She enjoys a good cuddle while you watch your evening shows and is not stingy with the purrs at all. 

Berrilee

Dinner time is her favorite time of day! Put some noms in her bowl and you have a friend for life. She likes to have her own bowl and is easily pushed out of hers by her brother. She is good at waiting her turn to eat, but is happiest with her own dish. Berrilee was the first kitten to be potty trained. When she was still small enough to sit in the palm of your hand she was scratching in the potty box and leaving little clumps behind. She loves to play with Fuzzy mice, Feathers and her brother, Belrose.

Belrose

Handsome little Boy!

 Mr. Belrose has the handsomest little kitten face I have ever seen, and a personality to go right along with it! He has quickly become my favorite out of the litter. This super playful little guy will steal your heart away and wow you with his charm. He is such a little Casanova. He follows you around and rubs on your legs while purring so loud you think he may hurt himself. Belrose is also a world champion lounger. He loves the round kitty bed and is constantly trying to find the best sleeping position. 

This is better, but......

This is pretty comfy

 

His playfulness and his big heart are his most endearing qualities. When he's not running around with his sisters he is in your lap purring so loud you'll have to turn up the TV to hear what you are watching. Meal time is a favorite time of day for him and he will push his sisters out of the bowl so he can get his fill. He is potty trained and used the litter box like a pro. A covered box is best as he loves to get overzealous about covering his little poos. He loves any toy that you pick up and engage him with. As long as play time involves you, he is happy.

Oh, Yeah! That's the spot!

To read more about these kittens look for the next installment titled:

We've been fixed

My SHS Fosters (Part 5)~Next stop, adoption!

To read this story from the beginning click here.

To read the previous installment click here.

Left to right: Miles, Teeny Tiny Tucker, Kahless and Kestra

There were only four kittens and Saphira left at this point.  The smaller kittens were now big enough to be fixed and Kahless was healthy enough to go with them. 

Kahless

Kestra

 

 

Miles

Teeny Tiny Tucker

They were all brought to the Local Spay/neuter clinic that the SHS was using to be spayed and neuterd. Then returned to my home to recover. Saphira had already gone to be spayed and put into an adoption program at this point, but had to return to me because she ending up getting Mastitis. So while her babies were recovering from their surgeries she was recovering from infection.  She would get antibiotics twice daily and I had to place a warm compress on her infected mammary glands. 

Kestra wonder what her new family will be like.

Kahless takes it easy after being neutered.

Once everyone made a full recovery, I took the four kittens to work with me to put them in the adoption cage in the lobby. Every night was hard leaving them there, and for the first few nights I took Tiny Tucker home with me. He has been my favorite all along, and I should have known that naming him after my former cat Tucker would be nothing but trouble.  After a few days of bringing him back to work to be in the adoption cage I couldn't take it anymore. I called the Humane Society and told them I had to have him and that I just could not leave him there anymore.  They decided that I could keep him and I took him home.

Teeny Tiny Tucker sleeping with his brother Cosmo Nova.

 The next kitten to get adopted was Kestra, followed closely by Miles, but for Kahless it would take a bit longer. 

Saphira~ the best mommy kitty in the world

 With Kahless alone in the adoption cage at work, and Saphira infection free, it was time for a reunion. Saphira went to the adoption cage in the lobby at work to go up for adoption along side her son, Kahless. The two of them were in that kennel for what seemed like forever. Then by luck a family came and adopted them both together! Saphira and Kahless were going home!  That was a very happy day, and I'm so thankful that I was a part of their lives and that they were a part of mine.

The End

 

Four tiny tabbies (Part 6) ~ Westleigh the First

To read this story from the beginning click here.

To read the previous installment click here.

Westleigh , Kilara and the other kittens had finally made a full recovery and their ulcers were gone. They had resumed their vaccination regimen and were once again acting like normal healthy kittens, or in Westleigh's case at least normal for him.  They were all getting big enough to enter the adoption program with the Suffolk Humane Society, but I worried that Westleigh may be hard to adopt out.   

It was hard to get a clear picture of Westleigh because of his wobbling

 

Get the Feathers!!

Fortunately for him one of the other assistants at work was totally in love with him. She had a special cat while she was growing up and just loved Westleigh's quirks. I was excited that he would be able to find a home first before any of his other siblings. He was such a nice kitten he really deserved a home of his own. 

Look at that adorable face!

I think I hear my new mom!

My co-worker came over and picked him up on a Saturday and took him home with her.  He was not happy about the carrier, but I have been told that he loves his new family and even tolerates their dog. He even got a new name! Now he goes by "Mathew Purry" and is affectionately called "Mr. Purry".  
 

Mathew Purry just before he went home

While Mathew Purry was settling into his new home and feeling superior to the family dog, I was making arrangements for his siblings to be fixed and accepted into the SHS adoption program. The kittens in the mean time were just taking it easy and being silly kittens. 

To read more about the kittens look for the next installment titled:

Silly little Kittens