Kittens beat the heat - July 4, 2011

Creamy's kittens beat the heat this weekend by sleeping it off.  That's pretty much how they spent the whole week.  They had their 2 week check ups and everyone is doing great, weighing in between 11-12 oz.  For those keeping track, that's about triple their original birth weight in just 2 weeks.  I'd be sleeping too if I was growing that fast - it's hard work.

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July weekend!

Another fond farewell - June 29, 2011

Another set of fosters grew up and left the nest.  There weren't too many pictures of them because they just never slowed down enough to capture them on film.  Little Liv and tiny Tiffen came to me together but were both single strays.  They grew up like brother & sister and really got along well together.  Liv was just a tiny ball of fluff and stayed that way for quite a while.  Suddenly, she had a growth spurt and became all legs & ears.  The color of her coat changed from dark to light gray tabby and she was soft, soft, soft.  Tiffen was all crazy legs & into everything!

The good news is ... both kittens got adopted over the weekend!  Hurray! and best of luck in your new families.

Here's a few snaps (some show you why there weren't more published!)

Bye kittens!

Tiffen's contantly fascinated by the camera

Always in motion

Hey, don't chew on the wires!

Pretty Liv after her growth spurt

Come back here!  We're taking pictures

Hi camera!

Bye camera

Peek-a-boo - June 27, 2011

Well, we're a week old now ... it's time to see the world.  Little baby eyes are starting to open up!  Meanwhile, everyone is growing big & strong; they have all just about doubled their birth weight.  Here's the latest pics:

Anakin, up from 3.7 oz

Ben, born at 3.0oz - way to go!

Han, the biggest at birth, 4.2oz

Leia, with a little wink, started at 4.1oz

And Luke, from the littlest 2.9oz, he's my hero!

Creamy and her band of rebels

Update on Amethyst - June 25, 2011

Here's a little update on one of our girls from earlier this year.  Amethyst was the only kitten from her litter to test FeLV+.  She's a pistol though, very spunky.  She'll make a great cat for someone who cares.

You go girl!

Ssh-sh-sh.... We're sleeping - June 22, 2011

When you've got a good mom-cat, this is pretty much what you see for the first week to 10 days.  Mom does all the work and the kids just sleep in a big kitten pile.

But aren't they cute?

Day two

Day three

Kittens first day - June 20, 2011

Kittens born in foster care have a big outing in their first day of life.  Everyone gets their first car ride to the shelter to have their first vet checkup!

My little gang from a galaxy far, far away have all checked out fine - even gaining weight overnight (mom's got LOTS of milk for them!)

Other than that, it's mostly sleeping that occupies their time for now.
Better pictures will follow :)

L to R - Anakin, Luke, Leia, Ben, Han

Welcome to the world .... June 19, 2011

About six weeks ago, a new foster mom came to stay with us.  The shelter folk found out she was pregnant when they had her belly shaved for spaying.  "We love kittens here", they said, "off to foster care for you."

"Creamy is her name and she should be due very soon", they said.  Ha!  Cats are only pregnant for about 9 weeks (roughly 65 days), so she was maybe half done (not really 'very soon'). 

So we waited...and waited.

And, she got bigger & bigger.  Thought maybe she was fielding a baseball team.

Sunday, I had been out all day.  When I got home, Creamy was very anxious.  She tried to scruff my other foster kittens & drag them into the birthing crate we had set up.  Since they are about 8-9 weeks old, they weren't too co-operative!

At 5pm I sat down with her in the crate (she wouldn't let me leave!) and by 5:25, we had the first kitten born.  Followed quickly by #2, 3, 4 and 5.  By 7:30, she was done and we have 5 new little souls in the world.

Since 'Star Wars' was playing on the TV in the background while all this was going on, the kittens all got names from a galaxy far, far away.  Good thing they were mostly boys (there aren't many girls in the Star Wars universe).  So here's the stats:

#1 - all black male (with amazingly long nails!) born 5:25pm, 3.7oz, named Anakin
#2 - brown & white tabby male, born 5:59pm, 3.0oz, named Ben (because Obi-Wan is just too Jedi)
#3 - black & white tuxedo male, born 6:11pm, 4.2oz, named Han
#4 - a dark Tortie, the only girl, born 7:00pm, 4.1oz, named Leia (of course)
#5 - last, but not least, a grey & white tabby male, born 7:25pm, just 2.9oz, named Luke

A couple of the more icky pictures ...


Luke coming into the world








Creamy & kids

Mom & kids all doing fine.

Bye-bye babies - Thursday, April 7th (redux)

And for the same reasons as Janie's departure, so Sashi and her lovely five kittens have also moved on to a new foster home.  I never could tell the boys apart (except by weight).  The girls will be gorgeous cats.  Hopefully, I'll get to see them one more time before they get adopted. 

Since Sashi and her sons all suffer from being 'black cats', they will probably be guests of the shelter for a while.  Sashi is a real love-bug and will be great for anyone wanting a quiet lap cat.  The boys may get a break at the Kitten & Puppy Shower event in May.  More on that later.

Here's some good-bye pictures of the crew:

OK everyone line up!

Mia

Duffy

The gang



Bye-Bye babies!



And ... we're out ... Thursday, April 7th

And so it goes, all good things must end.   My babies have moved on to a new foster home.  Not that I wanted to lose them before they were 'grown up' enough to adopt, but I'm going out of town for a couple of weeks and the kids aren't ready to be on their own yet!

Here's some final pics of Janie's Gems ... born here March 9th, they are now 4 weeks old.  Not quite running, but tottering around and starting to nibble at real food.  They are fat & sassy - talky like mom.  I wish I could see them when they are running around at full speed, but my guess is they will already be adopted by the time I'm back.

Bye kids, have great life!

Amethyst



Amethyst  (Amy)



Diamond



Diamond  (Lucy)



Graphite

Graphite (Gus)

Topaz

Tiny Topaz

Terrible Two's - Janie has words with her daughters - March 24, 2011

It's the terrible twos - that's two weeks for kittens. 

Here's Janie having words with her daughters as they start to creep about.  She doesn't want them wandering too far away. 

First it's little Amy's turn, then Topaz gives her mom a lot of lip. 

When Janie gets alert at the end of the video, that's just my cat Cotton behind the door - wondering what all the commotion is about!

All together now ... Thursday, March 24th



Sashi, Earl, Mia, Cricket, Duffy, Topper

 OK everyone, line up ... boy, girl, boy, girl, boy ...

Meet the new kids - Monday, March 21, 2011

So, we let the hissy mom have a quiet night with the kids in her new room.  The lovely all-black Sashi - she's funny.  Must be the hormones 'cuz she can't tell what mood she's in.  She comes up to me seeking attention, she loves pets, chin-scratches, head-rubs, and has the elevator-butt going, but if you stop - HISS!  She's still figuring things out.  I think she kinda wants to be a lap cat.

While she's working that out, here's the intros to the new kids on the block:



Cricket, male, 8.1oz




Duffy, female, 7.9oz




Earl, male, 7.6oz










Mia, female, 9.0oz





Topper, male, 8.3oz



Sashi and kids



Can you find 3 boys up front?

Janie's Gems - Monday, March 21, 2011

Day 12 ... These are going to be some BIG cats.  OMG I got a look at Gus's feet today (Graphite) and they are huge!  They are all growing like weeds.  Everyone's eyes are open now.  They look so cute with their little ear flaps.  Wait 'til their ears start growing and they get too big for their little kitten-heads!

Janie just darted out the door of her 'nursery' and chased Cotton around the kitchen island.  All is well, but I don't think Cotton is going to camp outside her door anymore.  Poor guy, he's surrounded by kittens on all sides and I think he's wishing he were an only cat.

As promised, here's new pictures & updates on weights:

Lucy (in the Sky with Diamonds) is a big 10.2oz
Amy (the Amethyst) is a WHOPPING 12.7oz! at just 12 days old
Gus (the Graphite grey with big paws) is 10.9oz
and last, but not least, tiny Topaz is 9.6oz

Janie won't be able to keep them huddled under covers much longer.  Can't wait for them to start crawling around!




Lucy (Diamond) Day 12




Amy (Amethyst) Day 12




Gus (Graphite) Day 12




Tiny Topaz - Day 12





Kitten Huddle - Day 12

This is how Janie prefers to spend her days