Kittens & bunnies & rescues, oh my

I went out to the back deck about 3 hours ago only to discover that our kitten, Ember had cornered a very tiny baby bunny. Being soft-hearted, I rescued the bunny from Ember, and sat back to figure out what the heck I should do now. Buster (the bunny) was tiny enough that I could hold him in one hand. He was (maybe) 3 inches long and as soft as silk. After calling the vet at the Seattle Humane Society and hemming and hawing, I did a bit of internet research and discovered PAWS Wildlife Rescue center in Lynnwood (www.paws.org - they are always looking for donations). Cindy, the lovely volunteer I spoke to, suggested I bring Buster in to see if they could keep him alive long enough to release him back into the wild.

So I drove up to Lynnwood with little Buster in a shoe box. He survived the journey, and was taken into the recovery center. Cindy said that once he was checked over, he would be put with some other bunnies. She also took down my name and address and promised to send me a card telling me what happened to Buster.

Another interesting day...

Chaos, Havoc, and Snurfles

I woke up yesterday to what I thought was a cat fight on my head. It turned out that Ember (one of our 9 month old cats) had snuck into the office to find out what all the fuss was about. Of course, Lorinda objected strenuously to an unannounced visitor harassing *her* babies, and so was a little bit defensive. Poor Kurt felt awful - he has no idea how Ember snuck by him. Ember was rather confuzzled at all the fuss, and the poor kittens were a little shook up. They spent the rest of the day hiding behind the toilet. Luckily, they are back to running around the office with abandon.

All my fosters are struggling with the URI. Poor Lorinda spent the first 24 hours at home here mouth breathing and unable to meow or purr. She would get bubbles coming out her nose. She's been on Clavamox for 3.5 days now and her breathing has really improved. She still snurfles lots, but she can meow and even purrs occasionally.

Orlando is the most adventurous of the trio. He is happy to run out to greet me when I enter the office. Tora (or she may be Tarot, trying to decide) is still very shy. She takes a bit of coaxing to come out and play. Lady Jane's name has stuck. She is such a little princess - although Orlando might disagree. She torments him whenever she gets the chance! She has the worst of the sniffles. When she sneezes her whole body gets jerked back!

More pics soon - I promise.

New Kittens are here.

I got a call this morning from the Seattle Humane Society - they had a mama and three 8-week old kittens that needed a couple of weeks of foster care to recover from an upper respiritory infection. So off we went to pick them up. They are delightfully cute - there is one peachy orange boy whom we have named Orlando. The other two are girls - a brown tabby with a very lynx-like face that we are calling Tora, and a cloudy grey kitten who has yet to share her name with us. Mama is a beautiful tortie named Lorinda.

The three kittens started out very shy, but are already warming up and tearing around the office. They love to climb up my desk chair I already have scratches on my neck and shoulders.

This one is the grey girl. I think of her as Lady Jane Grey, but I think she has a different name.

This is Orlando, relaxing and hanging out alrea5tr'[;4dy. (His commentary on my commentary)

And this is Tora, my little tigeress. She is the shyest of the bunch.

Getting kitten fever

Whew - I am done my MBA capstone project and immediately my thoughts turn to fostering! I have missed having babies around the house, despite the fact that we now have four cats underfoot at all times now (and I do mean underfoot!)

Over the past few weeks I have been snowed under with computer work. Clearly Moxie and Ember (our two newest family members) think that I am in need of support and sustenance - in the past week they have brought me 6 dead shrews. I'll be sitting at my desk working away when I hear one of their tiny "mew" under the office window. I will open the window distractedly, only to discover one of the huntresses flinging the dead rodent up in the air behind my desk chair. They seem rather miffed when I summarily return them AND their newly acquired toy back outside.

I will write as soon as we acquire a mama cat and/or some kittens.

Life has changed in our house

We have just adopted two kittens. My daughters and I went up to Canada for the Thanskgiving long weekend, and my husband got lonely. So what does he do? He drives around Seattle visiting shelters. He met these two adorable kittens at the Seattle Humane Society and just couldn't leave them there. So we are now proud owners of four cats. My girls and I are very excited about getting back and meeting our darlings. I will post pictures just as soon as I can.

Bye bye babies

It doesn't get easier saying goodbye. On Saturday, I called the shelter and for the first time ever, Ashley (the cat foster care coordinator) answered the phone. I figured that was the sign telling me it was time to let my babies go. So I let my two cats out of the house and let Theodore, Shayla, Zyra and Ivan run around the house. They had a great romp, chasing each other around the couch and over the laundry. By the time I was ready to pack them into the cat carrier, they were sleepy. Off we drove to the Humane Society, where I gave them all last cuddles and said goodbye.

I got a quick email from Ashley on Monday saying that all four kittens had gotten through surgey fine, and were up for adoption. Today, the website shows that Theodore and Shayla have already been adopted. They didn't even get pictures taken by the shelter staff! Zyra and Ivan aren't listed yet, but given how sweet they are, I am guessing they will be in forever homes before long.

I miss my babies. It's strange not having my daily snuggles. But I keep reminding myself that these kittens would not have survived if it were not for me, and someone out there will have one or two loving cats for life as a result of me snuggling them so much. So it is all worth it.

One more week

I took the kittens in to the Humane Society today for their vaccination, and was kind of shocked to discover that they are each nearly 2 pounds. Within a week, they will be ready for surgery, and then they can be put up for adoption. I was rather dismayed to hear this, as I have grown very attached. On the other hand, all the vet techs who saw them said the same thing - they will get adopted very fast because they are so darn cute! So we have one week left to give them lots of hugs and kisses before saying goodbye.