Judgement Day

UPDATE: The below post was actually written a week ago.  We have been having constant internet connection issues thanks partly to the vast amounts of rain Canberra has been having, which meant rather than posting, this entry has sat in the drafts box for a week.  The situation now is that we were asked to take the kittens back for an extra week after their desexing, to make sure they didn't get flu.  To make things a bit more complicated, Pearl happened to sneeze while in the vet's office (she does it all the time - part of being a very curious kitty and getting into all sorts of corners) and so they didn't desex her from fear that she might have flu.  There have been absolutely no signs of flu from the kittens in the last week, so hopefully they can all go back.  I need to give the RSPCA a call to find out where we go from here...

Here's the post from a week ago:

The day has arrived for our little ones to go forth and find a home.  We did their final photo shoot last night and a sample of the results are below.  It was much more difficult to get shots with these guys, as they were not at all used to posing.  Where before we had always done multiple shoots with the kittens, these guys only had the one due to their initial young age, and then Teddy's eye issues with flu.  Hopefully, we got some shots suitable for the RSPCA website, and for finding them good homes quickly.

We went to a bit of a thank-you get together at the RSPCA tonight.  It was lovely to be thanked for what we are doing and the difference in euthanasia statistics for this year, compared to last is astounding.  We are so happy that we can contribute to enhancing the lives of innocent animals as well as giving people confidence that animals adopted from a shelter are not only healthy and well cared for, but well socialised and ready to be a loving part of their family.

As long as all goes well tomorrow, and Teddy, Cara and Pearl are good to go for their desexing and rehoming we will be taking a break for a week or two to make sure Addy feels safe and secure, and our girls are settled.  They do seem to be much better with the feliway refill installed.  We may post some stories of other foster carers while we take a break :)

I feel it important to thank those who have helped make our fostering time an enjoyable one, and allowing us to do the work we do, while still earning a living.  Huge thanks go to our landlord (I believe she reads the blog).  Without her incredible love of animals and willingness to have them in our home, we would not only be unable to foster, but unable to have a home here in the ACT.  Thanks to the RSPCA for all the food, litter, vet care and advice they give in huge amounts, and for setting up the program down here.  This is so necessary around not only Australia, but the world.  It goes hand in hand with desexing and animal care education as well as animal management and legislation to care for animals that we, human society, have domesticated for our own purposes.  Also a thank you to Adorne for their wonderful donation late last year of a whole bunch of hand towels.  These are an invaluable resource when you have such young ones as ours, and though you can buy cheapies they are not nearly as useful, comfortable or cuddly for the kittens as your beautiful fluffy towels. Last, but certainly not least - thank you to each and every person who reads this.  YOU are the people who can make a difference.  Simply spread the word to whomever you know.  Not just about Bailment Kittens, but the importance of desexing and socialising animals properly.

Once again, a short post has turned into a novel... here's the pics!!

Cara size comparison

When we first got her (~1 week old):

Now:

(hint: my hand hasn't gotten any smaller)

(Some better quality photos of the little minions are ready to upload, my other half has them on her PC as she was photoshopping them to tidy them up a bit)

Almost there...

How slack am I not posting for 6 days! A lot has happened in that time and my little bubs who had such small chances are almost ready to find their forever homes.

It is so amazing to think these guys will be going out into the big wide world (well hopefully just a big wide house!) and hopefully finding a loving family where Cara can have a friend to run and play crazily with, Pearl can have a lap to cuddle up on, and Teddy can have someone he can dote on and be their little shadow. At the moment it is very sad to think of them leaving us, partly because it's really the first I've thought about it properly and it takes a while to get used to the idea, and partly because of the sad reality that this may be our last foster batch for a while.

Unfortunately, we are running into behavioural issues with our own cats. It is a very frustrating situation as it's only when they reach that 6 week plus mark when our own cats start seeing it as a territory invasion. Before that, they are just babies and the adult cats know there is no threat. To have to give up fostering because of the final 2 or 3 weeks of the process is sooooooooooooooooo annoying!!!

Of course, we will try everything we can before we make any big decisions. We have a Feliway diffuser installed which seems to work well, but we are just waiting for our refill to arrive as it has run out, and are doing everything else we can to sort out the issue.

Fingers crossed we can find a solution and keep on fostering. The winters are real winters here (unlike Queensland), and I doubt we will have a long breeding season so it will probably only be one more litter for the season anyway, but one more litter is more innocent animals saved. Even if it's a litter of 3, you save 3 animals per foster (one that can be fostered by someone else, one that can use the space in the shelter, and the one you're fostering) so that's 9 lives saved.

It's something I am passionate about and what on earth else would I have to blog about?! Let's face it, there are many more interesting fashion and graphic design blogs around, and I would have privacy concerns around blogging about my piano teaching. Besides these guys are just soooooooo cute and lots of people are telling us they love reading about them.

Keep your fingers, toes and eyes crossed everyone, and just hope my Addy boy can keep a lid on the soiling for a change!

As for the little ones, they are being vaccinated tomorrow (bit overdue, oops!) and then they should be ready for desexing when I get back from Queensland on Monday. I leave on Thursday and the other human half of the Bailment Kittens team will be looking after them, so hopefully he'll have some stuff to share over the weekend. We hope to do their goodbye shoot tonight so some cute pics will be on their way!


Cara chewing my foot


Pearl in her favourite place - human lap


Teddy Cuddles

NB - This post has been edited by request. I do not enjoy being censored, but can't really argue in this case. xx

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Teddy took yet another trip to the vet on Tuesday as he was still struggling to overcome his flu. His poor eyes were still very inflamed, and he kept rubbing them whenever we gave him the cream which just made it worse. The vet gave us a different antibiotic to use, and lo-and-behold the very next day, Teddy's eyes were much more clear and his breathing had improved. At the present moment, you have to look pretty closely to see anything wrong with his eyes, and his breathing is perfect. He is now joining the girls in their crazy games - tackling, jumping, exploring and generally being the kittens they are. The girls are very fast approaching the 1kg mark. Pearl should make it by the weekend and Cara will follow a day or two later. Teddy needs 10 days on the antibiotics so we will keep them all until then. Plus, I am going back to Queensland yet again for a business trip, and they are definitely not allowed to leave without saying goodbye!

I took my well-worn pocket camera in tonight to grab some video of them playing. It's pretty bad quality since it's been done at night with just the bathroom light but you'll get the idea.

Kitten Death Matches on Camera!!

I figured it was about time we got some decent candid shots up of the little ones so I took some last night while they were at play. I didn't get any good ones of Teddy due to both his obvious sickness and him being very clingy due to his flu, but I did get one which shows just how badly this little guy is suffering. The ones of pearl and cara are not great (it's just in the bathroom using available light as I didn't want flash to hurt Teddy's eyes) but awfully cute.



Pearl checking for attackers


Get him!!


Cara ready to pounce


Cara awaiting her next victim


Teddy looking very sore


Teddy hiding from the crazy females

Poor Teddy Bear :(

I have just come back from the vet with little Teddy. While Pearl's flu seems to be clearing nicely, Teddy has had yet another set back. His eyes are very irritated and swollen and he is not a happy camper. The vet had to give him some dye to use her black light and see any ulcers or scratches. He does have a slight ulceration on one eye which is a complication of the flu so in addition to his pill, he needs to have some cream in his eyes. The vet suggested a minimum of twice per day but if more can be given that would be good, so I will give him the cream every 4 hours and see how it goes. The poor darling has had a very big and not so nice day so he is cuddled up on my left hand in a darkened room having a big snooze.

On a lighter note, I met a lovely woman and her partner at the vet clinic today. Their names escape me, as they often do. They are fosterig a litter of 6, 3 week old kittens (3 boys and 3 girls) and they are suffering a spate of diarorrea as so many of them do. It can be really hard work with half a dozen in the litter (as storm and his siblings were!) but they have very loving and dedicated carers I am sure they will be strong little fluff balls when they come of age.

Shame on Us!!

We have been very lazy with updating of late. Largely because we have been equally lazy with photographing the various felines in our care. We really have no excuse. We were in Queensland for 4 days around Australia Day, but other than that, we're just plain old lazy.

But no more! We've been reminded over the past week or so that people do, indeed, actually read this blog. So we had best up our game and fill you in.

The little ones are going very well. They had a little holiday at the RSPCA while we were away, and obviously loved it as they put on about 15og each! It has left me wondering what I've been doing wrong as they have been so up and down since they came back to us. After much thought, it seems to be that we are feeding them too often. As I have the luxury of being at home pretty much all day, every day, they are getting small amounts of food quite often, so they had no need to graze on their dry food. We have now changed to a big meal in the morning, and a big one at night and have found much more dry food has disappeared from their feeder than previously.

Of course, life being what it is, and that bastard Murphy being ever so correct - just as I worked out what was wrong with their feeding, Pearl develops a case of the flu. The day after I picked them up from the RSPCA (Tuesday last week) Pearl managed to twist her leg in their smaller enclosure and needed to be taken to the vet. A little anti-inflammatory injection and lots of cuddles saw her right as rain, but sure enough, 3 days later her sneezing (she has always been a sneezy kitten) ramped up, and by last night she was all blocked up and having to breathe through her mouth. I sat up for a couple of hours doing steam inhalations with her (I needed it for myself somewhat also) last night, and then did the same this morning. She's also been in the ensuite with the shower steaming up the room. We have yet another vet's appointment (I feel sorry for this vet - it's always Pearl with the issues.) tomorrow so we can get some antibiotics but of course, they only really help with any secondary infections she might encounter. This is important for Pearl, as she was taken from mum so early and is likely to have immune issues but it won't help the flu much. It takes about 2 weeks for them to recover which will probably be just in time for her to go back for desexing!

I'm sure somewhere in here I'm meant to get some work done?


Cara


Pearl


Teddy

Hanging up the Bottles

The last bottle feed has finally been given. I don't think the kittens will even miss it!

It is always a mixed blessing getting rid of the bottle. It is lovely to have the closeness of that little critter curled up and loving the attention but my goodness it is good to have a life again. The whole having to be home every 3 or 4 hours thing gets a bit old after a few weeks. And we've had these guys for nearly 5 weeks now! It is absolutely wonderful to see them all loving their food, growing big and strong (and fast! They are certainly steadier on their legs now!) and putting on fantastic weights (especially Teddy). I am sure any mother can relate to these sentiments!

They are well on their way weight wise. Pearl is leading the pack at over 500g now and Cara is a very close second. Teddy, after his battle with coccidia and not wanting to feed, is about 150g behind, but putting on as much as the girls now.

They are all amazing me in their own little ways. Cara has the most expressive tail I've ever seen on a cat. She wags it from side to side when she's happy, wraps it under her when scared, wraps it around your finger when she's being affectionate and flicks it all over your hands to tickle when she's in a playful mood. Pearl loves her food like it's the best thing in the world. She's always the first to the bowl, immersing herself in the eating experience, and coming up only for breath to show a face caked in food. Teddy is the quiet achiever who patiently sits at your feet when he wants a cuddle, but always wanting to explore. He is always the first to run out the door when it's opened.

I will try to remember to carry a camera in whenever I feed them, now that I'm not juggling bottles and the like so more pics and vids to come soon.

xx

Very cute talking tabby kitten

Found on cuteoverload.com today...  Can't embed the video, so link to it is here - http://youtu.be/PEfEAvBqmxw

May have just caused my head to explode into candy.

Yay Cali!!!

Cali is no longer showing on the RSPCA website which means she has finally found her forever home. We hope she has a loving home to run around and play in and maybe even a little friend to enjoy growing up with too. We will always have a spot in our hearts for that little one. We, quite honestly, nearly upgraded to 5 cats.

Way to go Cali girl!!!

Meanwhile, watch this space for news of the little ones. The 4 hourly feeds have left me quite exhausted but we are finally moving on from the bottle so I will have more time for happy snaps and updates.

Cali - now on RSPCA site

Cali is now up on the RSPCA website and available for adoption!  Check her out here:
http://www.adoptapet.com.au/animal/animalDetails.asp?animalid=183631&result=9&statusID=3

What a difference two months makes: a Cali retrospective

Sigh...  She's only been gone for twelve hours and I'm missing her already.  This is one of the sucky things about fostering.  Usually we give them back before we get too attached to them, but Cali (or Callie, as I used to spell it) was here for so long, and needed so much one-on-one attention after her siblings went to their forever homes, that she kind of snuck under my defences.

Anyhow, I was looking back through my photos of this furry little menace and I thought I'd share with you some "before", "during" and "after" photos to illustrate her progress as she grows from a dirty-nosed little furball to a beautiful, sleek kitten.  As will become apparent, the later photos were taken with a semi-pro DSLR with off-camera lighting, and the earliest photos were taken with my phone using available light.  The reason for this is simply because when they're very young, the off-camera strobe lighting could hurt their eyes.

Without further ado, I present the Cali retrospective:

4 November 2011 - weight 300g

4 November 2011 - weight 300g

 4 November 2011 - weight 300g

9 November 2011 - video of Cali getting a bottle feeding

13 November 2011 - weight 426g

13 November 2011 - weight 426g

11 December 2011 - weight ~970g

11 December 2011 - weight ~970g

20 December 2011 (the day before her siblings went back to the RSPCA)
Weight >1kg

20 December 2011 (the day before her siblings went back to the RSPCA)
Weight >1kg

20 December 2011 (the day before her siblings went back to the RSPCA)
Weight >1kg

15 January 2011
(the day before Cali went back to the RSPCA)
(Weight well >1kg)

If you compare the above photo (taken yesterday) with the one below (taken two months ago) it becomes apparent how much she's grown!  She has been photographed in the same compartment in the same piece of efficient Swedish furniture.

13 November 2011 (and Addy gate-crashing the set)

To wrap up, the below is one of my favourite photos of her, which I took last night.  I think it perfectly captures her feisty nature as, poised to leap into action, she gazes boldly into the distance.  I think it has something of the quality of Guerrillero Herico about it.

We'll miss you, Cali

Where did that week go?

It has been a busy week with all kinds of happenings for the kittens.

The little ones are 5 weeks old tomorrow and they are right in the thick of weaning. They have all started eating solid food - some more than others.

Teddy has been a bit of a worry as he's not as interested in the solid food as the girls are, but he's being very fussy with his bottle feeding too. He hasn't really gained in weight through the week causing a lot of worry.

They all took a trip to the vet today, initially for a checkup but after several days of persistent diahorrea and the finding of blood in stools yesterday, it was somewhat more serious. After some testing, the vet found coccidia (a parasite) so they will have to be medicated for the next 3 days. I am hoping this clears things up for them and gets them putting on good amounts of weight - especially little Teddy.

The other reason for visiting the vet, was to get Cali another check up before being desexed. She still has the heart murmur but it is quite faint and so she was ready to be adopted out. She hasn't been desexed yet as the vet was overloaded, but will be done first thing in the morning. We have all our fingers and toes crossed for her op and finding a loving home very quickly. We became very attached to our Cali girl and miss her lots already. Her presence was definitely felt in the house, and the lack of it is felt too.

Here are the shots of her we got last night, in preparation for her leaving. Please share this post around as much as possible. If you, or anyone you know in the ACT or nearby would like to adopt Cali, simply call the RSPCA tomorrow on (02) 6287 8100. Her ID number is 61579

A Letter to the Lady who Feeds Us

Hey you... yes you. The lady who smells like food and has a thing for wiping us with wet things!

We are the itty bitty kitty committee whom you refer to as "minions". We have hijacked your blog and have a few things to tell you. What? you thought we crawled all over your keyboard to be cute?! We were learning to type in your primitive language puny human!

We have had a chat amongst ourselves, and the following has been decided:

1. We are big girls and boys now... we are almost finished with that thing you shove in our mouths 6 times a day. NOT QUITE! Take it away and you can be sure your decolletage will be scarred for life! But almost... just water it down a bit huh... all the solid food backs up our systems a little.

2. Speaking of "systems" we demand a means of toileting other than your incessant tissues and cloth towels. We do appreciate the constant changing of our bedding and the amount of washing akin to a puny human baby's cloth nappies, however we are ready and willing to try this "litter" the bigger kitten has told us of. Please set one up immediately.

3. We have been in this little box long enough! We have gained 1/3 of our weight in the time spent with you and demand to be freed! We will begrudgingly accept an enclosed space which is twice that of our current one, if it contains aforementioned litter and has space for us to run. This will only be accepted if we are given full use of the bathroom space for a minimum of 2 hours per day. NO LESS! Or we won't need our feral mother to teach us how to become unsociable!

In return for meeting our demands, we agree to continue to purr like little motors, gaze adoringly at you and roll over for belly rubs whenever you present yourself to us.

But be warned.... these demands must be met tomorrow! Oh and we also want to visit those lovely ladies at the RSPCA so that we may blow raspberries at them and chant "na na na na na na we're still aliiiiiive" - in our kitten language of course.

Yours Sincerely

Cara, Pearl & Teddy

3 Weeks Old!!!!

If these little guys could raise their middle fingers they would... at all of us!

They are not entirely out of the woods yet, but to make it to 3 weeks (and starting to wean) is a very big deal indeed.

And the best part about today?! I am so excited because today was the benchmark I set for myself to be allowed to name them!! So here's our 3 little superstars:

Cara

Cara is the smallest of the 3 but she makes up for it with a big personality. She is named in honour of a little 1 year old girl in the USA who is currently fighting for her life too. The little girl requires a heart transplant and people all over the globe are keeping everything crossed that she gets one soon. And so Cara the kitten it is... they are both strong little fighters. Just to make a point, Cara ate more than she ever has this morning. She drank more milk than I've ever seen her drink AND she ate more wet kitten food than she's ever eaten on top of that.


Pearl

Pearl is the cream tabby and the larger of the 2 girls. She is named in honour of my Nana who sadly passed away on 21st November. If there is one woman in this world who personified kicking arse and taking names, it was Pearl. And so, I've given this very special name to this very special kitten. There won't be a string of Pearls happening (oh god, the pun) - just this one. So she will always be very special, just as my brilliant, wonderful Nana was. And when she goes I will miss her, just as I miss my Nana so very much.

Teddy

Teddy is the boy of the gang, and the biggest and fluffiest of them all. He is not named after anyone in particular, it is just owing to his very teddy bear like face, and incredibly soft fluffy fur. I love to cuddle this little teddy bear.



So there we have it, week 3 reached. I can't wait until week 4 when I can let them run around a bit, litter train them and have them completely weaned. It's then that they start to become the kittens they really are. Onwards and upwards!

New Year... New Food!

The good news is the little ones are all ok. Their weights have been very up and down, but nothing too dramatic. It looks like they may wean a little earlier than expected. In panic and frustration a couple of nights ago I tried them with some tinned kitten food and they all ate a surprising amount of it. I am offering it each time I feed them now and they are having more and more. I have also soaked some dry food in water and they are liking that too. Nothing major just yet - I am talking maybe one biscuit worth of food - but it's great that they are having something more solid. As of Tuesday I'll start offering them the solid food first before they go for the milk. It will be nice when feeding them consists of putting food in a bowl... always a relief when they get to that stage!