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!!

Gallery of Foster Cats
Animal Welfare League of Queensland

Now that our latest foster cats have gone safely home, we prepare for the next bundles of fur to grace our home with their presence. This is a retrospective of the cats we have fostered for the Animal Welfare League.

1 - Lois

2 - Clarke


3 - Lara


4 - Diana


5 - Addy


6 - Pearl


7 - Yuri


8 - Simba


9 - Rainbow


10 - Gabby


11 & 12 - Dex & Trinity


13 - Red


14 - Bitey


15 - Cookie


16 - Spot


17 - Spike


18 - Charlie

Look Out World... Here We Come!

We have just weighed Cookie and Spot and were pleasantly surprised to see that they had put on even more weight than estimated in the last 5 weeks. This means they are well and truly ready for desexing and finding their forever homes.

While it's a little sad that this could be our last night with the boys, it's very exciting to have 2 more successful fosters on our hands (bringing the total to 14).

Here are the antics of the lads being weighed and enjoying some cuddles afterwards:

Big Brave Steps & Memories

I think it's becoming quite clear who the regular poster is here. The saying "no rest for the wicked" certainly applies to me. The glamorous life of fashion, photography and graphic design is often expressed by a woman who hasn't washed or slept for days, in a corner of an office slaving over a computer screen she can barely see because her eyes have given out in protest.

But enough about me...

Dale lovingly brought home a bottle of rum tonight and I have indulged just enough to work up the courage to upload the photos from my camera to the computer. I haven't been able to bring myself to do this since the passing of Bitey & Red but it's not a kitty blog without photos and Dorah and Cheeky deserve their time in the spotlight. If it's one thing these little ones have confirmed for me, it's that I'm no good at grief. I am, however, good at showing cute pictures from my camera!!

Dorah and Cheeky are approaching the 5 week mark. I think they are quite small for their age but they are growing rapidly. They eat almost their body weight each day so I should certainly hope so! They are starting to act like the kittens most people know, with a new achievement each day. Today's achievement? Playing with a ball!

These guys still need to be bathed every day (well ok, every other day - wet ones are a miracle product) even though they can groom themselves all over now (finally learned all their kitty yoga moves) they just don't seem to be able to sustain it for long enough to actually get themselves clean. So here are some shots from their last big bath. They don't much like being soaked, but they do enjoy the cuddles afterwards!


Retrospective - Addy's Story
Addy was our 5th foster kittten - the one that broke me. After weeks having him at my side, I just couldn't let the little guy go and he is currently wreaking havoc all over the room next to me playing silly buggers with Candy (his adopted sister).

This picture was taken in the first few days of having addy with us. Just to give some perspective, the width of the "cat throne" he is on is 45cm. Not a large kitty!

We were actually still fostering our first brood (Lois, Clarke, Diana and Lara) when Addy joined the crew. We had taken the others back to the Animal Welfare League to be weighed and checked and this little man came in - fairly late in the afternoon. He had been found wandering the Gold Coast streets by himself, separated from mum and litter by events untold. The foster co-ordinator had no place for him to stay over the weekend and figured she would have to take him home with her, but didn't really have the room. We happily took him home to join the others, knowing the brilliant enclosure Dale built could house 5 kittens easily, and then some!

Addy was (and still is) a very loving and curious little guy, but also very reserved. He didn't vocalise or purr and he still doesn't to this day. You might get a very strained meow if he is hankering for some cat milk but that's about the extent of his vocalisation. Unless you step on his tail - then you know his voice box works! (only by accident - promise!). He loves to play and while he was smaller than any of our other cats, would play with all of the foster litter, and even our adult cat Poppy. Addy and I shared a very strong bond, and when I had to take back the litter of 4, and the gorgeous little Lois I really wanted to keep, he was there being particularly cute. Of course, we couldn't leave him all alone in the enclosure with no play mates, so he joined the household - firstly in his own room and then out amongst the 2 adults. Poppy found a great companion in Addy and they loved to tear around the house and wreak havoc.

The day approached when Addy was about to reach his goal weight (kittens need to be 1kg before desexing) and I couldn't let him go. Despite grumblings from the sidelines, I put my foot down on this one. Addy would me "my" cat - my mate. Almost a year later, and he is very much my little mate. Still the same as he was as a little tiny stray and even more loving. He likes nothing better than to cuddle up next to my head in between Dale and I (of course, this often means his bum is in Dale's face - I call that payback for when the others did it to me!) and he does purr - but only when he is completely and entirely content. Usually when we are cuddled up and sleeping. Dale calls him a "weasel" because of his curious nature and the fact he always seems to be digging in something - his other nickname is "baron von poopycat" given his strangely poor attitude to litter use. I see him through entirely rose coloured glasses and think he is wonderful anyway.

Deadlines & Cute Don't Mix

Well it can't be a blog about foster kittens without kute kitteh photos.

These are two of our current foster brood. This was taken on their first day - at approximately 2 weeks old. Featured here are Dora (foreground), so named because she is the intrepid explorer of the group; and Bitey (background), named after the simpsons monorail episode creature, and because she likes to bite the food bowl until she finds the actual food.

Please Note: These are absolutely, completely and utterly temporary names. I must rename them soon, lest they get used to it! Any and all suggestions welcome, and if you want to give the Animal Welfare League of Queensland a donation, we are very happy to let you have naming rights (better yet - reserve one for adoption!).

And since I can't resist, here are Red (suggested by a dear friend from the USA - I think it's her football team's name) and Cheeky - fairly obvious for that one!

Their Story
These little guys were rescued from a property in Boonah where people seem to think it's a dumping ground for unwanted cats, and are happy to let the elderly lady who owns the property deal with the situation. On occasion, the Animal Welfare League will go out and collect the, now ferral, cats and desex and re-home them. This litter was found when they went out on a collection and no mother was to be seen.

So that's enough of an introduction to these guys for now. Much better photos to follow as soon as they can sit still for long enough without their heads stuffed into a food bowl (and I do mean stuffed, they bury themselves in it!). The exhaustion of a week full of sleepless nights pulling together catalogues full of very fashionable accessories has worn me thin and I must curl up with a nice warm litter who have just had their bath and become the babbling mess that is me with ones so small.