Kittens

Certified kitten cuddlers: It's a "tough" job, but someone has to do it. 

My roommate's bed has started mewing.

She rescued a feral cat who had just given birth at a shelter with a high kill rate, bringing the mama cat and her kittens to a nice quiet apartment (at least, compared to a shelter). So we've been hosting 5 newborn kittens and a feral cat who hisses every time we get too close.

At closing in on 3 weeks old, all their eyes are open (they started on day 10 and were mostly open by day 12). Two of them don't seem to mind being cuddled, especially now that their eyes are open.

Sparrow: Both eyes did finally open, but I'll always
remember her as the smaller-than-a-tulip pirate.

At first, one of the babies I dubbed "KISS" due to her hardcore mew-screams every time she was lifted up. Now that her eyes are open, she's more calm about it, especially if her feet aren't fully supported, but still vocal. I expect she'll always be talkative. Her twin--we spent a few minutes comparing them and couldn't find any visible differences yet--is another tortiseshell whom I called Sparrow after she spent a full day with one eye open and the other still closed. She looked a bit pirate-like, and we weren't sure which were boys or girls yet, so I went with the gender-neutral "Sparrow" from "Jack Sparrow."

Another baby has a stumpy, problematic tail. The vet thinks it may be congenital, but no matter if it was pre-rescue injury or completely natural, first order of business as soon as that sweetheart is big enough for treatment is to remove the tip of the tail, since it might otherwise become a source for infection, and also probably hurts a bit. He's such a sweet kitten and one of the more active ones, so we can't wait to get him cared for, but he's too small for most care and also can't really be separated from his mother for that long yet. But soon.

They're all cute and crawly and are now mostly able to walk. Their eyes may all be fully open, but they can't  quite focus yet; still, I've caught them beginning to bat at one another as they start to figure out playing. They've outgrown their cage, so my roommate is letting them wander around in her room freely now; mama (who still hisses at us if we get too close, but only half-heartedly, and doesn't seem to mind when we take a baby as long as we don't too close to her) has taken them under the bed, but they keep wobble-crawling out to explore.

In another week or two we'll have bouncy babies who are steadier on their feet. They'll start weaning soon, and once they're weaned, mama will be spayed, her ear nicked, and released back to where she came from (this is common in catch-and-release programs for healthy ferals who can't be rehabilitated). We'll continue to cuddle the babies and make them people-friendly, and my roommate will take them to make sure they're healthy, get them their first vaccines, and treat that tail.

Your heart is in my tiny, tiny paws--
and mine is in your hands.

Then it's time to start finding them homes and say good-bye. Right now they still fit in the palm of my hand, tiny and cute; and every day they look a little bigger and stronger and closer to the string-chasing and bug-pouncing adorableness we know kittens for. But I know they need forever homes, and we're at our permanent-pet limit. I think one of the boys has wrapped his tiny paws around someone's heart. Don't worry, loving future-home: I'll make sure he knows people will love him and care for him, that people have nice hands and are good to be around. Just promise me you'll do the same as he grows, and give him the home full of warmth, happiness, and kitty joy.

Kitten cuddling might be a tough job, but I'm up for the challenge. Are you?

Hi!

(Edit:) New pictures for just shy of 3 weeks old:

(You can e-mail my roommate at nyssamehana@att.net if you want to know more about adopting a kitten-baby.)

Round Animals

What if animals were round?

I couldn't stop laughing at this video. That is my only excuse.

Puppy-free

We are now, after two weeks of cute and stinky, officially puppy-free! Now that they're old enough to be moved and there is finally space for them there, they've gone to their official foster home until they're old enough for adoption.

So here's some just-born and two-week old pictures, to show how much they grew while we had them.

Sherlock:

Sherlock: Newborn

Sherlock: Two weeks

Salem: Newborn

At two weeks, still nearly the same size:
Salem's the runt of the litter, poor thing!

Spook: Newborn

Spook: Two weeks

Autumn: Newborn

Autumn: Two weeks

Willow: newborn

Willow: Two weeks

Khan: two weeks

Khan: newborn

Boy, have they grown. And no, those aren't all the same hands, in case you noticed!

Puppies!

My roommate fosters animals. Our most recent foster arrived looking like this:







Not long after, she exploded into puppies, and now looks like this:




















The cast--

"Sherlock"

Sherlock again!

"Autumn"

"Spook"

"Willow"

"Khan"

"Salem"

Yup, so, we have puppies. Puppies, puppies, as far as the eye can see.

Khan was named, by the way, because he came out screaming, and it sort of sounded like he was crying "Khaaaaaaan!" So while we could have sensibly named him Kirk or even Spock, we went with Khan, as a reminder of the enemy whom he should be on the lookout for later in life. Hopefully he'll remember and not ally with his destined enemy because they have the same name, or something.

Monday Morning! Oh No!

Oh dear. It's Monday Morning.

Not the Monday. Anything but the Monday!

Just terrible. So sorry I let Monday happen.

Trolls

 

The Troll says "No billy-goats allowed."

Fantasy tropes give you a pretty good idea of what a particular well-known monster should more or less look like. I say elf, you think pointy ears. I say dragon, you think big, wings, fire, pillaging; or long, rivers, flying, wise.

So what's a troll?

Big, muscly, dumb, with a huge underbite and fangs?

Or a cute little dog with troll-like fangs, with a sweet temperament and a tendency to get along with cats?

I'm not usually a dog person, but really. I love this face. He's like Grumpy Dog or something.

Plus, while he gets along well with cats and large dogs, around other small dogs he starts making troll-sounds. He'll be hiding under the table when the pest (er, "sweet cuddly other dog [who poops around the house and is insanely proud of having killed my evil purple fuzzy sock--what do you mean I'm not good at advertising?]") bounces by, and suddenly, from under the table will come a low growl. Then after the pest has passed by, out pops the troll!

Good Troll.

I can't get over that face. It's so cute. Ugly-cute but cute.