The Seekers

Well I did think I'd be meeting these kittens much earlier than I am but alas I'll start with great news first and then continue on.

Spice was returned on Thursday over a week ago now and I worried more about her than any other kitten once it had been returned. I worried that she'd go on food strike and lose all her weight gained. I feared she'd eat the hills stuff and get diarrhea again (this is going on the theory that she has sensitivity to specific foods).

Watching Colonel

I didn't need to worry. She was only there until the following Saturday when she was scooped up by her new loving family. (happy cheers)

Who could resist such a cutie?

So...

I thought I'd drop Colonel off at the vet and swing by and pick up four kittens that were being brought in and were said to be around six weeks old. Well no phone call came so I figured, that's it, that's the end of the season until September or so.

Colonel spotted Leo looking over the half door

No...

Just when I resign myself to a long wet, cold winter with no little fur balls I get that call and I'm back remembering why fostering isn't all sunshine and roses.

A shelter member rang me and asked if I'd be willing to take on four kittens. I of course dived on it but wanted some background information. Why did they need fostering? How old? etc

The four were all over eight weeks old and were overall fine in health but that nasty flu has made a reappearance from somewhere and if these little dudes stayed they'd be at risk. All members of the staff are entirely frustrated with this sticky virus as just when they think it's over then it turns around and slaps them again.

So the four consist of three Ginger Tabby Boys and One Brown and Ginger Tabby with White Torbie Girl. Well what I call torbie but the shelter tends to call Tortoiseshell with White. (No idea why we don't call these ones Calico but I'd say that to the shelter and they'd look at me with a blank look so I'll just stick with what they use.)

Meet the Seekers

They were named after The Seekers. Despite naming Leo, Leo I'm not a fan of human names on pets so much. I'm not entirely convinced the names fit and I'll most likely stick them with a nickname while they're with me.

Judith is the Torbie and White (No nickname at present)
Keith is the Ginger with paler overall base coat (Already nicknamed Milky Motorman)
Bruce is the more antisocial Ginger Tabby ( Already nicknamed Whimpy or Nervous Nelly)
Athol is the most forward Ginger Tabby (Already nicknamed Squish or another not quite so charming word that looks similar to Athol and sounds a bit like it when he's being a rear end in a top hat)

At the present they're having fun showing me how much more work four kittens are compared to one or two. Needless to say they go through litter like there's no tomorrow and make an absolute mess of the cage only minutes after I've cleaned it.

I haven't sprung them from the cage yet as we're still watching them for any sign of developing the flu. I noticed a lump on Milky's spine and was nearly in panic mode but felt a slight swelling in the same spot on Squish so I'm thinking it might be their vaccination site as it doesn't seem to be bothering them.

Little Squish wasn't feeling so good this morning and threw up but is fine now and you would never have known he was feeling sad and a bit uncomfortable.

So where do the nicknames come from?

I haven't quite figured out a nickname for Judy but she's like the energizer bunny she's go and go and go and go long after her siblings have stopped playing.

Please suggest a name ~ Judith

Milky Motorman got his name from his paler base coat (making it so much easier to tell him apart) Strangely although his coat is paler his stripes are the same deep red/orange as his siblings. Motorman of course comes from his strong purr.

Milky in the back corner bit hard to tell in this light

Whimpy or Nervous Nelly is because out of the three he's the one to cringe away from your hand. You can pick him up and hold onto him but he just sits there, not quite happy but not quite flipping out. Its obvious that he's less comfortable than all the others when humans are involved.

What? Why are you laughing? ~ Whimpy

Squish. Aww little Squish. He's the most forward of the bunch to the point of trying to squish his face between bars of anything holding him back from someone or somewhere. He's the noisiest and the one that sits at the door or tries to climb out first. He's quite happy to be held but only for limited periods of time before he's wanting down to investigate and such. He also has quite the purr on him.

Can I peas come out? *puts more effort into purr* ~ Squish

So all four kittens are purring and eating in good form. Some litter habits need to improve but I'm not worried about that in any way either. No strict weighing scheme for these dudes and unless circumstances change they'll be leaving the nest on Monday.

Fingers crossed I'll get tonnes more photos before then.

So top left is Squish, top right is Whimp, Judith is easy to seee and the pale contrast in front is Milky.