Part 2: Hard Goodbyes

When the Tiny Tots had reached the 1 kilo mark (All except Mittens) and Percy and Cotton were past the required weight to return I knew I wouldn't have them for three weeks.

When the Tiny Tots were teeny tiny

Tiny tots not so tiny...

Amazingly although tinier than the Tiny Tots' Cotton was the first to conquer the half door and most of her days since was cooped up in the big cage (which was more than twice the size of a shelter cage anyway but still smaller than having the whole room to roam).

Still not happy Lady ~ Cotton

If the others had learned the same behavior I would have let them run with the door closed but my parents, brother and I enjoyed leaning over the half door and fishing for kittens as they'd bore across the room and leap either into your hand or halfway up your arm.

The only previous kitten I've had that did this was Paris. The kitten that had so many names. She was a singleton so she just wanted company. The Tiny Tot's as a litter were just that affectionate they'd drop what they were doing and seek out human company and I've never had a litter do that before.

They no longer looked like tennis balls with tails sticking straight up in the air, they were little cats. They were still small but they were rotund little kittens with no bones that could be felt at all. The transformation was amazing.

Baby Cookie

Cookie grown up

Little scraggly Koda

Koda the big boy

Tiny Mittens

Sweet Mittens much bigger

Tiny Tigger

My big Tiggly Wiggly

Pretty boy Zorro we so thought was a girl

Such a handsome grown boy

I had begun preparing myself to return them on Friday for at least a once over by the vet to either say they still needed isolating from the healthy shelter cats or if they would be given the OK for sales anyway. I figured I might have Mittens for a bit longer but all the others beyond an occasional sneeze were active, eating with no discharge.

I had begun releasing Mittens during the day to begin playing with her siblings and step siblings again. She returned to her own quarters at night.

I received a call on the Monday from the RSPCA. I'd called them just to give them the heads up that I was planning to come to Friday vet check and letting them know how the kittens were. They called me back later in the afternoon and asked if I could bring the six kittens out, all except Mittens.

The Ballarat shelter had apparently been in high demand for kittens but had none to show off. The Portland shelter was drowning in kittens and being a dead end place with no real means to come through here to get to anywhere finding homes sometimes took a while.

There was no time limit on the kittens, as some people still assume, but they could grow into cats waiting for their turn. By transferring to bigger facilities they get shown to more people and therefore are more likely to get homes while they're still small.

An order of TWENTY kittens and roughly three adult cats were picked to be transferred to Ballarat on Tuesday. Six of those Twenty were my little babies.

Some were to head to Epping and some to Ballarat. I don't know where exactly my six would be heading but I have friends I've prodded to keep an eye out for them.

The sudden change of plans. Not having four days to pull away from the kittens. Not having four days to come to terms with returning them made me more than a bit upset.

I had no day dreams of keeping them. I do notice that right before I get ready to send kittens back I begin distancing myself from them. I had no chance to do this and the excuse of 'I need more time' wasn't valid. These kittens had an opportunity to find their forever families and they were more than ready for them.

I wish them all the best and I believe they will remain as some of the 'special' kittens that somehow stand out more than some of the short term kittens I've fostered.

I shall captivate people with my eyes ~ Percy

Alas it made it slightly easier leaving them at the shelter when I still had one Tiny Tot to return to at home. I also had a few more recruits to begin the next chapter of the long fostering journey....

Until Next Time....