Time Goes On

Events of 11th Feb 2015

Totally not sure why Oreo couldn't go with her siblings. She's a crazy little loon.

Slowly introducing Zazee's babies to wet food (probably a bit early) kind of speed raising them a little because I'm heading on holidays and will need to leave older brother in charge of them for a bit over a week.

(Oh No! This is the brother that can't cook to save himself unless its a microwave meal with specific instructions as to how long it gets cooked for...what will I come home to!?)

I managed to get a new cage for Sapphire and her kittens. Jasper had figured out how to shift a bar that keeps the door closed and was found roaming around the floor. The base of the old cage is very narrow (still bigger than a shelter pen) but once a bed and litter tray is in there then there isn't much room for both play and for Sapphire to get away from her babies.

Lounge room romp

Not a bad family picture guys

Probably better introduce the names of Zazee's babies.

Zeke

Zeke learning how to eat wet food

Zimmer

For a while I thought Zimmer may have been a color point...

Ziggy

Cute little Ziggy.

Zane

Zane the only tabby of the bunch

Zazu

Zazu one of the bigger kittens

Zoey

Zoey the only girl of the litter

Zazee finally got her vaccination (16th Feb) several weeks overdue but finally done.

All of the Gem babies got their vaccinations too. (Some weren't 600 grams but we knew when they were born).

Oreo got her vaccination that was overdue and was given the Okay to stay back for sales. She was more than ready to begin the hunt for her forever home.

Who could resist this little face?

Goodbye Goodies

Events of 3rd February 2015

The Goodies packed their little bags and left home today.

Well temporarily...

They went to get their little surgeries done but will be coming back to stay here for a little while.

We're going where? To get what done?

ZAZEE and the ZZZZZZ

I took Zazee with her kits out to the vet for a once over and her first vaccinations, probably ever.

Once again she failed her temperature check so vaccination would be pointless. The Vet is assuming she's stressing herself into a high temperature. Zazee has probably never had this much excitement and changes in her life so I don't really blame her...so long as she doesn't stress herself into getting the flu.

Afer a few days with limited handling, Zazee is doing much better.  I'd bet being tossed in a carrier every second day and taken to strange places would stress anyone out. At the present I'm trying to keep food up to Zazee (she's got the skinny nursing mother appearance) and only weighing the kittens to check on their progress otherwise I'm leaving her be.

I'm amazed I didn't get more pictures of Zazee during this time?

SAPPHIRE & THE GEMS

Ruby got put on more medications.

The vet suspects she may have pneumonia. That would definitely explain her odd breathing right from the start.

Only a day or so later I was seeing results in Ruby. She finally hit 409 grams!! Woo!!
She's been eating and playing which is more than she had been doing also.

Ruby playing with Jasper

"What? Me? I'm innocent" ~ Ruby

However...

Just when I think Ruby's doing well she does things like sitting at 408 grams for three days.
Then in my worry I over medicated or gave her too much food too soon after medicating and caused her to throw up.

I'm happy to report the hiccup didn't last too long and her appetite returned although for some reason she'll eat out of syringe, she'll eat off a spoon but doesn't seem to click that the same stuff is on the plate too...*sigh*

THE GOODIES

Family picture

Surgeries went well but I noticed Oreo's spay wound is looking a bit angrier than Kit Kat's does so I'm keeping a closer eye on it.

This whole no jumping around thing is getting old already ~ Oreo

Originally all the Goodies were due for a check and to be kept back at the shelter for transport on Monday. Oreo somehow managed to ditch her stitches and had fluid behind her spay wound so she was to be kept on foster.

Say What? I get to stay here longer? ~ Oreo

Kit Kat and Tim Tam did pass their check and booked their tickets on a transfer to another shelter.

So a collection of cute pictures bidding these guys farewell from The Little Legends...

KitKat sleeping on Mum

You and that flashy thing ~ KitKat

Such a pretty little girl

Life's too tiring for TimTam

Playful little guy

Grew into a handsome little kitten

Goodbye Goodies. Live long happy lives.

Whatz Newzzz?

Events of 28th January 2015

My cousin's cat Zazee had been mentioned before. She was the mother of adorable color point kitten Loki. Well she's a kitten-making machine and popped out another six barely months after the litter Loki came in.

Picture from my phone shortly after arriving in my care

Inevitably the cycle would continue so we made arrangements for me to foster Zazee and her babies, have her fixed and returned to her home. All the babies would go through the adoption progress and be fixed as well before finding homes. Yay! no more endless kittens multiplying!

*Again* ~ Zazee

An assortment of greys, blacks and one little brown tabby

After having at three litters (possibly four) and being barely two years old, I think Zazee will be happy to hang up the motherhood badge.

I think the look on her face says it all...

Apparently the tiny little babies were born on Australia Day and unfortunately there's no surprise colour point in this batch. They're all shades of grey.

I see some tiny markings on a few of them

I haven't yet figured out identifying markings but I think there are enough subtle differences to be able to guess who is who before too long. We have five boys and one girl.

Meanwhile in The Gems camp....

The good news is Ruby is still gaining. She is still 100 grams less than her brothers and is still sneezing but she's still here so that's a win in itself.

The Goodies are also still sneezing but so far no other issues.

Yep, recycled pic, but so dang funny

Zazee went out for a check over but vet was cancelled so I got a booking made to take her in. When she'd come home she'd had goopy eyes and I was hoping she wasn't full of flu or something (likely never been vaccinated).

Arriving at the vets sadly Zazee couldn't get done as she presented with a high temperature. I was given some ointment for her eyes and sent home. I was told to watch her for developing flu signs.

And so the stress begins...

The Harsh Realities

Hey, Once again a very long time and no updates. I had plans to update then got bogged down trying to sort through five years of photos to sort them into some kind of order.

Hopefully I'll update frequently enough to get to this current years events. Bit of a bummer to return with such a sad story but if I still have any followers, here goes...

Events Of 27th January 2015

Sugar had been back at the shelter for quite few months.

She was the semi feral mother of the Condiment kittens: Honey, Splenda, Salt and Pepper.
She was the first pregnant cat I ever fostered
She was the first to give birth here at the Legends Foster Home.

She was never the easiest cat to get along with.

You wanna take me on? ~Sugar

The dreaded big black eyes meant business...

Although she 'froze' rather than tore people to shreds, mentally Sugar was suffering. She spent her days up on a shelf and rarely if ever moved.

Sugar's "Spot"

There was talk of transferring her to another shelter but I think the shelter manager was in as much denial as I was.

If she hadn't opened herself up now she wasn't going to open herself up any more at another shelter.

The longer she stayed the more stressed she appeared. Being stuck on her perch not wanting to interact with the other cats but also trying to remain unseen to people who came in and reached to touch her.

I met her in the adoption rooms once when I was there to see how Honey and Splenda had gone after their surgeries (fine by the way). I reached to pat her and she cringed away from my hand with a look in her eye that said "if you touch me, I'm not sure if I'll let you".

I backed off and just left her alone but she remained huddled on her shelf and couldn't possibly make herself any smaller.

So the inevitable decision had been made. Sugar was released from this torturous life of living in fear.

I take comfort that she had longer on this earth than first planned.

There was every reason under the sun that she could have failed temperament and been put down while she was still pregnant.

She had the opportunity to have four gorgeous kittens that now have a chance to grow up without the same fears.

Sugar with her newborn babies

Babies just opening their eyes

Sugar chilling with her babies

I hope she's at peace now, I'm glad I got the chance to know her and to be there with her when she gave birth to her babies.

Although we never got along she'll always be a special girl.

Farewell Sugar.

Such a sweet face, but so much going on in her head.

Fears For The Gems

Well...

Ruby had some crusty eyes and sneezing. She shared the crusty eyes with her siblings. I feared the worst as they were too small to medicate. I was preparing myself for a very grim prognosis.

Despite the fact Ruby is still breathing weird and the fact they're so tiny they got put on antibiotics. I've never had kittens so small put on medication before.

Still wheezing but it's not stopping her

Geez woman, clean my bedding already!

Sad little Tanz

I just want to give that little face some kisses

Jasper is on the move, no time for pictures

Lady! Lemme Out! ~Jasper

I think in an overhaul of laws and goals this year the RSPCA are trying to treat animals and being more strict on the criteria that would end in euthanasia.

I've noticed if cats get flu in the past year that they get put on a course of medication and its only when the medication fails to relieve the symptoms or if they keep relapsing that they end up being put down.

Anything to lower the euthanasia rate is great in my books.

In the next few days Ruby has been gaining better but on the down side The Goodies have decided that now is a great time to sneeze and get the curse of the runs as well. When the usual food wasn't working I switched them to bland boiled chicken to see if that would clear up their litter habits.

Oreo's dance moves kill me dead in this pic

Not entirely happy with the new pen they've been assigned

Got word that today my cousin's cat Zazee had another litter of kittens (possibly her third). I planned to work out something with the shelter in order to get Zazee spayed so she wont have to have anymore.

Who would think this pretty girl...

Gave birth to this gorgeous boy?

The six (SIX!!) she had this time were all a normal range of colors. (I was secretly hoping she'd throw another color point in there but I guess she didn't date the same dads).

Zazee ~ Not again!

Lets hope we have some markings to tell them apart.

Last Sweet Gone

Honey went in for surgery on Tuesday as expected but the paperwork for Splenda wasn't completed in time so she has to wait until next Monday.

I still have to leave? ~Honey

I don't think she'll have any trouble finding a home

Had Splenda and the Goodies out running around the lounge.

.:Slurp:. Splenda keeping her whites clean..

Splenda and the three Goodies on Mum's Lap

Cute family pic of the Goodies

Sapphire went out for a vaccination and check over. Still no idea why Ruby the little torti breathes different to the other two kittens. Suggestions thrown around were cleft palate or being underdeveloped somewhere on the inside so it's pretty much a waiting game. When I go there with them I'm always surprised when Ruby comes back with me, always expecting them to call her a lost cause.

Speaking of kittens they have names.

Ruby is the torti girl

The littlest of the group but still fighting

Jasper is the buff and white boy (slightly fluffy)

This guy is going to be quite the attention seeker

Tanz (short for Tanzanite) is the buff boy

The Mumma's boy. Bit of a whiner this one.

Splenda enjoyed her extended stay at the Legends but on the 19th of January 2015 she too made the big change and hopefully wont have to wait for too long to find her forever home.

Farewell last of Sugar's litter.