Time Up With The Pretties

Events 7th December 2015

Avery got put on some tricin for her eyes due to some conjunctivitis, only her eyes got icky and neither of the other two ever had the problem.

I'll never know why only Avery had icky eyes..

Esmeralda hit a turning point and gained although her weights were still well behind her siblings.

I'll take things at my own pace, thank you.

Armful of kittens <3

On the 7th Eddie returned to the shelter but Avery presented with a temperature so she remained with me for a bit longer. Esmeralda was not adoption weight yet.

A neighborhood friend became quite smitten with Esmeralda but she already had a cat of her own and was sharing a house with her son who also had a cat. Two were enough.

Who could resist me?

In fact some may remember the kittens.

Mitzy was from the very first litter of kittens I ever fostered.

Little Miss

The Cherubs

Ash was formerly known as Misty from Madeline and the MMMM's.

Tiny baby Misty

Beautiful Babies that Madeline had

Neither of which wanted anything to do with me when I took Esmeralda over for a visit in a brief attempt to convince her son that a third member would be cute.

Little Miss, not so little anymore

Ash hissed at me and hid around the corner, she's very much a daddy's girl and has no memory of me at all. Once again it only instills that I am only a tiny part of their lives and I'm only a stepping stone for them to reach the required weight and health needed to find their forever family.

Ash keeping a safe distance around the corner and swearing at me.

On the 9th of December Avery returned to the shelter but Esmeralda was determined to keep living it up at the Legends.

Avery (left) Eddie (Right) Esmeralda (smothered by siblings)

That same day I inherited my next group of fosters.

Casey who is barely six months old herself and her two babies JoJo and Oscar.

What did I get myself into?

Little JoJo

Oscar (currently Oscar the grouch)

Worried About Esmeralda

Events of 16th November 2015

I sent the kittens out for a vet check and Esmeralda didn't impress the vet at all.

I'm cute though, just fussy ~ Ezzy

She'd dropped weight since intake and was only nibbling food.

Eddie and Esmeralda had been going through bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. So the foster stress begins. 

Can I have cuddles yet? ~ Eddie

The options aren't to my liking lady ~ Ezzy

I've been advised to remove AD (weight builder) from their diet and try kitten food and kitten milk formula. The thought is that maybe they're having some trouble adapting to suddenly having food from who knows what conditions they were living in before they were brought in.

I don't know what they're fussing about ~ Avery

I've got everything crossed that Esmeralda is strong enough to pull through, occasionally I see a very mischievous little kitten in there.

Such a cute little kitty

The Pretties new digs. (Totally loving the new floor)

Kitten Room Renovations & The Pretties

Events of 12th November 2015

Another reason for returning Violet and Curtis was the fact it had been in discussion about ripping up the carpet and putting down laminate floorboards.

Over the years of fostering there had been many 'oops' moments where tiny kittens didn't quite have the legs to reach a litter tray or decided somewhere else was a better place to go potty.

We'd found the carpet was retaining a lot of the litter they tracked everywhere and after the flu that the Pickles kittens had I was more iffy about how many germs the carpet was retaining.

Underlay going down

Underlay with some boards down

Corner where the small cage usually goes

Looking over half door

Bedding cupboard

From the kitten room door

Needless to say the foster room was out of action but that didn't stop some kittens from coming in. 

There was a group of six and they'd been aged at roughly five to six weeks old. Another foster carer took the bigger six as she was doing her first year of regular fostering and I got the smaller six.

Over time they got the group name of The Pretties.

Little Esmeralda watching me

Since the foster room was closed I set up a cage on a table out in the hallway as a temporary set up. The little pipsqueaks weren't overly active and the tiniest one a little grey had me a bit worried.

The temporary setup for the Pretties

Introductions

AVERY

EDDIE

ESMERALDA

Had Five, Now Two and Then None

Added some bigger text as my mother was having a hard time reading the last few posts. 

Events of 2nd November 2015

Marcie, Dean and Cara returned to the shelter today after their cleared health checks and vaccinations.

In their temporary pen back at the shelter

Violet and Curtis are with me for another week or two until their watery eyes are cleared.

Two is much easier to handle than five.

So far it seems to be a relatively quiet season and nothing else is requiring fostering. 

Violet and Curtis know the routine now and don't need a lot from me so I'm happy to hang onto them for as long as they need.

Before she left however, Marcie passed on her secret of how to defeat the half-door-to-freedom.

Since Violet and Curtis still had a few signs of illness (watery eyes) they are restricted to the foster room only and no interaction allowed with the permanent residents.

Some bright ideas at trying to extend the height of the half door that my brother thought of didn't stop them either and so the full door was closed when they were romping on the floor.

Violet and Curtis were returned on the 9th November (2015). Unfortunately their watery eyes hadn't cleared enough for them to go straight into adoptions and instead they had to spend some more time in isolation. 

(Isolation is no fun so got pics from when they made it to the adoption floor).

I'm down to one ninja, I think you're okay now ~ Violet

I'm pleased Violet has remained relaxed and hasn't reverted to her bad mouthed behavior

I've been adopted! ~ Curtis bragging.

They were too big to remain here and I needed to begin on the cleaning process to have the room clear for when new kittens arrived.

Pickles To Return Soon

Events 31st October 2015

Kittens are now little social bugs, not a hiss from any of them anymore.

Even Violet is a lot nicer with her manners and I haven't heard one swear word out of her in quite some time.

Marcie, the brown tabby, is going to be trouble and I hope whoever adopts her is prepared.

I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not trouble ~ Marcie

She's mastered the half door.

Apparently the four walls and top of the cage aren't interesting enough.

When kittens first came into the room I put a bamboo curtain up in front of the half door because Allie was curious and wanting to make friends jumped the half door a few times. (Looking back I'd have no idea how she jumped that high because she's not the most coordinated cat).

I'm coordinated fine thanks Mum...some help please? ~ Allie

Marcie figured out how to balance on the half door and poke her head through the bamboo curtain.

Usually the saying goes.

The kittens master the half door, its time for them to return.

Picture taken by my brother of the Pickles chasing a fly in the window.

Invasion Of The Pickles

Events of 24th October 2015

Well, the Pickles are off medications except Violet who didn't shake her virus as quickly as her siblings.

All bar Marcie have conjunctivitis but the frequent eye bathing is now as required, not every day.

I've got them until they're due for their next vaccination to make sure any remaining flu symptoms are cleared before they return to the shelter.

Well, I gave them free run of the foster room floor.

Cara?

Curtis? Bah-humbug, black cats with no markings....

Apparently after an hour or so the floor is not fun, instead they climbed onto the shelf in front of their cage.

Well, this isn't as fun as I'd thought ~ Marcie

Then the shelf wasn't high enough so off to the window ledge they went.

There's so much stuff outside the window! ~ Marcie

Curtis in the window

The window ledge wasn't high enough either so up the side of the cage they went so they could settle down for a snooze up there.

Now where to go? ~ Marcie

I didn't think this through ~ Cara

I'm king of the mountain ~ Dean

But Oh No! I can't get down!

It's a long way down.... ~ Dean

MEOW, MEOW, MEOW, MEOW

So it became a constant kitten in need of rescue only for a few minutes later they're back up there again.

I've got my ninja's watching you ~ Violet

Family shot of stranded kittens

I got a plank of wood and wrapped a towel around it creating a ramp up to the top of the cage and they had a ball running up and down it.

Hey! I'm not unfit, I'm just having a breather halfway up alright! ~ Dean

I'll go up when I'm good and ready, stop watching me ~ Violet

I'm still not sure of you lady! Don't make me hiss ~ Violet

Too much of a ball that they balanced on the carry cages I stored up there and they knocked one down. Grr.

I'm sorry, I was trying to be king of the castle ~ Dean

If they'd broken the right corner it would have been fine, the front door of the cage would have worked still but no they broke a left corner meaning the main hinge corner was broken off so the minute you squeezed the latches to open the door to the front of the cage the whole door came off.

As a saving grace it also has a lift opening in the roof so I can technically still use it and I've tied the front door shut to try and prevent people using that opening but I don't trust it anymore. The last thing I want to happen is a shelter kitten escaping a cage. 

Thankfully I have plenty of cages to choose from.

So the kittens are adoption age and they're into everything like normal kittens just have some sore looking eyes still.