Sorry!!

I've got these cute bunch of kittens here that I should be posting about, but I haven't made time to make a post about them. The pictures are starting to accumulate, so I need to get my bum in gear and get them up here!

I will try to get a post in, with all the millions of pictures, in the next day or two!

For now, a cute video of Pyxis, the runty-black kitten :) She is SO cute!

PS: The names and genders are as follows... Both black kittens are female- Pyxis and Tauri. The orange ones are the boys- Hercules and Draco. :)

The New "Stars"

Oh my goodness... They are deathly adorable. Be prepared. These ones will knock you straight off your feet from their uber-cuteness.

I've decided on stars for this bunch. Why? Because it's summertime, and there's nothing I love more than being out on the lake at night, staring up at a gorgeous hot summer sky, full of stars, listening to bullfrogs and loons, while smelling campfires far in the distance.

I love stars, and I love constellations. So, let me introduce you to Orian (Orion) and her sweet orange and black kittens :)

~~~Pics~~~

The other names are still in the air, because I'd like to know the genders first. But, I'm kind of thinking about going with 'unisex' names, or easily convertible names.

So, Orian is the mother. I changed the spelling to be a feminine version ~ because I thought it was a gorgeous name, and it's suits her very nicely.

The babies are currently going to be:
Tauri (Taurus, the current constellation/astrological sign of May) for one of the black tabbies;
Pyxis for one of the orange tabbies;
Hercules for the other black one ... if it turns out to be a girl, I'll figure something out ;)
and Draco, the other orange kitten.

Open to suggestions though. I won't budge on Orian or Tauri though. Those are 'for sure's :)

A Special Grant

GREAT news!!!!

My employer had a "Volunteer Week" back in April, where everyone in the company, who is an active volunteer, could write up a document to explain why they feel their organization would be eligible and worthy cause for a $500 grant.

So, since I feel that our Pet Save is a pretty darn awesome charity, I took some time and filled out the application and wrote up my document, and submitted it. I thought, heck, I may not get it, but why not try for it anyway.

Well! I bet you can guess what happened!

Yesterday I looked in my mailbox, and in there was a really nice letter from the company and a cheque drawn to Pet Save for $500!!!! Wooooooo!!!!! I was almost in tears jumping for joy! It made my day.

And! I got to tell Jill about it on the phone today. She was super happy too, of course :)

With that being said, I got more good news. I'm on my way to pick up the new crew right now. Should be home to make a post about it in a few hours or so (I'll probably just add on to this post). And Rosie is booked for her operation next Thursday ~ we'll be bringing her in Wednesday night!

Off I go. Back soon! :)

The Video

So much for that!

Haha. I'm such a sucker. I couldn't resist the temptation of the kittens at the shelter. Soooo... I may have sorta mentioned to Jill that we'd take them if they didn't have anyone else. *sheepish grin*

I know! I know! I said I didn't have time, but she said that they're still with the mother (whom we'd also be taking), so this time we wouldn't have to do as much!

We talked about it on the way home from work last night, and realized that we won't be travelling anywhere for a while.... so, as long as nothing crazy is up with these kittens (I checked with Jill to make sure they're a healthy bunch this time, or else we won't take them ~ and she said they are), if we do go somewhere, we can have someone come see that they're fed and doing okay.

Ummm... so.... the only shocker was that there's.... FOUR kittens, plus Mama... ahem. Doug just rolled his eyes at me, heh.

I was supposed to hear from her last night, but I didn't receive her call (she's swamped, as usual). She's supposed to let me know the date of Rosie's operation, too, which I still don't know. I figure because the shelter/vet is so far away (45 mins-1 hr, as I mentioned before), I'll take Rosie in for that and pick up the newbies at the same time.

They have another Mama that's ready to pop any day now too (which she hinted about us taking instead, but I'm still weary about that experience... at least for a while), so my new duty is to find a foster family for her.

So, that's that for now. Will be back to update when I hear when everything is going to take place.

PS: In regards to my last post, I didn't get home until late last night, so I didn't have a chance to load the video I made to YouTube. My guess is that I'll be posting it on Thursday night (my night off), just because we're out again tonight. Catherine asked if we've been having good weather ~ and yes! It was 32 Celcius and sunny yesterday, and today it will be 34+ Celcius!! No snow, but that's even a bit hot for me! :P But, we're still going out and enjoying it. :)

It's summer!!

Hence, lack of posting. I'm a busy bee!

We still have Rosie, but I talked to Jill today and she's got her spaying booked finally. Poor little squirt wants to get out of the foster room so badly - she's so bored in there right now! She's destroyed all of her toys (and the room in general) just looking for something to do. I feel terrible that we don't have time or a bigger area to dedicate to her. Not too much longer though, and she'll have more freedom.

Jill also has another mama and four babes looking to be fostered right now. Unfortunately, I didn't immediately jump on this one, just because I don't think it would be fair to them with us being so busy. But, I'm helping spread the word to others. Anyone out there that's still reading, feel free to give me a shout if you're interested in fostering them!

I've been in touch with Ann on numerous occasions now, too. Last time I heard from her was on the 15th (a little over a week ago), and she said things were still going good. With various changes in litter type, she's still being dedicated to getting them to use it. When I talked to her, she said they were still struggling a bit with it, but they were getting there (L was using it 90% of the time). As for feeding, they were eating every 4 hours, with some Hi Cal that she picked up from the vets office. Wes is still a little fella, but she said he's definitely got a belly on him. I think he just needs to push some of that out into his super long arms and legs!

Gotta run for now, but I'll be back to update soon! :)

PS: I made a video tribute to the boys (idea stolen from IBKC!)... I'll post that later :)

Touching Base

It's been so quiet lately!
I haven't had many interesting things to write on here, so I've just been reading everyone else's from a distance.

But, I did get a little news from Pet Save today, so I thought I'd come tell you what's up!

Rosie is still with us, and she is scheduled for her spaying next week (not certain on the exact day yet). From there, she goes back into the regular rotation of kitties at the shelter. I haven't had much luck finding her a home myself, so I'm just going to rely on them to help find her one. Again, if anyone is interested, she's up for grabs! She has come a long way in her time with us, but she is still a bit shy. I think once she gets a home of her own, she'll be great.

Good news? I'm going back to volunteering. Now that the boys are gone, I'm putting my name on their list for helping at the shelter. I've never actually worked at the Pet Save shelter (I was always strictly with SPCA, minus the fostering), but I'm very eager to help them out. Doug has other engagements on Thursday evenings after work, so I told them I would be happy to go there (after I'm done work) to do whatever they need me to do. And then, on top of that, help with any other event coordination stuff that's coming up. Yay! I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow is Friday (woo!) and we have company for the weekend, so I probably won't be around again until early next week. But I should know more on all this stuff by then.

No word on the boys since my last post. :(  I'm still thinking about them daily... Though, I know they're in good hands. I wonder how big they're getting!

Oh, and one last thing, in my comments from my last post, Catonsvillecats mentioned how one of the kittens (Peege) from the litter over at KittenMom ended up with CH. But he's got a home to go to! Go read about it here!

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the human Mamas and all the furry Mamas!
I hope you have a wonderful day!! :)

My uncle sent me a video he made of Wesley from when we went to visit them in the beginning of April, (we were having a 60th birthday party for my Mom), and I just discovered it today!

Wesley was still on the bottle at that time, but you can tell he was just about ready for solid food. This was before we knew anything about the CH.

Enjoy!!

Snowy Saturday

Well, again I neglected the posting that I said I would do. Things have been pretty busy around here since the boys left. Every evening this week was a late one, and by the time I got home, I was literally going straight to bed.

It's snowing here today (can you believe it?!), so we cancelled any plans for the day. Which was fine with me!! :) Instead, I've got a very happy and cuddly Yoko purring in a blanket between me and the keyboard, while I sip on coffee in my pyjamas (I'm in my pjs a lot, eh?). I figured it was a perfect time to come back on here and update. :)

I've been in touch with Ann a number of times. Whskr @ Dash Kitten asked in the comments from my last post if this is the Ann from California I was in touch with previously. Nope, it's not. While I thanked CA Ann very much for her offer, there was no way that we could possibly get them to her (other side of the continent, and a different country all together). Our Ann is in Ontario. So, it was great!

Anyway, so as I mentioned before, Ann said that the boys are doing great. I received an email from her yesterday telling me that Wesley's fecal report came back.
Let me start by saying that there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about them since they've been gone, and there's been this worry in my mind about what was going on with Wes - so it was a relief to get the email telling me what was up.

So, nothing 'serious', but he does have a bacteria internally, called Clostridium. I said that I thought it was strange that he had that type of bacteria in him, as it's usually associated with humans and a type of food poisoning (it's kind of like Salmonella). But, she said that they figure he's had it from birth - so, who knows what would have caused it.
The good news: It's easily cleared up with antibiotics, which both boys are now on (L too, just in case).
I'll let you know how that's going after the next time I talk to her.

Other than that, she said they're both doing great. She's trying a new type of litter with them, too, made of corn. I've seen this before but never known if it was good or not. Anyone else have any opinions on what it's like?
The clay stuff just wasn't working out (as I've said before too - but I just gave up and started using a pan lined with paper towel)... But I applaud her for trying different methods to get them to use the box on their own. She figures they'll get it down soon enough.

Okay. So, here's the videos that I promised! The first one is kind of just a moving version of the pictures I took the other day (that I posted on my last post) - plus it's got Rosie playing in there, too, which I thought was cute.
The other is two videos that I stuck together of the boys on their last morning with us. They're having their breakfast on our island, about half an hour before we left on our trip. :)

Rested

Ok, so I said I would be on yesterday to post the pictures. I totally lied. Instead, I took yesterday off from posting and lounged around in my pjs once I got home. Heh.

It was worth it ;)

So, I'm back today! And I have had a great many hours of sleep recovery.
But I do come with a couple of things to report.

I have been touch with Ann a couple of times about the boys. Everything seems to be going well. She did say that they were a definitely a handful (oh, how I know), but she was keeping on top of things.
She took them to the vet yesterday and they cleared for their screening of FIV and FeLV. Woo!
Wes still has some stinky runs going on though, so they did a more 'in depth' fecal - which has been sent off for further examination. She said they should have results in about 10 days or so. I'll let you know more as she tells me.

Anyway, I'm not here to drown you with words once again... so I'll cut this short and show some pictures! Back soon!

~~~~~~~~~
The last day at the house:

In their new home (as noted, the only crappy pictures I took - sorry! I hope to get some from Ann eventually!):

I have a couple of videos that I'll upload tomorrow, too :)

Oh, what a weekend! :D

We're home from our delivery! The boys are now safe and happy in their new home.

The past couple of days happened so quickly, and oh my, I am tired. As soon as I got in the door this afternoon I curled up in bed and crashed out for a few hours. I slept like I hadn't slept in months.

My post right now is going to be pretty scattered because even now I feel a little sleepy-headed, but I wanted to let everyone know how things went.

I don't think it's really hit me yet that -they're gone-. I still can't believe that we found them a home, and I owe it to all of you who stood behind me and helped spread the word and give advice. The internet is such a powerful tool, and it's amazing how people can come together to help each other out. So thank you all again, from the bottom of my heart. These boys will now grow up and live happily, and it's because of you.

We had debated back and forth for some time if they would be okay to go. It was up in the air for so long because I knew that Ann had a severe CH cat at home that she already had to watch regularly. Plus, we wanted to wait to see how the boys progressed over the week. After talking to each other on a daily basis on how they were doing, Ann called me on Thursday to confirm that she, for sure, felt that she was going to be able to help us out. The boys were doing well, by eating out of the dish on their own, and occasionally using the litterpan (and box with help).

Now, Ann has quite the fur-family there (which I will get to in a minute), so we have also talked about options once the boys get older. Right now, she will work with them while they are young - and has even hired a pet-physiotherapist for her other severe CH cat, which she will be able to incorporate sessions with the boys. Which is AMAZING. We have another special and wonderful person, Michelle (the one I had been talking to on Facebook), who has been interested in adopting them as well. The only thing about that, as I mentioned, was the worry about not being able to use the litter. But if Ann can get them trained, she will let her know, and she then can possibly re-adopt them from Ann. If not, Ann will wholeheartedly keep them indefinitely. She has been able to train her other CH cats though, so I have faith in her.

When we got to her house, which took us a 4.5 hour drive, I was amazed. What an amazing person, and a terrific home, full of very sweet and VERY cared for cats. I believe the CH total is.... something like 5 or 6 cats with CH. The rest of her fur babies are normal. Now, this may sound like a lot of cats, but the way she has it set up for them is absolutely wonderful. They have tons of room to run and play and they all seem SO happy. She does such a great job with them, you can tell. (I was SO relieved!!!!) . She even had a room dedicated specifically for the boys, which was full of bedding and specially-made CH litterboxes (she cuts a little opening in the front for easy access, and tapes it with duct tape so the edges are smooth = GREAT idea).

I had spent the last half of the trip getting there holding and snuggling Wes - saying goodbye to him. When we finally left her house (after an hour or so of tea, talk, and playing with her adorable kitties), I got a little misty eyed saying goodbye to them. But, it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, because I could just see how much care and love they were going to get. Also, as I've mentioned, I don't think it's hit me quite yet that they're officially gone from me forever.

She has promised to send us pictures and to keep in touch often to let us know how things are going. I find I'm thinking about them all the time, wondering what they're doing, and how they're adapting to their new surroundings. I'll be eager to hear from her to see how things are going.

I just want to let you know that it was a perfect ending. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I'm glad we worked so hard for these two, and while it was sad to see them go, I am so glad to see them in a place that they can continue to flourish with someone caring helping them with adapting to their needs.

I brought my camera, but of course, stupidly, I left it in the trunk while we were driving. Then, when we were there, I felt it would be a bit rude to take pictures in her house... so I just snapped one picture each of them quickly. I also got some videos of their last night and last morning at our house before we left. But... since I'm lazy and posting in bed right now, I'll get them in my post tomorrow.

Well, that's it for now. Where does that leave us? Well, Rosie is still here, and seeming a little lonely. We're going to move her to the -actual- foster room now, and then scrub down the office from top to bottom. Rosie is going in for shots and spaying in about 2 weeks (she's on a waiting list), so we'll have her for a while longer at least (gotta find her a home, too!).
After that, we're taking a bit of a vacation from fostering for a while. It's not the end of it for us though... We will keep going with more. As far as having a mama have kittens here, well, that will be something we will put on hold - but, taking in other fosters will be just fine :)

So, I'll be back tomorrow with the pictures. Thanks for being here with me through all of this. It has been quite the ride! :D