Category: Front page

Tex and Coda – uncle and nephew – had an intense battle over food this morning. Tex and Sylvie get grownup food as well as the kitten/adult food everyone gets. Coda wants in. It takes some effort to get to where Tex is, but Coda is determined.

Once he overcomes the obstacles to get there, he finds Tex equally determined to eat it all himself. According to cat rules, if your head is down in the bowl, it’s yours. If you’re determined, you keep your head down – and the incoming kitten doesn’t have much of a chance.

BUT Coda is even more determined. He has developed an interesting and effective technique for getting his turn at the bowl. He uses his head for thinking instead of just shoving – and uses his paw. Sometimes he just pulls the bowl towards himself, but the really effective method is to push down on the near edge, which flips the back edge up into Tex’s face and gets his face out of the bowl. Success!

I’m not sure how this will read, so just in case: please note that the tone of this post is tongue-in-cheek. Both kitties are well-fed and the “battle” was quite amicable.

It’s always a bittersweet day when kitties are adopted and move to their new homes! The transition will be stressful for them at first, and I’ll sure miss them – but a happy home is the ultimate dream we’ve been hoping for all along.

Today the dream came true for Mia and Gemma (now Jordi). In these COVID days, all meetings have been virtual, so neither adopter had met her kitten in person. The kittens are twelve weeks old this week, but that’s still very young, so the first impression is how tiny they are! They weigh about 2.5 pounds now – definitely still pocket-sized!

Alice came first, to pick up her new kitten, Mia. Alice was – of course – smitten by the adorableness. Mia is a very cute kitten. Thank you, Alice, for sending pics! I’m glad Mia has you.

Soon Erica came to bring Gemma to her new home. Gemma will now be called Jordi, and Erica has sent me pics of her exploring her new home and toys.

I’m so happy for everyone! The kittens have both found loving people who will give them homes and love and care forever. And they’re terrific little kitties who will return all the love and lighten the lives of their people. Congratulations to all!

Turns out the bathtub is the “cool” place to hang out on a very warm afternoon – in more ways than one! The little bench is Tex’s favorite spot, above the fray, but he’s close enough to supervise – or dive in if it looks interesting. Who knew bathtubs could be so appealing to kittens? But it’s been true for all our foster kittens.

Sylvie, our mama kitty, has been struggling with something for quite a long time. I suspected an infection, but she went to one vet twice and they said she was fine. I finally took her to a different vet, and it turns out she has a blocked milk duct and probably mastitis. No wonder she hasn’t felt playful!

She has been on antibiotics now for three days, and is feeling sooo much better. She has been playing with toys, and playing with her kittens – which she has never done before. I feel very much better now that I’ve finally been able to help her! Thank you to Dr. Katie at Sauk Point Vet!

Mia was very proud of her special find today: a reusable paper towel! Apparently that’s a treasure for a kitten. She found it on the table where I had just put it, but she couldn’t stay there with it. Nope. She was driven to take it down and find a secret place where she could have it all to herself.

Step one was to get across to the cat tree – a real challenge with something that big in your mouth.

After the success of leaping to the cat tree, the next step was getting down through the hole. What a dilemma! When she tried to head down, the paper towel got in the way so she couldn’t see where she was going. One thing about Mia: she’s persistent! She finally made it work, got all the way to the floor, and tossed the paper towel around and had a great time with it.

The obsession with the bathtub continues. Tex sits on the little shelves and supervises, or he joins in to show how it’s done. Three of the four kittens just love this!

Here’s the gang. The reality is that they just woke up from a nap, and they’re little sleepy-heads. But the photo looks like they’re a gang of thugs, standing their ground and saying, “Make my day.” Coda even has one eye shut, making him look like a gangster or pirate.

I have to start by sharing a video about cats that was just released today.

Ze Frank has been creating the True Facts videos for a long time, covering all kinds of animals – sometimes ones you’ve never heard of. They are always interesting and funny, and the visuals are fabulous. The humor is often a little 4th-grade, but the information is always solid.

The one on cats, “Cats’ Killer Senses” is exceptional: visually stunning and full of information. I’ve embedded it in a page on this site, so you can just click here to watch the video.

There’s a bathroom next to the kitty room, and we’ve been letting the kitties have access to it. The first big thrill was the bathmat! They loved attacking it, wrestling with it and with each other while tangled in it. They are preparing for their adult job of keeping the world safe from unruly bathmats. The players are all the kittens plus Uncle Tex, who also loves a good bathmat battle.

Today, Coda and Smoke discovered the bathtub! They’re big enough to jump up and into it. Coda is obsessed with playing there, and Smoke is also having a blast.