Category: Nalia and kittens

Nalia’s kids, September 2022

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Update: All of Nalia’s kids have found their furever homes!

Nalia’s adorable family: Pixel, Spike, and Firefly

Spike – update: adopted October 5!

Spike is a sweet boy who loves to snuggle. He’s also energetic, playful, and curious. He loves to escape from the foster kitty area and explore new places. He’s also photogenic!

Firefly – update: adopted October 6!

Firefly started our more shy than her brothers, but she is quickly gaining confidence and has decided she likes people. She is a dilute torbie, which means she has a super pretty coat pattern. She has tabby markings, with tortoiseshell markings as well, so she has rusty-orange highlights and patches. She’s a sweet kitty and very playful, seems somehow more mature than her brothers, and is going to be a lovely adult.

Pixel – update: adopted October 6!

Pixel is an adorable and adventurous boy who loves to play and explore. He’s friendly and interested in everything. He is a solid black mini-panther with no white.

These kittens

Nalia’s kittens were born the second week of June 2022 on a farm north of Madison. They are all neutered or spayed, utd on vaccinations, negative for FIV/FeLV, microchipped. They are ready for adoption! Please contact me if you are interested in adding one or more of these adorable kittens to your family, and we can arrange a visit. You should also submit an application asap to 9 Lives Rescue; that puts you under no obligation, but it gives you a place in line.

Update: All Nalia’s kittens have been adopted to wonderful homes! We’re so happy to turn our “babies” over to their new families! Mom Nalia is currently available, along with her sister Lady Felix.

Nalia and kittens update August

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Nalia and her family when they first came

Nalia is so beautiful – there are several photos of her in the Gallery post I put up today, but they don’t really do her justice. She has such delicate features. The most likely candidate for her dad is a black and white cat who is half Maine Coon. She inherited his big, floofy tail, and looks more like a Maine Coon than he does – but tiny. She was only a little over 5 pounds when we got her.

Nalia came in July, with kittens who were, we estimate, born the second week in June. They were small, but their pre-molars were starting to come in, so we figured 6 to 7 weeks old. There is Spike, a brown/gray tabby male; Firefly, a reddish/gray tabby female; and Pixel, a solid black male. Pixel is also called Soot Sprite, because he really looks like one of the Soot Sprites in “My Neighbor Totoro,” an animated film by Hayao Miyazaki. If you haven’t seen it, you really should. 🙂

The family was confined to the Jiro Palace for a week or so, but soon turned loose in the big room. It gives scope to their zoomies, and they take full advantage!

Spike is the most cuddly, Pixel is a little imp, and Firefly the most thoughtful. They were quite friendly from day one, and I think it’s in their genetics. They’d never had any interactions with people, but, although they were startled by the big transition, they were open to being friends right away.

Nalia herself is more cautious. Of the three adults we have from that farm, she is the most shy. She’ll jump in my lap for treats, however, so it’s just a matter of time and working with her. She’s a very affectionate kitty.

The family now: Pixel, Firefly, Spike

Welcome new kitties!

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It has been quite a week, and sadly full of more examples of how horribly human beings can behave. We have seven new foster kitties from two different situations.

Flora and Fauna

On Sunday, July 17, we transferred two sisters here from another foster. The two cats are adults, probably about 2 years old. They were found abandoned in a house with no food or water, and one of them had three kittens. Someone pulled a sofa out and kittens fell out. Eventually they ended up with 9 Lives Rescue, but not without someone threatening to shoot them all first. The kittens seemed to be doing well for a few days with their new foster mom, and were gaining weight, but died the sixth day. No one really knows why – perhaps there were delayed consequences from their earlier treatment.

The adults are called Flora and Fauna. Flora is a light orange tabby, and she was the mom, and Fauna is a brown tabby with tortoise-shell markings: a torbie. They’ve been here six days and I have only had a few quick glimpses of Fauna; I haven’t seen Flora at all. They live in a big “popup” pen that is 7 feet across and octagonal, and 3 feet tall. They have a fleece blanket and hide under that all day. I’m going to do my best to convince these kitties that there are good people in the world, but they’ve had some pretty serious trauma – plus they are grieving from the loss of babies. Having each other is a great thing – they have a tight bond and are probably sisters.

Farm kitties

The farm kittens are about 6 to 7 weeks old. They weigh only about a pound each, but they are growing every day!

On Wednesday I went with the director of 9 Lives to visit a farm that asked us for help. Less than 20 minutes north of Madison, it is a tempting distance for humans who want to dump cats they don’t want and can’t be bothered to surrender humanely. As an example, the owner watched as someone drove by and just threw their cat out the window of the moving car.

With some of the cats pregnant and also an active tomcat across the highway – who loves to visit – the farm ended up with more cats than they could afford to feed. Cat populations get out of hand so fast! So they reached out to 9 Lives for help.

The fact is, 9 Lives Rescue is not taking new cats in, because all the foster families already have more cats than they are comfortable with. I agreed to take some, because I had openings, but the farm has many more cats that need new homes. We’re going to try to help, but, like most of the rescues in the area, we’re overburdened already.

On Wednesday we brought home a young mama cat, her three kittens, and also her sister – who is pregnant. I think that will make me officially over-extended with foster kitties, and yet there are so many more!

None of these kitties will be ready for adoption soon – but I invite you to follow along if you’re interested in watching their progress. I’ll be posting more photos soon!

Please surrender your cats humanely! Please spay and neuter your cats!