Progress with Mamba

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George has made so much progress with Mamba! He has spent a lot of time gaining more and more of her trust, and it is paying off. She now is happy climbing on him, lying on his bed with her kittens, playing chase games – and she loves attention and being petted.

Mamba came from a farm and was happy around people. Unfortunately, the farm was sold and the new owner wanted to shoot all the cats. The rescue process for Mamba and her five kittens was pretty traumatizing for her. George is gradually persuading her that humans really are mostly good to be around.

Regaining Mamba’s trust through playtime

I think she’s ready for a furever home! Ideally, she would be adopted along with at least one of her kittens. This is such a loving family, with strong bonds. The closest of Mamba’s bonds is with Quintus, who looks so much like her. Mother and son are actually only a year or so apart in age – and their affectionate bond could last their lifetime.

Are you a cat person looking for rewarding companions? Contact me if you’d like to meet Mamba and her family!

Bird video for Hazel

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Hazel as made so much progress towards trusting humans – it’s encouraging to think she might become tame and adoptable. She seems to be really sweet, but very used to being on her own and resistant to trusting anyone else. I think she’s about 3 or 4 years old, so she might never be trusting enough to be really snuggly, but I want to try!

Since all her kittens have been adopted, Hazel is a bit lonely and a bit bored. So I invited her to join me in my office/bedroom this afternoon, and she had a good time exploring. I blocked my own cats out of the room, and let her just come in and see what there was to see and smell.

She came near me and I saw her notice the cursor moving on the computer, so I looked up a bird video for cats, and turned that on. She was quite fascinated by it! A couple of times she moved as if to jump at it, but wisely thought better of it.

Hazel watched the bird video for quite a while, fascinated by it. She seemed to know it was not really birds, but she found it compelling anyway!

Callisto adopted!

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Callisto in her new home!

Aw, it’s always a happy and also a sad time when a kitten is adopted. It always makes me feel good to know how much joy this little kitten is going to bring to his or her new family. Callisto is definitely one of the sweet ones. At the same time, I’m going to miss her! So will George – whenever she found him lying on the bed, she’d snuggle up under his chin for a nap!

We have had good reports from her new home, where she seems to be settling in quite well. She will meet her new older “sister” and also the family dog after they’ve had some time to get used to the idea.

I’m so happy she has a loving furever home! She is such a sweetheart!

Update: September 5. Callisto has now met the whole family, and is already playing with the other cat. She even met the dog and they seem to like each other!

Callisto and her new sibling!

Kittens in slo-mo!

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Feathers are a great inspiration to kittens – and cats! These are Mamba’s family playing with their new feather toy, and filmed in slow motion. They are quite enthusiastic! These siblings play quite well together. There is no hissing or growling, and they don’t mind someone else playing too.

This is mainly Blaze and Tiny, the two most athletic and adventurous of Mamba’s kittens.

New toy: google-eye ball!

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We got a few new toys at MadCat today and are introducing them a couple at a time. Today’s introduction is googly balls! I’m calling them that because they are little super balls with google eyes painted on them, and a couple of feathers stuck into them. They seemed to me to have potential – and I wasn’t wrong.

We gave two to Mamba’s group, and they became instantly fascinated. They quite enjoyed batting them around and chasing after them. Quintus would pick one up by the feathers and carry it off to release it in a new location. Mostly two or three kittens would group around one and bat it somewhere and zoom after it.

Tiny was quite afraid of the google balls at first, so it took him a few minutes to get close enough to bat it and jump back. After awhile he got more comfortable with it.

…aand evening crazies

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This is Hazel’s group, enjoying their new jungle gym. That wasn’t what we intended it for, but that’s clearly what it is in their eyes.

The idea is to set the big dog cage up the way we had it when Hazel was pregnant, with a safe “cave” and all the necessaries (food, water, litter box). Then we hope to lure Hazel into it, so we can get her to the vet for spaying. I haven’t been able to get her into a carrier any other way, so she is the only mama who hasn’t been spayed yet.

Hazel, of course, recognizes the cage for what it is, and stayed a wary distance away as George set it up. The kittens, however, had fewer inhibitions. Puck had none! Predictably, he was “helping” from the beginning, and was inside it before the ends were up. The others soon joined.

We set it up with both doors wide open, and the kittens proceeded to have a blast!

Puck led the way, climbing the sides and swinging from the top almost immediately. Then a toy was added to the fun, and everyone joined in. Smudge is the best at walking on the top.
Puck is an incredible athlete!

Pushy children

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Hazel was semi-feral when she came to us, but I have hopes that she will become more trusting and tame enough to adopt. Working towards this, I sometimes give her a plate of food and sit near her, which she accepts.

This morning, I sat with a plate of food next to where she was. She hissed, but didn’t leave, and I put the food in front of her. She was eating with me close by, and I was pretty happy with that.

Then her kittens decided her food must be better than what they were eating, and one by one three of the four came and pushed in to eat hers – even though it was exactly the same as theirs! First Farley, then Charlie Pie, then Smudge. Puck just kept eating where he was – a paté in the paw is worth two … somewhere else.

Farley (tabby on the right), Charlie Pie (calico, behind him), and Smudge (smudgy one on the left) all decided it would be tastier to take mom’s food than eat the identical food I’d already put down for them. Hazel was pushed right out! There’s plenty to go ’round, so she will probably go and eat theirs.

Morning crazies

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This morning crazies are always fun to watch, and watching two or more kittens together is especially entertaining. It’s one of several reasons why 9 Lives Rescue recommends adopting two kittens together. They are happier – and they’re so much more fun than just one!

These are Mamba’s kittens, now 16 weeks old! They are so adorable, they would have been adopted long ago, but we couldn’t even list them until they fought off sickness that came with them from the farm. They are strong and playful now – and reaching peak cuteness!

Snippet (center) and his sister, Callisto, with Tiny to the left. This is especially rewarding for me, because Snippet has been fighting both a virus and an ear infection, and it’s so great to see him getting his energy back! These guys didn’t have an easy start in life, but they are almost all at full health. One more week of antibiotics to go!

Sweet kittens

Black Mamba’s kittens are so sweet. The whole family is very sweet-natured. Their favorite things are playing and snuggling and world-class purring!

Two of the snuggliest, with great purrs: Snippet (right) and his sister, Callipso. (Callipso is about the same size as Snippet – the camera angle makes her look smaller.)