Exploring

This is Juvy writing again - I have to say that I am proud to be recovery very well from surgery!  I have excellent pain medication (the kittens tried to lick the cap today, but Christie put a stop to that quickly) and lots of calm rest.  I'm thankful not to be outside today, since the thermometer says 108.6, and that's in the shade!

The kittens have been successful at helping Bjarne not hate them, but he tires of their antics quickly.

When they're done playing with Bjarne and racing everywhere attacking things, there's always exploring to be done!  For example, these machines in the laundry room:

And they are cute all over the place.  Here are a bunch of adorable photos of my babies.

Orca & Otter snuggling on the chest by the window in my office:

Ermine:

Ermine some more (notice how she has dried wet food on her nose?  She's very skinny and we're trying to fatten her up, but all that happens is that her tummy gets really chubby and she burps.  Her extremities remain extremely spindly!):

Ermine looking alert!

Ermine looking sleepy:

Ermine on the windowsill:

Orca: "Paws up!"

Orca with paws down:

Orca, ready for abdominal surgery:

Otter and Ermine on their favorite fuzzy blankie:

Otter watching the camera cord: 

Otter ready for abdominal surgery!

Otter in the sunshine:

They're adorable!  Right now everyone is sleeping because they've been racing around like crazies.  I am headed off to sleep myself because that nummy pain medication says on the bottle, "may cause sedation".  Definitely does!  But hey, I'm a cat!  I'm SUPPOSED to sleep most of the time!

I hope you get a nice nap today, too.

-Juvy

SPAY DAY!

Today is spay day for Juvy, so this is Christie writing her post today.  She is completely healed from the mastitis, and she's in heat again (!), so it's definitely time for her to be done with all that weirdness!  She went to the vet at 7:30 this morning and should be ready to come home around 1 PM.

The day before yesterday, the smaller kittens (Madge's kittens) went to live with our neighbors Chris and Tia for a while so we can focus on getting Juvy's kittens old enough to be spayed and neutered.  Hopefully we will still be able to find them excellent homes.

I have some photos of Madge's kittens being adorable (as always!) before they went to Chris & Tia's!

Allistair lying down on my tummy:

Allistair sleeping:

Judith, the princess:

Look at her little teeny paw!

No, she's not drugged.  These are her sleepy eyes!

And more sleepiness on the rug:

Lionel in a basket (they love this toy basket!)

And Stephen in my shoes!  He likes to find ingenious places to hide and observe the world.

And now on to Juvy's kittens!  Here they are all snuggled up and cozy:

Orca on my lap:

PAWS UP!

Sweet sleepy Ermine:

Snuggle-bug sleeping Orca:

Cuddly sleeping Otter:

Everyone being sleepy all together!

And here are a few videos from the last few days!  I know everyone LOVES to watch the videos of the kittens being kittens!

First, Ermine wanted to eat cherry cobbler!  I didn't give her any, but I did let her lick the plate.  No one else wanted any.

Ermine, silly girl, got up on the paper towels and was doing her best to whip them into shape!

Juvy LOVES catnip!

And so do the kittens!

Three kittens playing wild in my office:

More kittens on the bed:

Enjoy the kitten love, and hope you are having a great week!

-Christie

Fluffy Love!

Everyone is healthy and well and fluffy and cutesy!

Last night, Allistair got sleepy and decided to rest upside down in Greg's lap.

He's a lovey-dovey little guy!

He also doesn't mind his chubby little tummy rubbed.  And we love to rub his chubby little tummy!

Then he fell asleep upside down, but perfectly comfortable.

Lots of videos today . . .

In fact, let's start with me teaching my kittens to hunt!

Me - I play crazy with the mousie to interest the kittens, then I push the mousie over to them to let them take over.  Sometimes they DO take over and get that mousie, sometimes they don't.  But they're learning!  (Not that they're going to NEED to hunt - they will be getting fed!)

Me plus some kittens!


My kittens playing with the laser pointer.  They do spin-outs!


Judith loves this fishy:


Playing in Greg's slippers:

Kittens having fun:


Kittens RACING:


We're very proud of Stephen's progress.  He went from hissing and spitting at us every time we wanted to touch him to being playful and curious.  He's still shy and tentative and easily spooked, but his improvement has been wonderful.  Hooray for Stephen!


Not everyone loves Greg's guitar yet as much as Christie does!

Having seven kittens in the house definitely does not lead to a NEATER and TIDIER house . . .


Stephen and Lionel love eating!  They are very good purrers, too.  Here; I'll prove it!

Judith & Allistair getting some cuddles:

And some video updates of Madge's kittens:


Christie & Greg are trying to figure out how to house all of us until we are ready to be spayed/neutered.  There are far too many of us to all stay inside much longer, because there just isn't enough room!  We like to run around and we all want lots of snuggles.  There isn't enough time in the day for all of us to get the attention we want.

The spay/neuter clinic said they won't do the kittens' surgeries until they're 12 weeks old, and they're only nine weeks old this Saturday.  Orca, the biggest of my kittens, weighs only 2 pounds, and they want kittens to weigh at least 3 pounds before surgery.  We can't live outside until after our surgeries, because I am not quite ready to be spayed yet (though my wound has completely closed up - amazing!) and Christie & Greg aren't just going to toss my kittens outside without me to take care of them and teach them.  

Our neighbor, Chris, was able to take the kittens he had been caring for to a local no-kill shelter, Friends For Life, after they were spayed and neutered (at eight weeks and two pounds using the same vet I called!)  He is contacting that same shelter to see if they can take my kittens so they could be someone's beloved pets rather than outside cats at Christie & Greg's.  We still have Madge's kittens to place (hopefully!)  I love those kittens, too, though, so if they don't find homes, they can go outside with me, and I will teach them how to live and make sure they have a mama if Madge doesn't want to deal with them anymore. 

It's all complex and I know Christie & Greg feel burdened to take the best care of us and love us as much as they can, while still realizing that they're only two people & they can't save the world all by themselves.

We are all thankful!  Thanks also to those of you who have taken in a homeless animal and showered it with love.  You are amazing and generous!

Facebook

Well, my kittens are getting too big to alllll be in Christie & Greg's house, so Christie & Greg are trying to figure out how to proceed . . . sadly, we have not found loving forever homes for them yet.  It looks like they are old enough (8 weeks) and almost heavy enough (they need to be two pounds or more) to get spayed/neutered, so that's the next step.  Once that's done and they are healed up, we'll all probably move outside so we can have more room.  While this isn't the outcome we all hoped for, at least we will all be spayed/neutered and vaccinated, and we won't be reproducing.  Christie & Greg will continue to feed us, so we won't abandoned.  We'll just be outside cats.

We would much rather have loving forever families where we can live inside and snuggle all the time, because that's what we love to do, so please continue to keep us in mind if you know anyone that has been considering adopting a kitten.  We are very special, since we have been nurtured carefully from the time we were born!

Madge's kittens are also quite special!  They are getting cuter all the time, and they are social and fun and playful.  Who would have guessed that they would turn into such people-loving little kittens?  They were sad and scared and not very friendly when we met them, and now they are just delightful!

This post is called "Facebook" because I was wondering if you loyal readers would be willing to post a link to this blog on your Facebook pages saying that these are the cutest and sweetest kittens ever!  If you live in the Phoenix metro area, especially, since your friends will likely be able to adopt easily if they want to.  Let's work together to find these kittens homes and stop the cycle of cats being homeless!

Here are some videos!

Allistair playing with Christie's hair:

Judith and Allistair playing crazy on top of Greg Mountain!

Kittens wrestling:

Lionel attacking the wall!


Lionel, Allistair, and Judith on top of Greg:

Judith and Lionel like to sleep on Greg's feet:

Judith all comfy:

I love how Judith has little white spectacles around her eyes!  Perhaps because I also wear glasses!

Maybe you can see the spectacles better here.  She's a bookish girl!

Lionel cuddled into Greg's armpit.

Judith cuddled into Greg's neck:

Stephen is the shyest one of this litter.  His eye infections and fleas were the worst, and he's been the only kitten who hissed at us.  He is getting much friendlier and more comfortable with people.  He adores Juvy's kittens and follows them around.  It's adorable!

Even though they're not my kittens, I have to admit that they're pretty cute.  They are starting to wash themselves, which is good, because they sometimes fall asleep with their faces right in the bowls of wet food.  MY kittens are always soft and clean a fluffy, and I'm sure Madge's kittens will get the idea soon.

Have a happy Monday!

-Juvy

SUCCESS!!!

MADGE IS NOW SPAYED!!!

Here is some video of how that happened (last night):

Today Christie took her to the low-cost spay & neuter clinic and she came away spayed, with extra pain medication, flea & mite treatment, and vaccinations.  Hooray!  She is now recovering in the kitten's outdoor enclosure.

Her kittens have had a very fun day!  They were introduced accidentally to me (Juvy) and my kittens, and everyone got along great!  Especially when the introductions were eased by wet food . . .


Stephen & Lionel eat very loudly.  They are still sort of getting used to eating rather than suckling, and they stick their heads in the bowl and suck the wet food up into their mouths.  More like elephants than cats!

And then, an amazing thing happened!  I walked over to Allistair and decided he was just too dirty.

And then I proceeded to lick alllll Madge's kittens a little bit.  They really are very dirty, so I didn't finish the job getting them all clean and fluffy as kittens should be, but I started working on it.  Christie and Greg praised me a lot and gave me lots of snuggles for being so kind and gentle.

Then the kittens played under the bench a little bit and got to know one another.

Now everyone is put away in their own spaces to sleep for the evening.  In the morning, Christie & Greg will let Madge out of the enclosure to roam free again.  She will not have any more litters, and she will hopefully stay healthy and much happier now that she's had vaccinations.

Have you ever thought that female cats might have hot flashes once their ovaries are removed?  Christie says that her hot flashes were debilitating after her surgery 10 years ago, and she wonders whether people should really be giving spayed cats hormones so they don't feel crazy and paranoid and steaming hot all the time (that's what happens to her, apparently, if she doesn't have some hormones . . . )  No vet has ever been able to answer whether cats have hot flashes.  Any thoughts on that?

Kitten Central!

This house is full of kittens!  Cats somehow know that Christie & Greg will TRY to help, even though they can't make life perfect for most of us.  This is Juvy writing, though Christie is typing for me.  Please excuse any typos today; Christie cut the tips of her third and fourth fingers opening a cottage cheese container (darn that tinfoil "safety" seal - it's really sharp!) and it's difficult for her to type well without those two fingers.  

Lots of cute kitten videos from the last few days.  Haven't posted for a little while, because the household has been focused on getting the outside kittens healthy and trapping Madge so she could be spayed.  More news on that anon . . .

Me and my kittens:

Cute little me:

Ermine playing silly with her favorite silver sparkly ball:


Orca fighting first with a mousie, then with a sibling!

Greg teaching us to hunt using the laser pointer!

More mousie:

We love to play with toys!

Okay, here's a Madge update:


New kittens in the house:


More new kittens (Judith, Lionel, Stephen, and Allistair):

The second batch of kittens and their mom are all named after characters from one of Greg & Christie's favorite British tv shows, "As Time Goes By".

Please continue to be on the lookout for homes for all of the wonderful, sweet, adorable kittens that are being well-taken care of here at Christie & Greg's house.  They are all ready to be rehomed when the right homes are found!

From left to right: Judith, Stephen, Lionel:

Allistair (with a background of Christie's new skirt!):

Allistair:

Allistair (he's been yelling the most, so there are more photos of him):

Ermine:

Greg snuggling Orca:

ME (Juvy) being cute with some favorite toys!

Allistair & Christie sleeping:

Orca in a blankie cave:

Four new kittens (Judith, Allistair, Stephen, and Lionel):

 Hope you enjoyed the peek into our busy life!

Come on over and take some sweetness and LOVE home with you!