Every spring, shelters get overwhelmed with cats during kitten season and the plea goes out for foster families to take care of them, until permanent homes can be found. Foster families save the lives of cats and kittens that might otherwise meet their demise in a kill shelter. This year, NBC10's Deanna Durante decided it was time to become a foster parent. She's blogging about her experience.
Okay, okay, I know I’m overdue in writing and I am sorry. Who knew the lives of some little kittens would be followed so closely! Thank you all so much for your interest!
From visitors to near miss injuries, it has been an action packed couple of weeks. Since turning one-month-old, we have had some major issues.
Mama has potty trained her kitties -- but not fast enough as Tuxie had a little accident on our comforter (I figure babies do it, so no need to panic, but keep reading, because I panic later). So it was off to the dry cleaners very early on a Saturday morning and I am happy to report a certain dry cleaner did a wonderful job.
Mama had her first time-out this week and turns out she needed a second. I came home very late from work last Thursday night and my husband said, before I could even get in the door, “Mama needed a time out.” I smiled and asked why what she did. The answer? “She hissed at me.”
Well welcome to my world I thought to myself. Mama has been hissing at me since day one and I have yet to use the time-out feature. Sad, but true. So I checked on Mama and she and the kittens had been separated. Mama on one side of the cage and the babies on the other.
Because Thursday is trash night (remember Mama escaped while I was cleaning last trash night?), my husband was cleaning out the litter box and Mama wasn’t very happy with his presence, so he gently moved her to another cage while he cleaned up after the kittens and changed food bowls, etc.
Not to worry, it had only been a few minutes and she still hisses and growls at us, so I don’t think it took!
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I also used the time-out feature on Saturday as I cleaned all sides of the cages (they way the little fellas like to play in the litter box, you can’t tell I make the effort anymore!).
For those following along on Facebook, you know we had quite the scare with Speckles on Sunday. When it was over, I was told “I am not ready for motherhood,” as my husband said I really “didn’t handle the situation well.”
The kittens are not fully litter trained yet, I think most are but I keep finding, um, packages to clean up on the floor of the cage so when we can’t be with them making sure they don’t cause trouble, they stay in the cage where there’s tons of food and water, a big litter box nearby and Mama.
I was downstairs in the kitchen making dinner for friends. They had a baby on Saturday! Congrats to them and the beautiful bundle (I saw a picture) they brought home today. I will refrain from using their names as I am not sure if they’d want a birth announcement in the kitten blog. Anyway, I’m getting off track here.
I heard this loud cry, which was unusual because the kittens really don’t cry at all. My husband checked out the situation first and then I got the call, “You better come up here.”
So I did and Speckles had her little paw stuck, I’m not even sure how or why it got stuck, but she must have been reaching out of the cage. Mama was quite angry that her little baby was hurt and there is really no way for me to tell her that I’m trying to help (she still doesn’t understand that after six weeks, I am friend not foe. Clearly, she doesn’t speak the friend/foe language). As I tried to free Speckles, Mama was charging at me and I honestly believe, when a woman gets that angry, take cover. I’m not sure who was the most scared cat: me, Mama or Speckles.
I must have pushed her paw just enough and she freed her self on her own (now she is a little cautious of the sides of the cage. I guess that’s cat version of “hot,” geez, how do they learn the real version?).
I was a bit hysterical for lack of a better word and felt we needed to take Speckles to the vet at which time I was reminded that it was Sunday and there’s no vet open on Sunday. I was clearly more a wreck than she, as the small kitten pounced on a ball and hopped to the second side of the cage with no worries.
I was told I kind of dropped the ball. I may not have kids, but I certainly have seen parents who, despite bloody noses and scraped knees say, “Oh you’ll be alright,” as they reach for the gauze and Neosporin. This was a test I failed. So for now, I’m told I need more practice.
We are getting very close to saying goodbye to these fun little babies (as I write this, the kitties are discovering a laptop can be fun and so can typing fingers). So before I get a scratch on the screen or a cat yanks out my backspace button, I better let you get back to what you have to do. Please remember to help out your local shelter and if you want to know more about fostering or where these babies will soon end up for adoption, please check out the PALS website!
