Kitten Cuteness Alert

Mom has been busy and that has kept us from the blog. I'm not going to promise that I'll post more often, because as sure I do, we will disappear again! But I do have some wonderful news for you.

Way back in late spring/early summer, a little black cat started showing up in our auntie's backyard. She had 4 kittens in tow with her a few times. Eventually those babies were caught and they found forever homes. Auntie Jen tried to trap Babymama, but she was good at avoiding the trap and it wasn't long before she was pregnant again.

Babymama, now called Khaleesi, eventually brought her five babies around. Two of the babies were solid black, just like her. Three babies were tabby patterned like their daddy. Auntie Jen was able to trap Khaleesi this time, and she had her spayed. The vet said she was in good health. Since she still had her babies out there, Auntie Jen let her go back out.

About three weeks ago Auntie Jen had a streak of good luck. In one afternoon she was able to trap the five kittens and re-trap Khaleesi. The babies were wild, as was Khaleesi. The babies all checked out healthy, which was wonderful news. Two of the tabby babies went to a foster home together. Another lady who works with ferals took the other tabby kitten. She was going to work with him and try to socialize him so that he can find a forever home. Auntie Jen is keeping the black girl kitten. That left the black boy kitten needing a home.

Mom got in touch with Nancy and Tom, her friends that took in Poe last year. They said they would love to take this kitten. Poe needed a younger playmate because the two older cats weren't interested. So last Thursday mom packed up the kitten and drove to Charlotte, NC. She met Nancy and Tom there and baby kitten was off to his forever home.

The kitten, now name Smudge, is settling in to his new home. Nancy said at first Smudge was afraid of Poe, but now they are playing with each other. Poe has taught him to jump onto the counter where the treats are kept! Smudge isn't sleeping in the bed with her yet, but she said that is just a matter of time.

We are so happy Smudge is adjusting. He is a cutie pie as you can tell from his pictures.

Happy National Cat Day

We hope everyone is enjoy National Cat Day! Mom asked, "And how is this different from any other day?" at our house. We pretty much get to do whatever we want so mom did have a valid point.

Johnny had to go to the vet on Friday to have his dew claw checked out. Somehow he got an infection in it and the claw stopped retracting. He is doing much better now and the swelling has gone.

And speaking of Johnny, he sometimes has an issue with his brother. Cash will be minding his own business and then this will happen:

Johnny will come up behind Cash and bite his neck. Johnny will hold Cash like this for several minutes. Cash doesn't cry out or growl, so Johnny must not being hurting him. Eventually Johnny will let go and Cash will walk away.

The sun is shining today, so I think I'll find a sun puddle and take a nap.

Purrs,
Clarissa & Co.

Kitten Updates

We wanted to let our furiends know what has been happening with the Poe and the little tabby kitten we mentioned in a previous post.

We will start with Poe. In case you don't remember, Poe was the black kitten our mom found and rehomed with friends in South Carolina. His mom said he has adjusted to life in his forever home. He has two dog furblings and two cat furblings. Both his mom and dad are totally in love with him, but his dad especially so. And Poe follows his dad all over the house. That makes us so happy!!! Mom has some new pictures of Poe, but she needs to download them from her phone. We will share them with you soon.

We also have some good news regarding the little tabby boy kitten. He will be going to a forever home soon. A lady who works with one of mom's best friends is going to take him when she gets back from her vacation. In the meantime, the lady who found him is going to foster him.

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Did anyone get to see the Super Moon/Blood Moon/Total Eclipse last night? It was too cloudy here to see it. Mom was disappointed because she really wanted to see it. Of course it is sunny today. That seems to happen a lot whenever there is a lunar eclipse here.

Mom went to and Irish festival on Saturday. She told us she had a really good time drinking Harp and listening to Irish music. She also said she liked looking at the different vendor booths although she didn't do a lot of shopping. We napped while mom was gone, which is a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon in our book!

We hope everyone has a great week!

Purrs,
Clarissa

Mancat Monday

I like to put the bitey on my brother, Cash. I show him who is the boss around here!

Cash wanted to order pizza but I wasn't interested.

Meet Johnny and Cash!

Mom Malinda here today. Clarissa said it was okay if I wrote today's post.

We have two new additions to the horde at my house. Their names are Johnny and Cash (they were already named) and they joined us on Wednesday night. These guys are All-American Tabby brothers. I was told that they are six years old.

Here is how they came to me:  My friend needed a ride to her vet's office on Wednesday evening. Her car had broken down and one of her kitty's had a 6pm appointment. I agreed to give her ride in the nasty, pouring rain. While we were waiting, a young couple came in with their little girl. Each adult had a large tabby in their arms. The woman was in tears. They wanted to surrender the cats to the vet's office! From what I overheard they had fallen on some financial hard times and were now staying in a place where they couldn't have their cats. Unfortunately the office did not take surrendered animals. If they were turned over to animal control their chances of survival would be slim to none. I don't know how they would fare with the local humane society either. It was obvious that these boys were well taken care of and loved. So I did the only thing I could do: I brought them home with me.

They had their vet visit on Saturday and came out with a clean bill of health. We discovered that Cash has broken the tip off of his upper left fang. The vet said it appeared to be an old injury. It doesn't appear to bother him but I will keep an eye on his eating habits. They were both vaccinated while at the vet's and they both received claw trims. Also, they were already neutered. Johnny was anxious at the office and he started panting. I've never had a cat that reacted that way before.

Johnny and Cash are out and about with the other cats. Cash is pretty laid back about the arrangement. He has discovered the top of the cat trees and a windowsill that gets a lot of morning sun. He also seems to have a favorite chair in the living room. Johnny is a little more cautious. He isn't growling like he first did and I hope he will relax more as he gets use to his new home. He is more of an explorer and has managed to get on top of the refrigerator and tried to get into one of the kitchen cabinets. I've caught him on top of the stove a couple of times and made him get down. That is one place he is not allowed.

Without further ado, here are Johnny and Cash!

This is handsome Cash! Although you can't tell it in these pictures, Cash has beautiful green eyes. He is longer than Johnny and he weighed in at 12 lbs.

 

Cash has picked out this chair as one of his favorite places to sleep. Look at those big back feet!

This is golden eyed Johnny. He is a little shorter in length and little stockier. He weighed in at 14 lbs.

Another picture of Johnny. I put a collar on him to help tell them apart. I'm wondering if he wore one before. He didn't put up a fuss about and he has not tried to take if off.

They are already stealing my heart.

Remembering Mr. Kenya

Mom was looking at some pictures she had saved in Photobucket and ran across this one:

Mr. Kenya, Dir. of Rodent Control, Ret. - Dec. 2007

This is Mr. Kenya, Director of Rodent Control, Retired. He lived in and around the gift shop at the botanical gardens in Phoenix, Arizona. Mom visited the gardens on her first trip to Phoenix in December 2007. She had just left the gift shop and sat down on a short wall to take a rest. Mr. Kenya was soaking up some late afternoon sun on the walkway. He ended up jumping up on the wall and sitting beside mom for a bit.

You can't tell it from the picture, but Mr. Kenya was a very old kitty. Around 19 if mom remembers correctly. Mom said if you saw him in person you would know that he was an old man. One of the gift shop ladies said Mr. K used to hunt rodents and rabbits when he was young. He spent most of his time sleeping now.

Mom took a few pictures of him, scratched him behind his ears, and then she had to go. About a month later she called the gift shop to inquire about purchasing an item she had seen. She was talking to the lady about Mr. Kenya and found out that he had crossed the Bridge on Christmas Eve. Mom thought that was the perfect time for this furry angel to go to his real forever home.

When mom got off the phone, she emailed copies of the pictures she had taken to the lady she had spoken with. The lady emailed her back and thanked her for sending them and said she was so glad to have them.

Mom's been back to Phoenix several times since then, but not back to the botanical gardens. She's often wondered if they have hire a new Director of Rodent Control. She said it would be wonderful if they did, although no one will replace Mr. Kenya.

Our mom and Mr. Kenya - Dec. 2007