Farewell, Jiggy

I am so sad to report that Jigsaw Puzzle, Esq., our "official spokescat," has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.

He had been sick for about a week, and he suddenly left us overnight of Dec. 17, 2018.  He was about 12 years old.

Mom is very sad, and so is "grandma," mom's mother-in-law, who lives with us; she is the one who found him, in the middle of the night, already cold, in the hallway.

I guess we will be taking turns with the blog for now; I know we haven't been very regular anymore.  2018 has been a rough year for the humans, so our access has been restricted.

Signed,
Munchkin

We Are Very Sads

Hello, fellow kittehs!

Once again, Mom has restricted access to our blog for a long time.  She was busy, and couldn't let us in because she was taking care of Dad, who was very sick.

Well, one night, Dad got so sick he didn't wake up in the morning, and we haven't seen him since.

Mom was doing a lot of crying, and still not letting us write.  We are sad, too.  We all miss him very much.  His mother lives with us now; she has been here about a year, Mom says.  We don't know what a year means, but it's been a long time, I think.  We like her.  She is nice to us, and sometimes she sneaks bites of people food to us under the table.  Shhh!  Don't tell on her!

So, life without Dad is almost the same; we still get fed and we still get playtime, and Mom still cleans our litterboxes.  But it's just different feeling, anyway.

We still don't know how often we'll be able to write anymore.  Mom has been hogging the computer.  She says she's doing research.  It's all very mysterious.  But she and "grandma" have been tossing around a funny word:  "RV."  Not sure what that means for us.  We will try to keep you posted.

Sadly,
Jigsaw Puzzle and the TWTP Crew

And Then There Were Three...

Well folks, the first of the kits has found her forever home.  Petunia was adopted on Sunday, October 29th.

The other three seem slightly subdued with their sister gone, but I suppose they will get over it.  

Here are Petunia's photos that were for the adoption promotion:

Isn't she just the most adorable kitty?  So, here is her photo with her new "mommy."

I know she will be happy in her new home, and her new family will love her and spoil her.

Next weekend, purrrhaps her siblings will also find their forever homes!

Well, They're All Ready To Go To Their Forever Homes!

Hello once again, fellow kitty lovers!  My beautiful "Flower Kittens" have grown and caught up to their weight class, and are the most adorable little balls of energy and cuteness.

This weekend will be their first day at adoptions.  The event happens in Antioch, CA, in Contra Costa County from noon until three p.m.  We use Slatten Ranch Shopping Center on Lone Tree Way, and we have kittens at Pet Food Express and at PetSmart.  Usually, there are kittens (and sometimes older cats), but adoptions are held on both Saturdays and Sundays; same times both days and both locations.

And now, they've had their spay and neuter surgeries, gotten microchipped, had their first vaccines, been combo-tested for kitty illnesses and passed the test.  They were previously de-flead and de-wormed, so all that remains is to find them their loving, forever homes.

Here, then, are their "graduation" photos:

This is "Chrys"  He is a very handsome tuxedo kitty

Since I could not think of any names of flowers that seemed in the least masculine or even boyish, I was a little bit stumped on what to name this fellow.

Finally, I decided on "Chrysanthemum," which I was then able to shorten to just "Chrys," pronounced exactly the same as in the first syllable of the flower's name.

Problem solved!









Since the rest of this group of kittens are females, there were no further such issues with names.  In any case, the names the fosters give them are usually temporary, for the adopters will change the names in probably 99% of cases.  It doesn't even matter at this point whether they recognize their names or not.  But it does increase the cuteness factor when promoting them.

Pansy was the 'runt' of the litter, weighing in at just about a pound and a half when I got her.  She was definitely 'behind the curve' for her age of nearly 2 months old.  Kittens in the first few months are supposed to weigh approximately 1 pound for each month of age.

This silly kitty is Petunia.  All four of these are siblings.

Meet Pansy.  She is a real little lovebug.

Last but certainly not least, we have little Tulip.  She's another one who will climb right up into your lap for some cuddle time.

She and her sister, Petunia, just love, love, love to wrestle with each other; it is probably their favorite activity!

Petunia and Tulip are both Tortoiseshell kitties.  It's a variation on the calico pattern, hence they are always females.

Pansy, above, is known as a "dilute calico," exhibiting mainly gray, with some cream on her undersides and a faded orange on her face and head, but at first glance, she appears mostly gray.

Chrys, of course, is the black and white, well dressed for formal occasions, known as a 'tuxedo' kitty.  All black above, and white underneath coming to under the chin.  Sometimes they have a white blaze on the face, as Chrys does, but that is not always the case.

Thanks for following along.  I'll update the blog with their adoption dates, and photos of the new "parents" (if they are willing).

Another Day With The Flower Kittens

Today, we feature another video; this time of the wrestling championships.

Took this one with the camera in my phone, and I'm none to pleased with the quality (it's very washed-out), but there it is; it's a learning curve. The harder learning curve, though, was with Movie Maker, and trying to get the video into the program from my phone.  It only took me about 18 attempts!

But, enough about that!  On to the kittens!

I hope you enjoyed their antics once again.

Oh, Boy! New Toys!

The "kids" were entertained with new toys the other day; I shot this, and I thought I had it posted, but somehow, YouTube had it still showing as a 'draft.'  Strange.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the silly antics. Click here to view

The Flowers Are Growing!

As of today's weigh-in, all but one of the kittens has reached that magic 2-pound mark!

Pansy, the little gray cutie, is the only one still shy of 2 pounds, but she was the smallest to start with.

Chrys---2 lb even  (The only male--the pretty tuxedo kitty)
Petunia---2 lb 1.1 oz  (the tortie with blaze on her face)
Tulip---2 lb 1.2oz  (the tortie with a mottled face)
Pansy---1 lb 11.9 oz  (the gray beauty, with a small blaze on her face, she's considered a  
                                 dilute calico)

So, Chrys is now just at required weight for being neutered, and the girls just a bit behind.  2 pounds is good for the boys; but H.A.L.O. prefers the girls to be a bit over that, since theirs is a more invasive surgery.

*******************
FUN FACTS:
*******************

Did you know...

... that Tortoiseshell cats are a variation of the Calico color pattern, and as such are always female, just like true Calicos?

... that cats do not have taste buds for sweetness?  They may investigate your dessert because they are curious, but they cannot actually taste sweets; I guess to them, it's just 'blah. nothing.'

... that cats, like people, can be either right or left pawed?

Adorable Flowers 10-8-2017

These babies are as silly as they are cute!  Check out this photo of where I found two of them napping when I went to feed them dinner!

Chrys and Pansy

10-8-2017

Naturally, as soon as I opened the door, they were awake and on the move.  But really, kids?  Sleeping in the dustpan?  You are NOT trash to be swept up!  Set your goals a bit higher, will you?

Of course, Pansy had to try to move in for a beauty close-up:

Pansy, too close; you're blurry!

Next, on the chair, we had the tortie twins, Petunia and Tulip.  They are very hard to catch with the camera; the two of them are a study in perpetual motion.  See what I mean?

Pansy, lower left; Tulip leaning on Pansy!

Oh!  I stand corrected!  That's Tulip moving and blurring the shot; 

Pansy snuck in there and just used her ear to photobomb! Now, where is that rascal Petunia?  Truth is, I never did catch up with her tonight; she was in speedracer mode all evening!

Flower Kittens: More Mischief!

Ah, the adorable little darlings!  They are growing in confidence as well as in size.  It's amazing how fast they grow, and pretty soon, you can't believe how tiny they were when they arrived! 

I've only had them a week, and already they are getting bigger.

And stronger.

And better able to climb and jump!

We find them almost daily in some new place where they shouldn't be.  Today, it was in a box of antique dolls, after knocking a cake keeper off the top of the box!  Oh, dear!  
Later on, they apparently got up on top of the tippy-top shelf, and knocked off some stuff that was stored on top.  Fortunately, it was paper goods, and not fragile.

From there, they got on top of the kiln (luckily not currently in use), and stole a kitty toy that is not supposed to be used without supervision.  And sure enough, Chrys ripped one of the feathers from it, and had it in his mouth, growling at his sisters if they came near.

I am running out of spaces to put things out of their reach!  But, they are too cute to be angry with them.

Mischief is Afoot!

   Well, friends, it would seem that the darlings are now feeling comfortable in their surroundings, and have taken exploring to new heights!  Literally!

    Chrys was found today up on the 4th shelf of the shelving unit where I store all their supplies, from litter to food, blankets, etc.  Apparently, he got up there, and couldn't figure out how to get down again!  Naturally, this happened when we were out on an errand, and we were told about it when we returned, so phooey!  No photo!  But, he was rescued by my mother-in-law!

    Pansy and Tulip have been introduced to the squirt bottle for playing with a lamp cord, and people's shoelaces.  Neither item is a safe kitty toy.  Not to mention, who wants soggy shoelaces???

    I was able to distract and entertain them for some time this afternoon with the famous 'red dot bug.'  The girls loved it; Chrys only went after it half-heartedly.  One of my own male kitties is also kind of 'ho-hum' about it.  Not sure what that's about.

    Today's video features some new toys I introduced.

    

The Flower Kittens Weigh In

Well, unlike "Foster Dad John," I don't have live streaming capability, so all I can do is report on the weight gains of the group.

They are doing quite well, and have made some nice gains.  As of this evening, they weighed in as follows:

Pansy-----------1 lb 7.3 oz; up from 1 lb 5.6 oz yesterday, a gain of 1.7 oz

Tulip------------1 lb 13.5 oz; up from 1 lb 12.3 oz yesterday, a gain of 1.2 oz

Petunia---------1 lb 12.4 oz; up from 1 lb 10.2 oz yesterday, a gain of 2.2 oz

Chrys-----------1 lb 9.8 oz; a slight drop from 1 lb 10.6 oz yesterday, just .8 of an oz down

Not to worry:  they do go up and down a little bit, and as he's the biggest anyway, I'm not going to stress over that.  It's only if the trend is generally and steadily downward that there is a problem.

Now, a word about Chrys.  (Pronounced just like Chris.) Since these are the Flower Kittens, but Chrys is a boy, I had to make the name more masculine sounding.  So, his full name should really be, "Chrysanthemum," but I shortened to just Chrys for him.  

And now you know...the rest of the story.

The Flower Kittens First Video 10-2-17

Greetings, kitten aficionados!

This post is short; I'll let the video speak for itself.  All four of the dear little flower babies had fun running around this evening.

  Last night, I had the  opportunity to follow some of their darling antics as they raced around the studio where they are currently housed.  Too funny, they were!

   Petunia and Tulip seem to have a great deal of fun wrestling with each other, as well as taking the occasional swipe at Chrys or Pansy as they happen to stroll by.


   Pansy spent some time watching the activity from up on a chair, while Chrys came down with a case of the 'kitty crazies,' and I could not pan the camera fast enough to keep up with him!

This video was shot on 10-2, but Blogger was having an issue, and wouldn't let me edit or publish the draft post, so I had to start again.

Update for 10-3-17:  Their weights are up by a few ounces each, with Petunia and Chrys outweighing their siblings by 2 or 3 ounces each!  For tiny kittens such as these, who were behind the curve for their age, every ounce counts!

Without further ado, then, here is their video, as seen on YouTube.

Meet The Flower Kittens

As I regain control of my keyboard, I am going to take this blog in a new direction, namely, keeping folks aware of my various foster kittens, their antics, and hopefully, a few videos.

I will be naming them according to various 'themes,' an idea I brazenly stole from "Foster Dad John" of The Critter Room fame.  I'm sure many of you fellow cat aficionados are familiar with him.

Lacking his technical expertise, however, I'll have to make do with still photos and as I said, 'hopefully' a few videos.

While the current set of kittens is not my first batch of fosters, they are the first to fall into my new themed categories.  These are the "Flower" kittens; they are all named after various lovely blooms.  

The photos below are just the very first, just after I brought them to the house, and set them up in cages to acclimate for a time to new sights and smells.  I promise, there will be more photos, singles, as well as probably some that are blurred from RKM (Rapid Kitty Motion)!

Without further ado, here is your first peek at the Flower Kittens:

In the top photo, left to right, are Pansy (female); Chrys (male); and Tulip (female).  In the bottom photo, wanting a Diva-style solo shot, is Petunia (female).

They are "about" 7 weeks old, and will be available for adoption through Homeless Animals' Lifeline Organization (H.A.L.O.) of East Contra Costa County, California. You can see pets available for adoption on their website.  You can also take a look  at H.A.L.O.'s Facebook page .

These cuties will be available in a little over a month.  They must be a minimum of 2 pounds/2 months old (in favor of the weight requirement, regardless of age).  At that point, they can be spayed/neutered, and will have at least their first shots, and probably the second round, as well.

They do not go up for adoption before those things are done, and kitties are healed.  They will be 'ready to go' to their forever homes at that point.

Naughty Kitties Go To Jail!

This is Nugget reporting.

I have to announce that both Jigsaw Puzzle and Bobbie were sentenced to several hours in jail for their crimes.

What did they do?  The chased and hassled poor Shadow, making her growl, hiss and hide.  They do this a lot, especially Jiggy, who was first to be sent to jail.

This time, they were both at it, and Dad had enough, and gave the sentence.

They were allowed back in at the peeps' bedtime.  
This morning, a package arrived, and mom was very happy.  She ordered calming collars, and put one on each of the three.  I'm glad I don't have to wear one!

(Don't tell anyone, but I like to chase Shadow, too sometimes!  But I didn't do it yesterday...I'm almost pawsitive.)

Here is a picture of the jailbirds...errrrrr...jailcats!

  

Hello, Peeps and Kittehs!

It has been a very busy year so far, and we haven't had time to keep our bloggie up to date.  but Mom has allowed me some special time on the computer this evening to update all our furriends.

First, we had a sad time.  On April 13th, 2016, Tigger had to be helped to cross the Rainbow Bridge.  He was Munchkin's best buddy, so she was pretty sad for quite a while, and of course, Mom and Dad and Auntie all cried.  Mom swears she doesn't play favorites, but I think Tigger was her favorite.

He was laid to rest in the yard, next to Patches, because they were the first two kittehs Mom and Dad got when they first got together.


Then on July 7th, 2016, (last Thursday, from where I am writing), we had another sad time.  Bobbie had a terrible accident.  Dad had a big ball thing up on a stand.  Mom called it a globe; it had maps or something on it, but it was too high, and roly-poly for us to get up and see.  (I think they did that on purpose.)

Anyway, near the bottom of the stand was a small shelf, with scrollwork cutouts.  Bobbie and her sister have always and forever laid under there to nap, since they were tiny kittens.  So, Thursday, Bobbie was under there, as usual.  Mom came in the back door to do something, walked past Bobbie, and all of a sudden, she heard Bobbie scream, and take off running as fast as she could go.

Mom tried to catch her, and see what was wrong, but Bobbie moved too fast for her.  Then mom saw it:  the tip end of Bobbie's tail was stuck in the shelf!  She'd gotten it caught, and panicked, and then, when she took off running, she yanked it clean off!  

Mom knew she had to get her to the vet right away, but Bobbie didn't want to be caught!  She led Mom and Dad a merry chase all over the house before they finally corralled her to put her in the carrier.  Unfortunately, the vet was not able to re-attach the piece of tail; they said there really was very little actual tissue there, and not enough to work with.  So, they closed over the end of the tail that was still attached to Bobbie, and sewed her up.

The vet bill was over $300, and Mom and Dad are already on a fixed income, so Mom is asking for anyone who is able to help out, to please send any donations to her Pay Pal at: DzyMsLizzy@gmail.com .  Several folks have already helped from Face Book, so she is about halfway to the goal amount.  Even a very small bit will help, and thank you very much.
If you can't afford to help, don't feel bad; we understand:  then just send good wishes through the universe for Bobbie's fur to grow back in quickly so her tail looks nice again, instead of shaved. 

Bobbie had a short, stubby little pom-pom tail anyhow, and it probably won't be noticeably shorter, but she won't have the pom-pom anymore.  Mom is very distraught that she wasn't able to save Bobbie from this awful accident, and says she can't "un-see" it all happening.  I don't know what humans mean by that, but I guess it isn't good.

I wish I knew a joke or something to lighten this post, as it is all sad news.

Respectfully submitted,
Jigsaw Puzzle, Esq.,
Official Spokescat

Hey, Nugget!! I see what you said--you stole MY keyboard!

Humph!  Nugget has some nerve talking about me like that!

I have seen him AND Munchkin, for that matter, also chasing their own tails!!  So there!

And Tigger just fell off the cat tree by doing nothing but having a nap.  So he is a klutz, too!

(Nugget swipes the keyboard)

Yeah, but at leas' me and Munchie have da sense to chase tail on da floor, so we doesn't fall off da bed!  (Sticks tongue out.)

(Jigsaw pushes Nugget off the keyboard)

Hey!  I am the official spokes-cat, and this is MY keyboard!!

(Nugget swipes keyboard back)

No, it izn't--iz mom's--she jus' lets you use it sometimes!

(Mom takes the keyboard)

Okay, you two!  If you're going to fight over it--out of the office!  Both of you!

(Shoos cats and shuts door.)

Ha Ha Ha!! Jigsaw Puzzle is a Klutz!

Hai!
  Dis is Nugget, and I has to tell on Jiggy.  He is a clumsy kitty, and he duz such silly things!

Da other day, he wuz on mom's bed  (well, really, it's OUR bed you know; we just let her sleep there), and he wuz chasin' hiz own tail!  Silly boy.

Den, he got so buzy wif dat, he furgot to watch where he wuz goin', and he fell right of da edge of da bed!  MOL!!!  He wuz embarrisded, and left da room...

Iz too bad mom didn't haz da camera thingy to take a bideo!


Haz you effer heard of anyfing so silly az a kitteh chasing his tail?  We thot dat wuz a doggie fing!

Interloper Update

HA!  We are having the last word!  In my last post (before Tigger stole the keyboard from me and whined about his stupid furs), I mentioned that an interloper has arrived.  We are still not happy.

Lil' Miss Fuzz seems to play with her sometimes, and sometimes, so does Nugget, but mostly, we are ready to pounce.  We are making very sure that she stays confined to the front of the house, and does not get to go into the peeps' rooms down the hallway.

In fact, we even forced mom to buy another litter box which has to be in the dining room, and mom hates that. She started out with a box there for her, and slowly moved it along until she had Shadow using the bathroom boxes, but we fixed that in a hurry! 

Now, Shadow will not use our boxes in the bathrooms, mainly because we won't let her in the hallway! So, she was doing her business on the dining room carpet, and mom was really mad.  We win!

And now, because that box is there, we use it as well, just to be sure she knows her place in this house.  Which is, of course, not in this house!  We hope mom and dad will throw her back outside.

If they carry her back to the bedrooms, she will explore a little bit, but then, one of us will come in, and make her feel like she has to get out of there, and then the rest of us are stationed all along the hall, and she has to run the gauntlet to get by all of us without getting whapped or hissed at.

If she spends all day hiding under the dining room table, that's fine with us.  Mom and dad scold us, and tell us to 'be nice,' but we don't listen.  I think I will put an ad on e-bay for a cheap cat.

Signed, 
Jigsaw Puzzle, Esq.

Tigger is Annoyed

Dis is Tigger speaking.  I iz not happy.  I haz not been feelings good, and mom and dad are stuffing nasty-tasting stuff in my mouf every morning and evening.  Yuck!

Then, I keep gettin stuffed in mai carrier and took to da V-E-T.  Today, wuz furry humiliating.  Dey cutted off all mai belleh furz and smeered some cold goo all offur mai belleh, and goin round and round wif some kind of ball thingy.

It didn't hurt, but I wuz not happy.  How long will it takes for mai furz to grow back?  I iz nekkid underneath.  Iz not funny.

Signed, Da Tigger

Another Interloper!

Mom and dad are in the dog house again!  Well, wait; we don't have a dog, so how can we put them there?  That's a funny thing to say, don't you think?

But there is another new kitty living here.  Oh, it all started out innocently enough; they took pity on her because she was outdoors, and it was getting toward winter last year.  And she's a tiny thing.  Poor kitty.

Then, they started stealing our foods to take out to give this stranger.  We hissed and batted at her though the window, but it made no difference.  And then, they made her a shelter from the cold outside.

That was fine.  Then she disappeared for a while.  It turns out, they had put her inside the shop with Patches.  She wasn't gone at all.

The next thing we know, they are bringing her inside our space a few times a week.  Our space!!   The nerve of these humans!  We hissed our displeasure, and we were scolded, told to "be nice; she's a guest."  

Guest, my tail fur!  Pretty soon, she was inside more and more, and now, if you can believe it, she lives here!  The outrage!  

I guess some of us have sort of come to terms with her being here, but we aren't really all that thrilled.  She's a gray kitty, and the humans think she's mostly what they call a "Russian Blue."  She's little, but she can dish out some pretty solid paw-whaps.  They named her "Shadow."

Here is her picture.  

Shadow lurking near OUR cat tree...

It was a few months after this girl arrived that Patches crossed the Rainbow Bridge, so our count is stable at 7 cats. 

 The humans claim they love us all; and all cats.  Should we believe them?  I hope they don't try to make all cats live here.  We don't have room.  What do you think?

Signed, 

Jigsaw Puzzle, Esq.  

Official Spokescat