Week 13

This week we had my mom's 2 kittens Angus and Sophie (now Amos and Suzie) back for the long weekend. Surprisingly the kittens didn't remember each other after only a week or two, and were growling and hissing and just generally not getting along. It was mostly Seamus that had an issue with them, which I'm guessing because it is his territory now. We took Steve's family's dog Kelsey to K9h2o and brought her over to our place after so the kittens could meet a friendly dog. As expected they bonded together in fear watching this giant panting thing. Unfortunately the bonding was over as soon as Kelsey left. They didn't kill each other, and Suzie and Amos went back home in one piece.

Seamus relaxing now that his brother and sister have left

Seamus "swimming" on the front mat (he pulls himself around with his front paws)

Week 12

This week was much quieter with Angus, Josie, and Ruthie gone. Josie and Ruthie were the trouble makers of the group, always stirring up mischief. Calliope has gotten very playful and silly lately, maybe now that she doesn't have to be as motherly the kitten can come out a bit more (she is only around 2 years old). We also think she is going into heat, which is making her act very inappropriate, finding every chance to stick her butt in our face.

Fergus, Sophie, and Suzie all get neutered and spayed this week. So that's only Rosie left, because she is the smallest now, maybe a week or two before she will get spayed.

Fergus is going to my Auntie Carmen and Uncle Rob, Sophie is going to my mom, and unfortunately Suzie had to go back to the SPCA. The good news is, Suzie was sent to OLY's pet store, and was adopted the same day by someone on Vancouver Island. Calliope is also back at the SPCA. She won't be up for adoption until she has come out of heat and has been spayed.

Although we are still technically fostering Rosie and Angus, things are now how they are going to be for a while. It much quieter with only Rosie and Seamus now, and we are going to miss the other kittens, and of course Calliope. Fostering her and 8 kittens was an awesome experience! It was very challenging at times, but I wouldn't change it for the world. The SPCA staff were great as well. We had many questions, being that neither Steve nor I have ever done this, and the staff never minded helping us, even though it felt like we were in there every other day sometimes.

Thank you Jodi, Angela, Ryan, Laura, Deb, Karen, Dallas, and Shona!

Sophie, Fergus, and Calliope playing

Calliope enjoying some time alone in the tent

Sophie

Suzie

Fergus getting ready to go to his new home

Suzie at OLY's

Now that we only have Rosie and Seamus, my Stepdad Gary bought them a cat tree.
They absolutely love it!

Week 11

The kittens are getting big, and this week 4 of them are big enough to spay and neuter. Seamus, Josie, and Angus went on Thursday, and Ruthie went on Friday when we picked the first 3 up. Unfortunately only one of Angus' testicles has dropped so he couldn't be neutered. My mom is adopting him, and will foster him until he is neutered. We are keeping Seamus, and Josie was adopted by Bernecia, who did her practicum at my work. Unfortunately Ruthie had to go back to the SPCA. We took her there on Saturday, and got all of her paperwork, then took her over to a Oly's a local pet store that adopts out SPCA cats. She was with 2 older black kittens. I felt so sad dropping her off, her voice was gone from her stay at the vets, but she was still meowing like crazy.

Ruthie at Oly's

We went back on Sunday to see if she had gotten adopted, and she wasn't in the cat enclosure. I went up front to ask if she had been adopted, and I spotted her in the arms of a boy who was about 12 years old. His mom was just signing the papers to take Ruthie home. It was such a cool coincidence, and it made me feel much better because the boy seemed really gentle with her and very excited as well.


Here are some more pictures from the week:

Fergs lounging in the sunlight

Ruthie

Sophie

Nap Time

Suzie

Rosie

Week 10

Seamus

Fergus

Amos and Calliope

Sleepy Seamus

Really Sleepy Seamus

Angus

Josie and Rosie

Suzie and Fergus

Josie

Rosie on a mission

Seamus and Angus

Rosie, Seamus, Sophie, Ruthie

Sophie and Fergus

Week 9

You may notice that Fergus and Suzie's faces are getting darker and that they are looking kind of Siamese. Seems weird mixed in with the black and white kittens and the calico ones.

Mother cats, also known as queens, can have a 1 litter of kittens with a few different male cats, therefore creating quite the variety in the appearances of the litter. You can read more about that here.

Also, Cats like Siamese are born white and their colours come in as they get older. You can read about that here.

Rosie climbing Steve's leg while he is trying to prepare their food

Ruthie fell asleep in a measuring cup that we were using to weigh them in

Me right after getting home from work with an Angus in my pocket

Calliope doesn't want her kittens to have all the fun

Ruthie

Suzie and Fergus

Josie looking innocent while Seamus and Ruthie wrestle behind her

One of the many kitten piles

Seamus - you wanna fight?

Worms!

The kittens were losing weight again. Angus got it the worst. From June 21 to June 24, Angus lost 83g. Kittens are supposed to gain about 10g a day. On June 24 he was just skin and bones at 525g. Seamus who was smaller than him 10 days before was 806g. As you can imagine, Angus was not looking good. Then they started throwing up. Angus and Suzie were both sick, and the others started losing weight too. We were also starting to find worms in a few of the kitten's stool. We had started to syringe water into Angus' mouth so he wouldn't get dehydrated. There was one night that we woke up every 2-4 hours to give him more water. We brought them all into the SPCA with a list of their symptoms and a sample of the worms, and they gave each of them a syringe of dewormer. Within 2 days, Angus went from 525g to 580g, and the rest of them started gaining weight back again. Thanks to Brian who looked after them the weekend of the 25th so we could go to Vancouver Island.

Week 8

Seamus and Fergus - the biggest and the littlest

Poor Calliope - They are getting to big to all be feeding

Sophie

Rosie

Suzie

Ruthie

Josie