It's Hard to Do the Right Thing

Whiskey is old enough for a new home. As always, it's practically impossible to find someone who needs a cat. We thought we had a home for him but that fell through.

I would really like to keep him. I feel like he is mine (because I bottle fed him or because I would fall in love with any kitten?). I look forward to coming home because he will be the first to greet me. I scoop him up and cuddle him under my chin. He purrs; I melt.

I have lots of room in my heart for another cat. Technically, I have room in my house for another cat, but "just one more" usually leads to a little regret later on when there are vet appointments to make, litter boxes to clean, food to buy, pet sitters to schedule.

I need to find Whiskey a home.

With the other cats that I foster - they come from the shelter, and I know they have to go back to the shelter in order to be adopted. But Whiskey - I bottle fed him - I can't take him to a shelter. I told my husband that I absolutely cannot take him to the shelter. I respect the shelter, but I can't take him.

Luckily, a niece came to visit, and she and her husband like cats. They adopted January and August from my first batch of foster kittens. They have decided to take Whiskey home and see how it goes. They are coming for another visit in December and will bring all 3 cats with them so I get to see my Whiskey boy again!

I know it was the right thing to do, but I sure do miss him. :(

Nightshade's Point of View - New Name

This is the life!

This guy says my name should be Whiskey (short for Whiskers but maybe the drink too). My mom thinks that if everyone calls me Whiskey then he will let her keep me. Keep your paws crossed.

I like to pat her lips while she smooches at me. Later, I will wrestle with her fingers and hands until I am completely worn out and will need a nap in someone's lap.

This pretty girl likes me a lot.

I am good at Angry Birds. I like to help mom get 3 stars on each level. For some reason, mom says that I mess up her game when I put my paws on the screen and cause a bird to slingshot in the wrong direction. They are birds, I am a cat; it's what I do.

One of the best laps in the house.

I am adorable. They can't stop taking pictures of me.

You Can Lead A Horse to Water...

But you can't make him drink.

Remember I said that I would tell the story about how Nightshade learned to drink water? Well, it's time to tell the story, and I'm glad there are no pictures for proof.

Nightshade (although I call him Mr. Scampers and Shadow more often than not) was bottle fed until recently. Due to the vet's recommendation, he is now eating canned cat food exclusively. From day one, I have made fresh water available to him even when he was getting a bottle.

Now that he is on canned food, it is important that he drink water too, but I never see him take a drink. I see him stare at the water and look very interested in it, but I've never seen him take a lap of water.

I've given it a few days because he may drink water when I'm not watching. Who knows? Also, he sees my other adult cats drink water all the time so he has plenty of examples to follow.

One day, he was staring intently into the water bowl. He would tentatively dip his head and just when I thought he would stick his tongue into the bowl, he would raise his head again. I was worried because he seemed thirsty.

I finally decided to take matters into my own hands. After all, I am pretty sure he thinks I am his mom. I got a different bowl, a human one with no cat germs, and filled it with water. I will regret telling this part...........well, you can probably figure out what I did, right?

Short story is, he now knows how to drink water from a bowl.

Random Pictures

Playing with a sunbeam.

Our favorite activities - reading, relaxing, having a kitten in our lap.

He was really excited that I let him have a little adventure outside.

Guess What?

This is just a teaser post. In the next post, I will tell the story about how he learned to drink water.

Night Shade

As usual, my cats do not like a new cat on the premises. With other foster cats, I have had to keep everyone separated. But since this little guy has no mom and no siblings, he gets to hang out with me quite a bit.

Angel is curious about him but keeps his distance. Baby is indifferent and keeps her distance. Little Man despises him and hisses at him or in his general direction at every possible opportunity.

But Friday; Friday seems to like him. Could it be that they are the same color? It's an interesting theory.

The kitten, of course, likes ALL the cats. He would LOVE for one of them to be his mom. As much as he likes the kitten formula, you can tell he would love to nurse.
I would love to invent some sort of substitute cat belly, equipped with nipples (that work) for feeding abandoned kittens.

One thing I did when we first brought him home was find a stuffed animal that he could rest on while I fed him. I also put the stuffed animal in bed with him. Not sure if this has any benefits, but it seems like a good thing to do. (It's a black and white cow.)

Abbie named him Night Shade. She loves the "Warriors" book series and says she remembers the name from one of those books. I've been calling him Shade for short. Sometimes, I call him Shadow. Not sure which name will stick.
Notice in the picture above, Friday is reaching for the kitten's tail. Do you think he likes him or thinks he is prey?

Found A New Kitten

Around the first of August, I found this little guy.

I had been watching him for several days. At one point, he had a mom and one other brother/sister. He was a plump little guy and seemed well fed and cared for even though his mom was wild.

Every few days I checked on him.

One day, I found him in the grass in a very despondent state. At first I thought he was dead. He wasn't in a normal sleeping position.

Luckily, he was alive but quite scrawny. I wasn't sure if something had happened to his mom (hit by a car, killed by a wild animal), and I couldn't find his brother/sister. Since I knew I wouldn't be back to this location for weeks (the place he was at was 45 minutes from my house), I decided to take him home.

But first, I stopped at a store to get bottles and kitten milk. He was very hungry!

In the first picture above, he is actually drinking from the bottle, but that only happened on two occasions. I had two kinds of kitten bottles with two kinds of nipples, and he didn't like either one.

In the second picture he is drinking from a child's medicine dropper. He liked that a lot!

After a little research, I estimate that he is about 4 weeks old. He has a few teeth. I feed him every 3-4 hours with kitten formula.

Just like with real babies, you soon learn which of his actions show that he is hungry and which of his mews mean he is hungry. In no time, you start structuring your day around the feedings. Our family was going to go out of town for the day before school started, but I soon vetoed that idea when I realized that I could not leave him that long without a feeding.

He's such a joy!