Summer 2009 - Barn Kittens
In the summer of 2009 I was contacted about fostering three young kittens rescued from a barn. The farmer had agreed to allow a group to come in and rehome the kittens and spay or neuter all the adult cats. Turns out the litter had four kittens but one of them was hiding with another litter at the farm. Kitten number four arrived a few days after her siblings. Then about a week or two later, I was asked if I could take on another litter from the same farm. It was the group that Kitten 4 was hanging out with. So, I ended up with seven in all.
Most were already getting use to being handled. However, little Rosalind was extremely fearful and wouldn't come out from under the bookshelves while I was in the room. To try to coax her out, I would take some canned food and put it on my finger, then reach blindly under the bookcase until I found her and got her to lick it off. Eventually she relocated to the area under my sewing cabinet. It had a door on the front that opened up and had just a small shelf about 4 inches wide in the back. The opening was to allow you to pull a chair underneath while you sewed. Rosalind would sit perched on the shelf I would reach in with the canned food. Once all the kittens had fed, I would bring out a cat teaser toy and start playing with them. The dancing toy was obviously of interest to Rosalind and she would sit on the far side of the room from me, watching it flit across the floor. The other kittens were having a great time chasing it and Rosalind was clearly wanting to join in the fun. Each day we would play this game. Each day she got a little braver, venturing farther out into the room. Finally she, too, started chasing the feathered toy. Slowly, I would bring the toy in closer and closer to me. Inch by inch, she got closer and closer until one day she actually followed the toy onto my lap! She was startled at first but soon decided it was safe and eventually became quite relaxed around me. By the time she was ready to go back to the shelter to be adopted, she had become quite the snuggle bug.
While the kittens were believed to be from two separate litters, all appeared to have the same father. A large buff colored male had been trapped at the farm and it was soon apparent that he was not feral, merely a stray. A stray that had found himself in kitty nirvana with his own harem of willing females, but a stray none-the-less. He had an injury to his leg which was easily treated and once inside the comforts of a home (and without his family jewels), he decided he was quite happy to have humans looking to his every desire. He was eventually found a new home while his former paramours returned to the barn, apparently quite happy and much friendlier without the constant desire to breed and raise young.
In addition to Rosalind, there was Pippin, an adorable orange tabby who was super snugly and purred all the time. He sounded like a squeaky toy when he meowed so I started calling him Squeak. Then it morphed into Pip Squeak and eventually Pippin. Then there was his brother, Ronan, also supper cuddly and he liked to give "kisses". Next was Melora, their sister, who was a quiet, mellow girl. Though shy at first, she quickly proved to have as sweet a temper as her two brothers. The last of that litter was Gisela. She was hiding out with the second litter when her litter mates where found. She was the smallest of the group and the feistiest. She had a problem with diarrhea the first few weeks and I regularly had to wash her back end, a process she objected to most vocally. In addition to providing her milk supplement, she had a problem with dehydration (from the diarrhea) and several times had to have injections of saline under her skin to keep her fluid levels up.
The second litter consisted of Nerissa, an orange and white tabby. She and her brother brother Rhory, got the nick name "Mere Cats" because of their tendency to sit up on their back legs like meercats. Both were pretty feisty and loved the rough and tumble play. In fact, Rhory had most of his whiskers chewed off by the other kittens because of his rough play. Their sister was Rosalind, the once fearful kitten who eventually became as sweet and loving as her half siblings, Pippin, Ronan and Melora. She was one kitten I had debated about keeping. But eventually, I opted to give her back to the shelter and before long, she found a new loving home to go to. In fact, none of them lasted long at the shelter. Rosalind and Pippin were among the last to be adopted but only because they developed an upper respiratory infection and had to stay with me a couple of extra weeks. Around that time I got a new camera and started testing it's functionality by taking lots of photos of the two of them.
Most were already getting use to being handled. However, little Rosalind was extremely fearful and wouldn't come out from under the bookshelves while I was in the room. To try to coax her out, I would take some canned food and put it on my finger, then reach blindly under the bookcase until I found her and got her to lick it off. Eventually she relocated to the area under my sewing cabinet. It had a door on the front that opened up and had just a small shelf about 4 inches wide in the back. The opening was to allow you to pull a chair underneath while you sewed. Rosalind would sit perched on the shelf I would reach in with the canned food. Once all the kittens had fed, I would bring out a cat teaser toy and start playing with them. The dancing toy was obviously of interest to Rosalind and she would sit on the far side of the room from me, watching it flit across the floor. The other kittens were having a great time chasing it and Rosalind was clearly wanting to join in the fun. Each day we would play this game. Each day she got a little braver, venturing farther out into the room. Finally she, too, started chasing the feathered toy. Slowly, I would bring the toy in closer and closer to me. Inch by inch, she got closer and closer until one day she actually followed the toy onto my lap! She was startled at first but soon decided it was safe and eventually became quite relaxed around me. By the time she was ready to go back to the shelter to be adopted, she had become quite the snuggle bug.
While the kittens were believed to be from two separate litters, all appeared to have the same father. A large buff colored male had been trapped at the farm and it was soon apparent that he was not feral, merely a stray. A stray that had found himself in kitty nirvana with his own harem of willing females, but a stray none-the-less. He had an injury to his leg which was easily treated and once inside the comforts of a home (and without his family jewels), he decided he was quite happy to have humans looking to his every desire. He was eventually found a new home while his former paramours returned to the barn, apparently quite happy and much friendlier without the constant desire to breed and raise young.
In addition to Rosalind, there was Pippin, an adorable orange tabby who was super snugly and purred all the time. He sounded like a squeaky toy when he meowed so I started calling him Squeak. Then it morphed into Pip Squeak and eventually Pippin. Then there was his brother, Ronan, also supper cuddly and he liked to give "kisses". Next was Melora, their sister, who was a quiet, mellow girl. Though shy at first, she quickly proved to have as sweet a temper as her two brothers. The last of that litter was Gisela. She was hiding out with the second litter when her litter mates where found. She was the smallest of the group and the feistiest. She had a problem with diarrhea the first few weeks and I regularly had to wash her back end, a process she objected to most vocally. In addition to providing her milk supplement, she had a problem with dehydration (from the diarrhea) and several times had to have injections of saline under her skin to keep her fluid levels up.
The second litter consisted of Nerissa, an orange and white tabby. She and her brother brother Rhory, got the nick name "Mere Cats" because of their tendency to sit up on their back legs like meercats. Both were pretty feisty and loved the rough and tumble play. In fact, Rhory had most of his whiskers chewed off by the other kittens because of his rough play. Their sister was Rosalind, the once fearful kitten who eventually became as sweet and loving as her half siblings, Pippin, Ronan and Melora. She was one kitten I had debated about keeping. But eventually, I opted to give her back to the shelter and before long, she found a new loving home to go to. In fact, none of them lasted long at the shelter. Rosalind and Pippin were among the last to be adopted but only because they developed an upper respiratory infection and had to stay with me a couple of extra weeks. Around that time I got a new camera and started testing it's functionality by taking lots of photos of the two of them.