Pre-Adoption

Pippa

Within the Feline Rescue organization, after kittens reach two months old AND weigh two pounds, they receive their first distemper shot. Since they have to weigh at least two pounds, sometimes it takes a few weeks past their 2nd month mark before they're eligible for their first vaccination. Within Pippa's litter, Piper, of all kittens, refused to gain much weight. She held steady at one pound, twelve ounces for more than a week and then, pretty much overnight, she hit a solid two pounds. Stinker.

Norman

Peter

All eight kittens received their first distemper shot last Saturday (May 2nd). They didn't do too poorly. Only Phineas howled. No one else made a peep. They then met Kris the photographer from KrisKreativ and had a photo shoot for their website postings. By the end of the day, three kittens were limping severely, a side effect of the distemper vaccination. I've never seen it happen so quickly. Peter was in so much pain that he was shaking. It was quite sad. They received pain medications in order to make sure they didn't succumb to pain and stop eating. Within an hour, they were fine and barely limping. 

Piper

Parrot

They were all posted as available for pre-adoption on Sunday late morning. Pre-adoption? Since they haven't been spayed/neutered and tested for FeLV/FIV, they can't go home with their adopters. They can meet people who are interested in adopting them, though. It will be a few weeks before they can go home. Feline Rescue standards state that the kittens need to be three months, three pounds before they can be fixed. Piper is holding out again, stubbornly stuck at two pounds, four ounces. Since kittens gain about four ounces a week, it will be SEVERAL weeks before she's ready. The rest of the crew thank her for the delay. 

Pickle

Within two hours of being posted, Phineas and Parrot had a call. I knew it would be those two to go first. They have a ton of personality. Two days later, everyone would have someone lined up to meet them. I am insisting that Norman and Peter go together and have paired up Pierce with Pickle, Pirate with Piper. Even Pippa has someone interested in her. Momma cats are usually the last to go. She may go with Pierce and Pickle. 

Pierce

Pirate with Pickle in the background

If anyone was watching the camera last night, you saw Phineas and Parrot's adopters. I told Phineas t be on his best behavior and the stinker took that to mean sit perfectly still (on MY lap, I might add). Sigh. Phineas. I kept explaining to his people that Phineas is rarely still, that his behavior was unusual. They understood. They had been watching the camera for a few days so they've seen his zany side. 

Phineas

Unfortunately, neither Pippa nor Pickle were anywhere to be seen. Sigh. Pippa has truly come out of her shell the past few weeks. She adores attention. I guess she's just learned to trust me. It's a start. Pickle is so mellow; her hiding shocked me. Even Norman and Peter eventually came out to play with the new people.

At this time, I think all of the website postings have been taken down. All of the kittens and Pippa have calls so there's no point in having them on the site. Hopefully everyone who is set to meet them actually falls in love with them. I would love for them to all get pre-adopted so that I don't have to worry about how long it will take to get them adopted. I always rest so much easier knowing they have homes (and that a new crew can be saved next).

Not So Evil

If you've been watching the camera all along, you may have noticed a change in some of the more shy kittens and Pippa the momma. It took well over a month before Pippa came out of hiding. I finally got to see how beautiful she is a few weeks ago. She's food motivated. She knows that I bring the food. She greets me at the door with a barrage of howls that sound very much like "Now!" I am then able to pet her. I haven't quite decided if she actually likes being petted (she rolls around and kneads her paws and purrs) or if she's simply putting up with it so that I will feed her. For quite awhile, once I put the plate of food down, she wouldn't let me touch her again. "Thanks but go away." Now, once she finishes eating, she actually awkwardly stands near me, not next to me, and howls until I get the idea that she wants to be petted again.

Norman and Peter are two momma's boys. Any time I would approach them, they'd run to their mother. I rarely got to touch them. To weigh them, I would have to sneak up on them while they were eating. Even then, they were on to me and would watch over their shoulder, only to dart away as I approached. I have several blank entries in the weigh log for Peter because I had a hard time catching him.

But being as stubborn as I am, I made a point of catching Norman. I would then hold on to him and pet him. He would betray himself and purr loudly when I rubbed his belly. He begrudgingly realized that he liked belly and tushy rubs and to get them, he had to interact with me. It started simply by not running away when I approached him. He then turned a corner and began approaching ME for belly rubs. Such a happy day. He actually will pace back and forth, impatiently waiting for me to finish petting another kitten or clean the litter box so that he can get his belly rubbed.

One day, Peter saw Norman rolling around on the floor, purring away as I petted his belly. He had never been that close to me before. He was actually asking to be petted, too! Turns out, he, too, loves belly rubs. After the trip to the clinic to get distemper shots and a photo session, Peter regressed for a few days and refused to let me touch him. He came around. I scooped up who I thought was Piper this morning and kissed her head and cheeks before looking across the room and spotting the real Piper. I was holding Peter! He let me pick him up!

All of Pippa's kittens love belly rubs. I love when I come into the room and they flop at my feet, exposing their bellies. It's quite the tripping hazard but it's an adorable tripping hazard.

All of the kittens have gotten over their fear of me. Piper climbs onto my lap. Even Norman has started climbing onto my lap. I think they'd do it more and more kittens would do it if they wouldn't get bitten by Phineas as soon as they get on my lap. Apparently it's his lap.

Anyway, the last holdouts (Norman, Peter, and Pippa) have decided that I'm not so evil afterall.