Meet the Foster

What a whirlwind this past week has been! Last week I saw several litters of kittens on facebook shared from the Humane Society in the next county over. One was a litter of manx kittens that were adorable, and then there was this litter of four girls and a runty tuxedo boy. The girls were two orange and white that reminded me so much of our kitty that we lost in December, and the other two were grey/maybe dilute torties.

I sent the Humane Society a message because the kittens were listed as too young to adopt, but I asked when we might be able to meet them. She contacted the foster and said we could come on Saturday. I told her we'd be there when they opened and when we got there, she had a crate of baby kittens on a picnic table outside. It wasn't too hot and we checked them out, then went inside to see the rest of the cats. There were cats everywhere! Volunteers were cleaning litter pans and it was a bit hectic so we went back outside with the kittens. We held the tuxedo for over an hour and decided he was the one.

So I went back inside to let them know to do the pre-adoption process and she asked if I would be willing to foster him until he's ready to adopt in May. We said yes and she got us a carrier, kitten milk, kitten food, a litter box and litter, and a couple of toys. So we brought him home, went to the store to get a dog pen to contain his kitten energy. He also got his first bath and we sat outside where it was warmer so he could dry off.

He was the wobbly little thing for about a day. He got some sleep and food and he's been pure chaos! Yesterday I thought I wore him out and headed into a meeting, but heard rattling so I went to see what he was up to. The little booger had climbed up and over the 3 foot pen! So now he's in a hexagon pen that has a zip top. No way for him to escape that! And we're using the wire pen to block off areas with cords so when he's out, he's not chewing on anything he shouldn't be.

He has his little routine too. Wake up and eat at 7 am, play from 8-9, then nap until lunch time. He gets lunch and attention from everyone, then more napping. Today he woke up around 3 pm, ate, and is back asleep while I'm sitting in his room. He'll probably wake up again around 5 for first dinner, and we'll play again from 8-9 pm. I'll cut a couple of his kitten talons and then he'll nap on me for a bit in the rocking chair. I give him food again around 10:30 and lock him up in kitten jail. He has a bed, toys, food, water, and his litter box.

He's really good at the litter box too. With this pen, I can unzip a door and if he needs to go while he's out, he goes and does his business in the box.

I took him to the vet on Tuesday and he's free of fleas, ear mites, FIV, leukemia, and worms. He was so tired at the vet he wanted to sleep in her arms. He got to see everyone and he's getting used to riding in the car.

He went from wobbly kitten to zooming around the rooms he's been in, which so far are the dining and laundry rooms. He climbs on the rungs of chairs. He jumps up in cubbies. He tried to squeeze behind things and get in places he shouldn't be.

He loves Lulu's old bed (which is where he is now) and all of her toys. We kept a shoebox full of her springs, mice, fuzzy balls, brushes, and feather toys. He's having a complete blast!