Thursday, January 7, 2010

Place Holder

Hello!  Welcome to The Kitten Mama!



I started this blog in July of 2009 when I my husband and I unexpectedly ended up caring for a litter of four day-old kittens (Spock, Magnus, Tabitha and Napoleon).  You can read their full story HERE.

By visiting the "Blog Archive" and "Labels" sections to your right, you can see the pictures, videos, and stories from my journey with these kittens.

A few of my favorite posts are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

As the kittens began to find homes, yet another kitten showed up on my doorstep!  You can read all about Buick's story HERE.

By December of 2009, all five kittens had found wonderful forever homes!

I couldn't have been as successful with this kittens as I could have been without the help of the
Carol Manos, Jolyn Clark, Stephanie Meaney and the entire Carol's Ferals team.

Carol's Ferals does wonderful work for cats and kittens in the Grand Rapids community.  I am thankful to Carol for setting me up with food and meds for the kittens, to Stephanie for all of the advice and assistance -- she is the TRUE kitten mama having raised hundreds of kittens herself!   And to Jolyn for her assistance in socializing the kittens and helping me get them adopted.

You can learn more about Carol's Ferals HERE, HERE, and HERE.

It took me a long time to figure out what to do with this blog once the kittens left, and I considered shutting it down altogether.  I've decided to leave it here as a resource for others, and to provide the very occasional update to those who have followed the kittens since the beginning and are interested in how they're doing now.

And of course leaving this blog up means that if I end up taking in more kittens this spring, or any time in the future, I'll be back in action here at The Kitten Mama, sharing my stories with you all. 

Until next time, thanks for reading!


Updates!

All of my fosters are settling in / continuing to do well in their new forever homes!

Ozzy (formerly Magnus) is having a wonderful time with new parents Anthony and Nicole -- and growing into a big boy!  5.5 pounds at his November vet appointment I believe - so I'm sure he's even bigger now!

Spock continues to enjoy life at my parents' house with his new best pal Felix.  Spock enjoys climbing into boxes, sleeping on my Mum's sewing table, knocking over trash cans, and snuggling.  He's a long and lanky cat with an extra long tail!

According to new parents Dick and Joyce, Mac and Cheese (formerly Tabitha and Napoleon) enjoy watching the birds and the squirrels through the window at the bird feeder, watching TV, and playing with the computer  mouse and with each other.  Mac is Dick's best bud and follows him around everywhere, while Cheese is Joyce's girl.

Although still a little skittish around new people, Xena (formerly Buick) is turning into quite the lap kitty with new parents Karen and Chuck.  She is very affectionate with them.

It's so nice to hear about happy endings!  I'm expecting photos of several of these feline friends soon - and will share them if / when I get them!  : )

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Happy Endings for Tabitha, Napoleon & Buick

Yesterday all three of my remaining fosters went to the Carol's Ferals adoption event and all three found homes!

Buick enjoyed hanging in a cage with her buds Jola and Cristal (seriously - have you ever seen a cuter picture?!)...



...before she headed off to her forever home with new parents Karen and Chuck. Buick is going to be the single pet... and I think that will suit her perfectly. I have a feeling she is going to be spoiled rotten!

I was so thrilled that Tabitha and Napoleon found their forever home yesterday - and they got to go together! While I think they would have adjusted to being split up, it's a best case scenario for them to stay together because they've been two peas in a pod for so long. They will love living out their lives together.

Their new parents and Joyce and Richard - who are newly retired and looking forward to having "his and hers" kitties on their laps! They have lots of time to spend showering love on Tabitha and Napoleon and all of us at the event were thrilled to know what a great home they are going to have.






I was proud of myself for holding it together when Buick got adopted. I think because I didn't have her for very long and because she'd been out of my direct care for a few weeks it helped make goodbye easier.

It was tough to say goodbye to Tabitha and Napoleon though - that's for sure. Both Travis and I loved them very much. I'd be lying if I said I didn't shed a few tears!

But the thing that outweighs any sadness is the assurance that all three of my babies went to WONDERFUL homes today. I couldn't have asked for better adopters! Thanks so much, Joyce, Richard, Karen, and Chuck! Please keep me updated! I (and The Kitten Mama followers!) would love the occasional update!

So now, what's to come of this blog?! I have a few ideas I'm mulling over -- stay tuned in the next few days for an update... : )

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Travis is NOT a cat person...

... obviously! : )






Saturday, November 28, 2009

Adoption Event - Carol's Ferals


Today all three Buick, Tabitha, and Napoleon went to an adoption event held by CAROL'S FERALS at the Centerpointe Mall in Grand Rapids, MI. Sadly, none of them found their forever homes today - but there were a lot of people interested in them!



Tabitha and Napoleon adjusted to the bright, noisy mall very easily and greeted people through their cage, while Buick had a bit harder time and spent most of the time curled up sleeping!


Although Buick, Napoleon and Tabitha are still searching for the right homes for them, FOUR other cats and kittens were adopted today. Hooray!




Carol's Ferals will be holding another adoption event this upcoming Saturday (December 5) at the same location, from 10-5pm. Come see us and all the wonderful adoptable cats and kittens!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Bye Bye, Buick!



Great news!

My girl Buick is over her upper respiratory infection, is round-worm free, and is heading to Carol's Ferals & Friendlies' adoption program today! She'll be in the kitten room with many other little furry friends to play with and keep her busy until she is adopted into her forever home.

Ironically enough, I ran into the gal who helped me rescue Buick that day a couple of months ago at a local coffee shop today! I gave her this blog address so she can see how well Buick is doing. Hi, Sierra! Thanks so much for helping give Buick a second chance!

Buick sure has come a long way since we first found her in the engine of a car... what a little ragamuffin she was!


For a couple of weeks there it was really hard to see her feeling so unwell. That upper respiratory infection really got her down and she'd just want to lay in your arms, purring her congested sounding purr all the while. Poor thing.


Now she's all better and has character for days. She's super active and LOVES people. She's the most vocal kitten I've ever known!





So with a little sadness I say good-bye to sweet Buick today - but know that she will be well-cared for, and (hopefully soon!) be a wonderful feline companion for someone. She is a special girl!

We love you, little Bu-ster! : ) We're so glad we were able to help give you a second chance!


Tuesday, November 17, 2009