Can we come live with you?

It's official - it's adoption time! My three remaining kittens are ready to go to forever homes.

Kittens have been spay/neutered, tested negative for feline leukemia, and have had three rounds of dewormer and their first round of distemper vaccine.

Kittens are ten weeks old, currently on Science Diet Kitten dry food, and are fully litter box trained.

Kittens will need to see your vet within one week of adoption for vaccinations and general check up. Current medical records will be provided to you.

Adoption fee is a minimum $25 donation made payable to Carol's Ferals - the organization who provided me with food, low-cost services, and resources to raise these kittens.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in adopting one of them please e-mail me at joanneroehm@yahoo.com.

MAGNUS (male short hair black/brown tabby)


Magnus is the leader of the litter! He has always been the biggest and strongest. Magnus is highly energetic and loves to run, play, chase, and wrestle (with anything - other kittens, his bed, toys, food dish - you get the picture!) He has a lot of charisma and spunk, but loves to cuddle when he's all tired out from playing.






NAPOLEON (male short hair grey/white patches)


Napoleon is a little lover. He has the loudest purr of the bunch and loves being picked up and held. He loves toys as much as any kitten - and is a super fast runner! He enjoys a good head scratch and belly rub and will be the first to greet you when you enter the room.






TABITHA (female short hair grey tabby)

Tabitha is the only female of the litter and is quite the little princess. She's a beautiful tabby with a sweet face and although she too loves to run and chase, I would consider her the quietest of the bunch (is there really such a thing for a kitten?!) She loves to curl up in your lap and is very tolerant of her brothers!

Kitten Video Blog - September 30

And then there were three...

Quick Spock Update

Here are a few photos, courtesy of my parents, of Spock settling into his new home and getting to know his new sibling Felix. The pair have been getting on famously without a single growl, hiss or arched back - even upon first meeting! Clearly they are destined to be best buddies!

Spock Goes Home!

This weekend my parents came into town and took Spock, who they are adopting, back with them to their home.

Spock is heading to their house in Tecumseh where he will live with my parents and his new feline brother, Felix. He is going to have such a great home and since he's with my parents - I'll be able to see him for the rest of his life! So exciting!

Before they headed back to the East side of the state we snapped some pictures...

The first picture of me with all four of my babies! They're so big!

Magnus wanted to be the center of attention.

Me and Spock with his new collar, all ready to head to Tecumseh.

Adopters Susan & Philip Eversden with Spock.

I would be lying if I said I didn't shed a tear after they left! I'm not sure why I got emotional - I am VERY happy for him to be going to my parents' and I will see Spock next Friday when I head down there for part of the weekend. I guess it's just a little hard to see the babies go! This is one of the reasons I couldn't be a kitten foster all the time - although I suppose it would get easier over time!

Stay tuned for more Spock updates, and for more kitten adoption news!

D-Day

Today was the day that I have been waiting for / dreading / excited about since the day the kittens came into my life. It was the day they were ready to be spay/neutered. Today was daunting for a variety of reasons...

1) WEIGHT: Remember how little they were? Remember how behind they were? It felt like they would never, ever reach the 2lb mark - which is what they need to be before they can undergo surgery. The fact that they made it to that weight (truth: Tabitha is still 1.8lb, but that's close enough in my book for right now!) is staggering to me.

2) SURGERY: Okay - this is melodramatic of me - but I always have this fear whenever ANY of my pets have been spay/neutered. You hear horror stories of pets dying during it. It's not common, not at all, but you know me... I'm a little neurotic...

3) Feline Leukemia / HIV: This was the big one for me. You see, cats/kittens with either of these two FATAL diseases don't have a lot of options. It is not uncommon for these cats to be euthanized. From what I know (and I'm no expert!) it is passed from nose to nose contact so could easily be spread from a non-vaccinated mother to her kittens. Grand Rapids is lucky enough to have a sanctuary for these cats - and they can, in fact, live in a home with other animals as long as the other cats' vaccinations are kept current. Regardless of the options - I knew that if they were positive that it would be a whole other ball game. To come this far, with every kitten living through extroadinary circumstances I would have been nothing short of devastated if they had had a fatal disease. When I walked into the vet today to pick them up and saw a sticky note on their paperwork with NEGATIVE highlighted I almost cried. Honest!

The kittens have just done so well today. Here they are all crated up and ready for the ride to the vet this morning...

Tabitha

Magnus and Spock (hard to see I know!)

Napoleon

I picked them up this afternoon and other than being a little groggy, they were in good spirits. Now they are back in the kitten closet, and you know the first thing they did when they got home?...

Yup! They stuffed their faces! And you know what - after all they have been through today, and in their little lives so far - they deserve it!

So now we can move forward. I am so thrilled that they are all healthy and ready for adoption. I feel like I have 100% succeeded in giving these kittens the chance at live they deserve.

Video Update - Setpember 23

Escape Artist

Magnus shows me that he's grown out of the box. Like I didn't already know!



PS) My favorite part is when Magnus comes face to face with my big cat Oliver - and is all of a sudden not so confident any more!

PPS) Spock has learned how to escape as well - I just didn't catch him on camera! : )

Crazy Kittens!

Phew! These babies are NUTS! : ) To say that I have four mischievous and energetic kittens on my hands is an understatement!

Now weighing between 1lb 8oz and 1lb 10oz each (just 6-8oz to go before they hit 2lbs!) they are little bundles of crazy! They LOVE to run, play, wrestle, and climb. Just like little monkeys!


Still living in my bathroom for now, they get lots of free roaming time during the day, but go back in their box at night to stay safe. This morning I woke up, walked into the bathroom, and Magnus was tightrope walking along the edge of the box wall! I put hm back in, only to go back in minutes later and find him sitting NEXT to the box looking up at me as if to say "take that!"

Travis and I have been debating over the past week or so where a better place to house them would be. It's hard having three other animals, and lots of STUFF that kittens can get in to (the particularly like any kind of cable, and garbage cans!) We really couldn't think of a great place to put them.

And then it hit me!

We live in a beautiful 1920's house and both bedrooms feature HUGE, long closets. While we obviously have lots of clothes in our closet, and use it frequently, the closet in the spare bedroom is well... full of junk...


It's about 6 foot wide by 24 foot long... it's actually bigger than my office, with sloped ceilings, a window, and hardwood floors. It's going to be the PERFECT kitten room! So... after we get this weekend out of the way (Travis is in a wedding and our house will be full of human guests) the closet will be cleaned out and the kittens will be moving in. It's going to be great!

Come back and visit soon for photos of the new kitten room - and more kitten updates!

Kitten Video Blog - September 11

Enjoy! Have a great weekend, and thanks for checking in with the kittens!

Adoption

(the kitten mama and Napoleon)

This weekend will mark the kittens' eighth week in this world! Time has just flown by. They are getting stronger, bigger, and more mischievous every day and although this experience has been tough at times it is so rewarding to see them thriving.

They are expected to be about 2 lbs at 10 weeks old. Assuming they hit that goal, they will be taken to the vet to be spayed/neutered (all done at low cost courtesy of Carol's Ferals), checked for feline leukemia, etc. Assuming all of THAT goes well, they will be ready for adoption the week after that (first week in October)

ADOPTION! Can you believe it?

I can't!

I'm equal parts thrilled/excited and sad about it. Don't get me wrong - I'm so happy to have these little guys and gal go off to new homes and human families where they can live long and happy lives and much loved pets. At the same time though, I will be sad to say goodbye.

This is why I couldn't be a kitten foster-mom on a regular basis - I would get far too attached! I'm glad that this opportunity came into my life - it taught me a lot and in a way it saved me when I was going through some tough times myself. I can't say I'll never do it again - but I sure couldn't do this all the time. My heart and thanks go out to those of you that DO do this all the time!

I know for sure that my parents are taking a kitten, so that's one taken care of. Travis and I are still deciding if we are keeping one or not. On one hand, I can't imagine NOT keeping one. But on the other hand - we have two cats and a dog already. Our dog is still a puppy, high energy, and in much need of returning to obedience school, and our cats are a little older and stuck in their ways. If we DID keep a kitten - we'd want to be 100% sure that all of our animals could adapt to each other so that we can all live together harmoniously.

Beyond my parents and I, there have been several of you who have expressed interest in adopting one of the kittens along the way. I guess (sob!) it's time for me to see who is still interested, and gather some information from you.

While I am not SELLING the kittens, I am going to ask that adopting families make a donation to Carol's Ferals. A minimum donation would be $25 for boy kittens and $40 for girls - this would cover their spay/neuter. Of course, if you want to give more I would be honored. It is such a great cause. Find out more by hopping over HERE. Making a financial donation shows your commitment to this new addition to your home - after all, they are going to be with you for a long time! : )

If you're interested, drop me an e-mail at joanneroehm@yahoo.com and we'll chat some more about the details. If you're interested in a boy/girl specifically or if there's a certain someone who's caught your eye do let me know.

How wonderful for these friends to go to new homes! I hope that their adoptive families will keep me updated so that I can post a few follow ups to this blog once they leave me for good.

And lastly, speaking of adoption, if you're in the Grand Rapids area I'd love to see you at THIS EVENT. Carol's Ferals is having a HUGE adoption event and it's going to be fun for the entire family! So please, support Carol's Ferals and come meet some of the sweet kitties up for adoption!

Thanks for stopping by and checking in with the kittens! : ) Video update coming soon!

Quick Update!

I am so swamped today with my work for Carol's Ferals, setting up my new Stampin' Up business and grad classes starting tonight, but I wanted to give you a super quick mini update...

THEY ARE GROWING LIKE WEEDS!

Seriously, it's pretty exciting! Spock, Tabitha, and Napoleon are all weighing in at 1lb 4oz while Magnus is almost 1lb 8oz!

Here's a couple of quick picks while the kitties were lounging around this morning...

Napoleon (at top), Tabitha (in middle with food on her nose!) and Spock (upside down)

Magnus!

They've sure come a long way since this photo was taken... don't you think?

(taken the day we found them, at approximately two days old)

Kitten Video Blog - September 2

It's been a good two weeks since I posted a video blog, I'm so sorry! I have so much to update you all on, so stay tuned the rest of the week. For now though, here's the much anticipated video. I'm a little rambly (is that even a word?!) in this one, I apologize!



PS... If you're keeping up with the kittens and haven't added as a follower yet - please do! Head over to the right hand side of the screen and click "follow" - I'd love to know who is following our journey! Don't be shy!