Friday Kitten Blogging
Kittie Korner
Mmm…Zzz…[snort]
[Editor: Eyes are open and crawling has commenced, but they aren’t allowed to go far, nor am I allowed to touch. My dream of world domination is over – Excise currently seems to be on track for lilac/blue tabby points.]
Fallenmonk notes that Saturday, May 12th is the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive of the letter carriers. Non-perishable foods, no glass containers, please.
This is how I cycle my emergency supplies, giving last year’s to the letter carriers and buying more.
[If you live in an urban area check with your letter carrier or take the food to your local post office. This a project of the letter carriers and their union, NALC, not the US Postal Service.]
18 comments
Thanks for the reminder, Bryan. That event is definitely on in Houston, just in case any other Houstonians check in here.
Speaking of unions and of Houston, that day is also Houston’s off-year city Election Day, though the ballot is tiny. If I may, let me recommend the excellent Melissa Noriega for City Council At-Large Dist. 3, to fill the unexpired term of former Councilmember Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, who (hurray!) quit to run unsuccessfully for Tom DeLay’s vacated office. Noriega, wife of State Rep. Rick Noriega, finished her husband’s term when he was sent to Afghanistan, and acquitted herself more than admirably in that office; now she’s entering politics in her own right. And the one proposition on the ballot, lowering the cap on senior citizens’ property taxes (i.e., seniors will pay less; the wording initially confused me as well), has the approval of the AFL-CIO, as well as my own support.
Well, that’s more than you ever wanted to know about Houston elections. There will be more on the YDD as the day approaches.
Oh, and I forgot… the Kittie Korner is terminally cute. Why are they so attracted to that corner?
Friday Ark #137…
We’ll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and….? Visit all the …
They are so cute, so angelic and soon so full of mischief!
Ooooh – Need a Nap Just like That!!! All curled up in a quiet corner of the world! Just Me an ole Rip-Van for 40 winks. 🙂
Happy Fret Free Friday to them kittens too! 🙂
They are in the corner because their momma in annoyed with their initial attempts at wandering around and stuck them there. When they rest up, they will be out and about.
Yes, they do look like little angels when they’re asleep. Kaylee’s Krowd have become a little gang of tearorists; not only can they run the 100″ dash, but they can climb my bedspread and view their world from the pillow top. They’re beginning to explore outside the bedroom, too; precocious Notdot has visited the kitchen and has tried out solid food. Kaylee is totally unable to control them, so the Hu-mans have watch where they step all the time.
Your crew is just under two weeks ahead of mine. I can hardly wait. Ringo is stressed and so is Dot. Sox is as clueless as ever, but gets his feelings hurt when Ringo hisses at him for being nosy.
Five or six weeks is the beginning of weaning, and I hope I can trap them in the bathroom for a while, the while being, until they figure out the purpose of a litter box.
litter box: mom will probably teach them. you could try providing a very shallow box of kitty litter now, instead of waiting for weaning, for mom and the kids to use.
i provided my brood with a large tray, sides only about 1/2″ tall. their aim wasn’t perfect at first, but their intentions were good right from the start. when they needed to go, they at least took off in the general direction of the litter tray. one little guy was a tad dense, he figured as long as his front paws were in the tray, he was doing it right. took him a week or so longer than the other two to figure out that ALL paws needed to be resting on kitty litter. they were all impeccably trained by about 4-5 weeks of age.
i should mention that as they got bigger and wandered further from the nest, “impeccably trained” means that i provided them with several trays of litter strategically placed around the room so they wouldn’t have very far to go. no way is a 3- or 4-week-old kitten going to make it all the way across the room in time, but if they only have to scamper 5 or 6 feet to get to the “bathroom,” they’ll try to hold on that long.
I’ve hand-raised a lot of kittens, but this is the first time for my office. Normally kittens are born and raised outside. I let momma cats handle it, unless the momma dies. Ringo makes the job harder because she is really tense.
I have a set of disposable/recyclable aluminum cookie pans that I use and “kitten litter” [non-clay] to put in it. I can’t complain about kittens as Sox occasionally misses the box. He feet are in it, but his tail isn’t.
the cookie pans work well. i used a couple of those.
i didn’t have a mom-cat, but i did get a lot of help from the dog [couldn’t have done it without him]. feeding time was a mess, especially in the early days. i set each formula-soaked kitten in the litter pan when it finished eating, and the dog promptly licked each one clean and dry. the kittens adored this. probably as adult cats, they all now run to their litter boxes when they want to be petted.
Well, getting licked would certainly be more fun and dryer than the washcloth method for the kittens. My long-time neighbor had a cocker spaniel who treated all cats as kittens, and the ferals responded. Trying to walk Cody on leash was a problem as she attracted a gang of cats whenever she was outside.
It must be a thing with cocker spaniels. My roomie had a cocker, and when his boyfriend brought home a bunny as a pet, Goldie chased the poor thing through the house and gave the terrified rabbit such a tongue bath when she finally cornered it. That was one confused, sopping wet bunny.
I feel bad for the poor bunny, as tongue baths are not part of their “tradition”.
Oh, they are so beautiful and soft looking. I don’t know if I could keep from grabbing a kitten and playing with it. Ringo has sweet babies. Oh, that little white kitten isn’t white, is he. That tail is gray striped and that fur is getting color. Wow. That’s going to be a striking looking cat (of course the others will be, too).
OWL, at this point I’m guessing she will have the markings of a Siamese, but they will be gray striped instead of solid.
the dog-tongue method is way more efficient than the washcloth method, faster and definitely drier. gentler too. the dog loved it. the kittens were a bit bemused at first but it didn’t take them long to decide they liked it.
it’s been suggested before that this dog [of unknown mixed heritage] could be part cocker spaniel; people are always remarking that it looks like he’s wearing fuzzy bedroom slippers. much to his dismay, though, he is not a cat magnet. most cats take one look at him and figure they’re about to become lunch. fortunately he and the present household cat are best buds.
Some dogs react to cats as if they were puppies and treat them accordingly, which works out if the cats don’t mind. My neighbor’s spaniel had to learn they don’t appreciate being picked up and carried around.