Orca was adopted!

My black and white foster kitten was adopted on Friday night.  I've had Orca for several months now, and I have really grown attached to the little kitten who slept on my lap every chance she got.  Well, except for the times she cuddled up with Remi.  I snapped this picture after Orca got up from my lap while I was sitting on the couch, and she walked over to Remi who was laying on the couch next to me, and curled up next to him.  I don't know what I did to make her desert me in favor of him, but he didn't seem to mind too much. 

Orca is a special needs cat, you know.  Because she has one really long whisker over her left eye, and no whiskers over her right eye.  It makes her slightly off balance, so sometimes she runs in circles.

Okay fine, she only ran in circles when I moved the feather toy that she chased around in a big circle.  But it makes a good story, don't you think?

Another Difference Between Cats and Dogs

When one cat is playing with something, another cat may come along and see what fun the first cat is having. Notice Orca, the black and white cat, in the picture below. She's perched on top of the tub, looking down at Merlin who is playing with a plastic ball with a bell inside.

She thinks "that looks like fun - perhaps I will join him".

She jumps into the tub, and when the ball rolls near to her, she bats it away. Merlin and Orca take turns batting at the ball with their paws, making it jingle and chasing it around. For them, this is fun.

 
 
Now allow me to show you how dogs react in a similar situation.
 

Zara finds a plastic bag.  What fun!

 

Ziggy spots Zara with the bag, and thinks "That looks like fun - perhaps I will take it!"

 

So he does. 

But not without a fight. 

Which becomes a wrestling match. 

Where the bag is all but forgotten.

 

But Ziggy is finally victorious.

 

And he thinks "Bag?  What bag?"

"Oh yeah!"

Update on my fosters

Yep, it's time for another update.  Sort of like introducing the starting line-up of a sports team... or not. 

First up, the dogs. 

Zara - 16 week pit bull mix puppy, sister to Ziggy, very sweet, very friendly, extra-large ears, no manners whatsoever but listens well.  Cute brown spots on her back.  I'm hoping she turns out to be smart and learns quickly.  Time will tell.  Did I mention the giant ears?

Ziggy - 16 week old pit bull mix puppy, brother to Zara, deaf, full of energy and enthusiasm, loves attention, no manners whatsoever, eager to communicate.  That's a code term for either "barks a lot" or "very demanding".  Or maybe both - I'm not telling.  Has a short attention span and a love for his sister, all humans, and food.  Not necessarily in that order.

That's it for the dogs.  I still have a few on a "waiting list" but for one reason or another the time hasn't been right to bring them home just yet.  I'm hoping to not bring in any new dogs until at least sometime after Christmas.  Which is less than a week away.  Yikes - I really should start my Christmas shopping soon. 

Now for the cats...

Scribbles - Good news - Scribbles is improving!  I now can leave her door open all of the time, and she often comes into the other rooms when the dogs aren't around.  And if she sees them, she's not outright attacking them, unless they get too close.  This also means she's living with several other cats (who apparently like her room better than their own) and she is doing fine with them as well.  She still spends most of her time in her room, but she does come out for some extra petting and attention every day. 

Artemis - Unfortunately Artie has been moved temporarily to solitary confinement.  I am pretty sure he's the one who seems to have forgotten his litterbox manners lately.  I'm not sure if its because of the stress of meeting new cats, or something else.  But the first step is to segregate him and make sure he is the guilty party.  Figuring out which cat isn't using the litterbox and WHY is not easy. Someone please remind me of this next time I say "I'll foster that cat!" 

Orca - She is the sweetest little cat.  She is my almost-constant companion at home.  She likes to sleep under the covers, and she settles on my lap every night and just purrs even if I don't pet her.  She gets along with all the other dogs and cats - although occasionally she meets a cat she doesn't know and if she feels threatened she starts growling like a dog.  Her brother Penguin did the same thing - it's very cute coming from such a little cat.  I wonder if her sister Puffin ever does that.

Gandalf - This guy is settled right into the old routine.  He is buddies with my cat Merlin, and I'm constantly seeing an orange cat and calling him Merlin when its really Gandalf, or vice-versa.  I'll be putting him back on the website in the next few days and he'll be ready to once again try to find a forever home.

Simon and Sampson - The Salmon brothers are still happily hanging out in the sink, although they do come into the bedroom to sleep at night.  One of them, or maybe both, spends his day by carrying stuffed animals from a shelf in my bedroom to the bathroom.  So far I've found a stuffed dog in the cat crate, a stuffed monkey in the middle of the floor, a stuffed buffalo in the cat bed, and another stuffed dog in the shower.  Seriously, I've never had a cat do something like this before.  It's very intriguing. 

And that is it for cats!  Hopefully I will have no recent returns, and will be able to get a cat adopted eventually - it's been awhile.  Not that I'm complaining - I've had phenomenal success with dog adoptions lately, and I really like all of the cats I have right now.  Yes, even Artemis. 

Oh, in case you're wondering, Blitzen and Comet, my two adorable orange kittens, went back to the St. Charles Pet Adoption Center, who I was fostering them for, when they were old enough to be adopted.  They have a big adoption event today, so if they haven't been adopted yet, they probably will be very soon! 

Update on Orca and Chenille

This is my foster kitten Orca, all curled up in her crate during adoptions at PetSmart last week.  She's the last one left of the Black/White Sea Creature litter (wow, I really need to come up with a shorter description of Penguin, Puffin and Orca as a group.)  Anyway, she's been going to adoption events for a month now and still hasn't been adopted.  This amazes me since she's so tiny and sweet and perfect.  I love this kitten. 

She loves to climb on my lap and just lay there and purr for hours.  She also plays really well with the other cats, and as you can see, her and my cat Merlin have become close friends.  They are sitting here on my computer chair waiting for me to get back and cuddle with them some more.  Don't they look impatient?  No really, they do.  They miss me, I know it. 

This week I've had Chenille, my previous foster Pomeranian, back for a visit, and last night both her and Orca were curled up on my lap together.  Fortunately they're both very small!   



Chenille is living at another foster home who plans to adopt her once she is ready for adoption.  She's had some health issues so for now she is still a foster dog.  I enjoyed having her stay with me this week.  I am waiting until after Thanksgiving to take in any new foster pets, and it'll be very strange to come home to only Remi, Noelle and the cats.  Fortunately Chenille has been there this week to make things easier on me.  And I already know who I'm taking in next (stay tuned tomorrow!) so I have some new fosters to look forward to in about a week. 

Update on my fosters - Part 2

As promised, here is the update on the cats currently living in my house. 

Merlin - My orange tabby cat - I still think he's the best cat in the world. Sometimes he comes in my room at night and sleeps on my pillow, and sometimes he doesn't, and I really miss him on the nights that he finds better things to do. I found out he's afraid of children. So he has something in common with Lizzy. The only difference is when he sees children, he runs away and hides, whereas Lizzy, well, Lizzy doesn't.

Gandalf - Another orange tabby cat. He looks like Merlin, but he's not Merlin. He's very affectionate though, and he likes to stand on my keyboard and nudge my face so I can't breathe, until I pet him. If you ever get an e-mail with something like this in the text: ae;oq12a f, that was most likely Gandalf's fault.

Artemis - A gorgeous black cat. Artie is doing very well - he's finally used to all the dogs, and comes upstairs to hang out all the time. He still likes to sleep in his "cat area" downstairs though. He is the only cat I've had that my husband actually likes. I caught my husband Dave petting Artie the other day, and Dave said "Why couldn't you adopt this one instead of that other one." And it was obvious from the tone of his voice what he thought of "that other one" (Merlin).

Scribbles - My crabby cat has been getting braver lately. I feel so sorry for her in solitary confinement that I've started leaving her door open recently. So she comes out and hisses at the puppies, and then runs back to the safety of her room. The puppies are safe from her in their ex-pen - lucky for them. I never heard from the people who inquired about her, so I guess she's still waiting for someone to want her.

Orca, Penguin and Puffin - The little tuxedo kittens just don't want to grow. They have to be two pounds before they can get spayed/neutered at the vet, and last night I weighed Puffin and she was 1.91 pounds. She's so close! I've been giving them canned food every day, and they always have dry food out, so I don't know what else I can do. Well, someone suggested tying little fishing weights to their collars - but I thought that might be cheating.

 
So that's the story on my animals.  For now.  I have plenty of cats, a few too many dogs, and no space for emergency returns.  But Artemis and Dodger should be moving on to other foster homes soon, and hopefully the puppies will be ready for adoption by next week, so that will help.  I will be taking Lizzy, Dodger, Gandalf and Artemis to adoptions this weekend.  I don't have high hopes for any of them getting adopted, but stranger things have happened, and it's worth a try to find them their very own homes.

Trey and Keisha were adopted!!

Trey and Keisha each found wonderful new homes yesterday.  They of course got a lot of attention at PetSmart, but I was holding them for two people who had seen them on the All Paws website and each put in an application online.   The families were both able to come meet them at PetSmart yesterday and decided to adopt them.  Not a surprise considering how sweet they both are! 

Kitten Update
My foster kittens went to the vet on Friday but they're still too little to be spayed/neutered, so they have to wait another couple of weeks before they're ready for adoption.  I'm going to have to start giving them treats to fatten them up!  Even though they're nine weeks old, the girls only weigh 1.5 pounds and the boy only weighs 1.8 pounds - these guys are tiny!  They're doing well though.  Orca is the demanding one - she reminds me of Anastasia (previous foster kitten) because she likes to make her desires known by meowing loudly until I do what she wants.  She has me well trained.  Puffin is the quiet one - she kind of hangs back and watches the others before she tries anything new.  Penguin is the explorer of the group.  He's always the first to climb the highest or jump the farthest or explore strange new worlds (like the living room). 

Introducing Orca, Penguin and Puffin

I know, the names are silly.  But I like having a kitten named Penguin.  And this way all three kittens have names of sea creatures that are black and white, just like them.  At least until they're adopted, when their new families will no doubt rename them!

This is Penguin.  He's the only boy of the group.  I can tell him apart from the others because he has a little black "mustache" right under his nose.  I got these kittens from a nice lady who saved them after they were born to a feral momma cat.  Now hopefully she can get the momma cat trapped and spayed so she won't have any more babies in the future. 

This is Orca.  She has more black on her face than the other two, so it's easy to tell her apart.  Her and her littermates are very sweet and affectionate.  They're only about 7 weeks old, so I'll have to wait another week or so until they're old enough to be spayed/neutered. Right now they're very tiny!

This is Puffin.  She's my favorite of the litter (don't tell the other two!)    A friend of mine made some wonderful cat and dog bed covers for me.  They are great especially for kittens and puppies, because I can cover a dog or cat bed to give them somewhere comfortable to sleep, and then easily remove the cover for washing without having to wash the entire bed every time.  Puppies and kittens can find danger in the most innocuous things though.  Puffin somehow managed to get under the elastic edge of the cover and got stuck between the cat bed and the cover.  Poor kitten - I think she was stuck there for quite awhile before I found and untangled her. 

These three black/white kittens fit right in with most of the rest of my animals.  Do you notice a theme?

Remi - my Great Dane

Delta - my foster Lab/Boxer puppy

Noelle - my pit bull mix

Lizzy - my foster Border Collie mix

Artemis - my foster cat

 It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Noelle has some black spots on her, and even Artemis has a small patch of white on his chest.  Okay, it's probably too small to be called a patch of white.  Maybe a few stray white hairs would be more accurate.  Nonetheless, all of the above pets at my house are black and white! 

Okay fine, I admit I have a few that aren't black and white.  Non-black and white pets need love too.  So Merlin (my cat) and Gandalf and Scribbles (foster cats) are very much loved even though they aren't pictured above.  And tonight I'm picking up two more dogs that I agreed to take sight unseen, so I'm pretty sure they're going to ruin my black and white theme as well.  That's okay - I'll love them anyway.