Mama and Co.

Well, apparently not long after Zadie was born mama cat had herself another litter. It took about 5 weeks before we even learned of the new batch of kitties, and of course as soon as we did I set up an elaborate cat tunnel to get them trapped and taken care of. Not that mama was doing a bad job, they just needed medical attention and I wanted to try and find them real homes.

So back to the tunnel... the litter had its home base in a little dirt pile on the other side of the wood fence in my back yard (staying on the side with the crazy dogs that I knew would eventually try to play "catch the kitties"). So I devised a tunnel leading from the hole they would slip through into our yard all the way to the trap filled with tuna a few yards away. Within minutes I had caught two of the babies, and it only took resetting the trap to catch the third. Mama was a little smarter, and outwitted me for a good half hour (she figured out how to reach in and steal the food without actually going inside and setting it off), but eventually she was captured as well. The kittens all came inside and were put in "the cat house" until they calmed down. Two of them were pretty sick already (one couldn't even open it's eyes they were so bad), but they were well fed and clean and playful. The next morning they were taken to see Dr. Tonarely at Ponce de Leon Animal Clinic (I highly recommend them!!) and given some medicine. Although they hated taking it, it only took a few days before you could really see the change in each of them.
It's hard to see, but here are the three on their first day with the people:

They spent about 2 weeks separated in the spare bedroom, until they had finished their antibiotics. After that they were introduced to the other 4 cats and immediately took over the house. They adjusted pretty well once they met the other cats and learned what indoor life was like. Jasper (the orange kitten) was the most friendly... he loved the love, and always wanted to be next to the people. He was also the most playful and daring, and had somehow managed to lose his whiskers, which made him pretty funny looking until they grew back. Emily (the black and white tuxedo kitten) was the most timid, but you could tell she just wanted to be babied. She is now officially the biggest baby ever, and will meow in your face until you pet her with all available hands. Arianna Fluffington (all black long hair kitten) is the most independent... she's a cat who knows she's pretty and is going to make sure you know it as well. She's also the one who is happy to play alone, but will occasionally let you pet her if you're deemed worthy.

In the days since these three first came inside they've made a full recovery, gotten all their shots, been sterilized and are now ready for adoption.
















As a side note, although no less important, mama was sterilized the next day after she was trapped, and has been released back outside. She wanders around the neighborhood in her spare time, but mostly keeps to our yard. She also knows that she has her own dish of food and water in the shed in our backyard, and enjoys sleeping on our back patio area when the sun is bright and shining. Mama also has a new habit of meowing in the morning if she isn't greeted with a nice bowl of wet food by 7am (also wake up time for the indoor cats, despite my attempts and protests to sleep in on weekends).