The cats came back, the very next day..

That’s a song by Fred Penner (for any of you Canadians)…

We gave the two kittens away to a nice girl and then she found our her apartment changed to a no-pet policy! So we took them back. What an emotional roller coaster.

I cried Friday night, was so sad on Saturday, and then on Sunday got them back again!

I wrote a letter to the head guy here to see if we could keep them under strick guidelines (ex: declaw them if that would allow us to keep them). I’m waiting to hear back from him.

So its been 2 weeks since we have had them back again. They live in our living room/kitchen area now and have done well adjusting to “normal” human activity. Storm has become so much more affectionate. He is still shy but when no one else is around he will jump up on the couch next to me dying for me to pet him. So I guess it just takes more time for some kittens to come around. Lesson learned.

I wait to hear if we can keep them or not. I don’t know what we will do if we can’t keep them(they are getting older and loosing their kitten cuteness). It is SO hard to find homes for kittens and cats! We shall see….

I would be SOOOOOOO happy if we could keep them. SO happy. And sad if we can’t.

Giving the kittens away

Last night we brought Indy and Storm to their new home. The girl we gave them to lives alone, has no other pets, and has a small apartment. It’s a perfect set up for these kittens.

When we let them loose in her apartment Indy explored everywhere and Storm just sat still in one spot (he was stressed out). Indy is ready to have a whole apartment to explore in…Storm on the other hand, I think he could use some more time in a small space.

We stayed for 2 hours with the kittens. I wanted them to get used to their new home with us there for a bit…and then we’d leave.

I was happy leaving because I know they have a great and ideal home! Then when Derek and I got into our apartment I became soooo sad. I actually bawled myself to sleep! I couldn’t stop crying. A couple of weeks ago you couldn’t convince me that I could love a kitten so much!

I think the reason why I cried so much and why I’m so sad is because I became to very attached to Indy, and he to me. Indy trusted me so much. Last night before we brought him over I was wiping down his fur with a wet cloth and he didn’t like that (wanted to get loose) but at the same time he was purring because I was holding him! I could get Indy to purr within seconds of being with him…he trusted me. He will always be a very special kitten to me, the first feral we ever socialized. Something deep down in me feels like he’s my cat. How can my cat live with another person now? Why can’t I see him today and pet him and have him purr like crazy? It’s hard when you feel like an animal is your cat and they love you back to then give them away. But at least he has a good home and is with his brother. That’s whay I have to think about.

Two healthy baby boys!

We took them to the vet tonight and found out that Storm is also a boy. They have no fleas (surprising!), no ear mites, and their temperature and everything else was good. The only thing one of them had was round worm so we had them treated for that right there at the clinic. The rest of shots we waited on since we can’t keep them. The vet said they are anywhere from 8-10 weeks old.

Tomorrow night we are bringing the two of them to their new home. A friend of a friend has been wanting a cat for a while now and when she heard about our situation said that she wants them both! Which is so great. She’s out tonight buying them food and such, she’s so ready to have them. I’m relieved they seem to be going to a good home with a peson who is so excited to have them! Derek and I will bring them to her house/apartment to have them get adjusted to the new place and her while we are still around.

 I will be sad to give them away but I have to remember that we rescued them and have given them a better life than they would have got in the wild. And we are giving someone some nice pets

My heart is sad…

I am absolutely crazy about Indy (the first kitten we caught), and he is crazy about me too. As soon as he sees me in the morning or anytime I come into the room to play with him he starts purring like crazy! He is my favourite cat of all time. The problem is that we can’t keep them! Warning: before you catch feral kittens try not to get so attached. I want to keep both the kittens but where we live won’t let us. My heart aches at the thought of giving them away…or even worse…not being able to find them a home! It’s really hard to find kittens a home.

I am glad we caught the kittens for their sake – the fact that they get to eat every day, and are safe. I am sad that we caught them because I love Indy so much and my heart aches at the thought of giving him away…which I know we will have to soon

Update on Storm (the second kitten we caught)…storm still hisses at us when he is caught off guard but is getting much better. Storm purred for the first time a couple nights ago and is getting less uptight (well really he was just scared) around us.

We can’t keep the kittens :(

I learned today that where we live won’t allow us to have a cat. My husband and I are sad as we’ve grown very attached to these kittens. There’s nothing like taking a feral kitten that at first hates you and then learns to trust and love you! It’s been a great experience but I’m going to miss these kittens terribly. Especially Indy…who loves us petting him, picking him up and being around him. I am going to miss him soooooooo much!!!

I’m praying we can find them a good home. Ideal if they could go together. The problem is there are soooooooo many kittens in the world. People – spay your cats!! Don’t let them have a litter just for fun…there’s too many other kittens out there already that need a good home!

Update on new kitten

The kitten we caught last week – which we are pretty sure is a boy, we are going to called Indy.

The kitten we caught two days ago – we called Storm (not sure if its a boy or girl…I think it might be a girl).

Storm is so afraid of us. Indy took to warming up to us much sooner. Storm hisses at us all the time when we come near and runs to a corner in the bathroom.

I can see why it could be so hard for parents to have their first baby be so easy and then their second one to be difficult. We are trying to spend as much time with Storm as we did with Indy but now we have two of them…before it was just Indy.

This morning Storm ate food off a spoon and then food off my finger. That was a huge step! But the this evening my husband went in a fed it (it always hisses and then will eat) and while it was eating my husband went in for the first pet. It wasn’t the purring action that Indy gave us when we did her first pet… Storm just stood there kinda stiff, unsure what to think. But then after eating Indy fell asleep on my husband’s foot and Storm lay down next to his lag and they are both asleep at his feet as I type! Soooo cute!

So we’ve made progress with Storm, it’s just going to take a lot longer I think before she’ll feel comfortable around us, enjoy us petting her, and eventually, let us pick her up without hissing!

We put the two kittens together so now Storm can watch just how much Indy trusts us and lets us pet him. Maybe Storm will want to be pet too?!

We caught the other kitten! Its sibling!

We caught the other kitten tonight! I can’t believe we did it. After 3 days of not seeing it I had a feeling it would happen tonight…and it did, barely though! We set out a path of tuna into the cage and the little guy went in!

The first kitten (Indy) we set up in the bathroom. I’m afraid of putting them together right away because I fear it might make the other kitten afraid of us (since cats are copy-cats). I don’t want to loose any of the progress we’ve made with the other guy.
So right now the new kitten is sitting in a cat carrying cage in our living room on an end table (so it can see us at our level when we sit here and watch tv). I’m going to ask a yahoo question and search online as to when it would be best to put it with the other kitten.

Trying to find the other kitten

I got up at 6:15am today (I normally get up at 8am as I don’t work in the summers!) to try and find the other kitten. I brought tuna and a cage. There are 3 adult cats and 1 grown kitten (4-6 months old) in the colony….and then the kitten (2 months).  So 4 cats in total that live near this building.

The all black cat came to eat tuna today…I noticed her nipples hanging low…so she must be the mother out of the colony. The orange male cat just watched from a distance and then mated with the black cat right in-front of me! The teen kitty (4-6 months) came and ate some tuna at the end too. This cat is the least afraid of me.

But there was no sign of the other little kitty I wonder if he’s lost without its sibling and not as daring anymore. The one we weren’t able to catch did seem to be the smallest and most timid of the two. I really want to find him. If it doesn’t rain my husband and I may try again tonight.

The first petting (36 hours after capturing it)

I went into the bathroom to sit near the kitten and read. The kitten was sleeping so I put my hand near its body and it didn’t move…then I put my hand near it’s head and my fingers were barely touching its head and it still didn’t move. Then I went in for the first pet…not knowing what the cat would do. I pet it’s body from the neck down to the tail area…then I pet its head…the kitten didn’t move. I kept petting its head. Then all of a sudden the kitten turned over exposing its belly and I started petting its belling and the best noise ever came…it started purring!! I was so happy to hear it purr I got teary eyed. The fact that in less than two days this kitten went from hiding behind the toilet terrified to letting me pet it was incredible…way more than I ever expected at this point. The cat kept letting me pet it…and even let me pet it under its chin. It kept purring and purring. Now every time we go in there we will pet it. I am so happy it not only let us pet it (didn’t try to run, bite or scratch) but it rolled over, let me pet its belly, and then purred!! So proud of our little feral kitty! The progress its making is awesome.

What to name our kitten (your input is welcome)

We have yet to find out the sex of the kitten…we won’t find that out until we bring it to the vet. We want to wait on bringing it to the vet until it is better adjusted to us and until we have held it. In the mean-time, we need to decide on a name. Let us know your thoughts. The kitten is mostly black with white paws and white under the stomach and white around its nose.

Here are some names we thought of:

We found captured her on the 4th of July so here are some patriotic names:

1) Indy (short for Indepedence Day)

2) Philly (short for Philadephia where the bells were rung on July 4th)

3) Patty/Patriot

Other names that have to do with its coloring…black and white:

1) Jackson

2) Oreo

Any other ideas? Your comments and suggestions are welcome!