Davy's Adopted!

Well, another kitten has been adopted. The day after we said good-bye to Jack Sparrow, a new potential adopter came to see Davy. Her old cat, a 10 year old Persian died recently and so they are looking for another kitten to replace him. She just fell in love with him and picked him up the next day. So now we are left with just Tiger Lily and Smee.

In a sense it is a good thing because the cage is getting a little small for 4 growing kittens. Now there is more space for Tiger Lily and Smee. And it is a lot easier to put things in the cage and take them out without having to prevent four little kittens from rushing out. We can also allow them to run around the living room in the evenings - a lot easier to keep one's eyes on two rather than four. But I do miss my dear Davy. He was such a sweet natured kitten.

The challenge now is to get Tiger Lily adopted. She was actually reserved early on but her adopter has now broken her toe and can't take in a kitten at the moment. Smee has been adopted, just that his adopters can't pick him up until after their overseas trip. They are however positively smitten with him. They have visited him to see how he is doing and take photos of him each time. Love cat lovers!

Then there were three...

Well, Jack Sparrow has been adopted and left with his adopter today. That's why he gets a big huge collage of his best shots. Why does this sound like some version of a Next Top Kitten Model reality show? Except the one who gets adopted first, wins?

It is not an easy process, putting up kittens for adoption. First, finding the appropriate channels and advertising, then getting in touch with and assessing the potential adopters who approached me, then wondering when and whether they are going to revert - can't really say that the kitten is adopted until it is!

Jack Sparrow's adopter has another cat, Chocolate, who is about 8 years old. He lives in a house with a big garden for kittens to run around in. Jackie looked comfortable and at ease in his big hands. So I feel comfortable too. Only thing is, he came just as we finished bathing all the kittens. One after another, Tiger Lily, Davy and finally Smee did their big business in a corner of the kitchen/in their yellow market basket. Jack did not. So I just hope he did not do it on the way home...

Little Pieces of Heart (2)

Sigh, the little kittens are indeed stealing little pieces of my heart away. They are now about six weeks old and their baby blue eyes are now turning colour and will probably end up a light, clear green like their mother's. I suspect that one of the last few unsterilised males, Paddy, is their father as he too has a bit of a patch over one eye. Indeed, Paddy is a most appropriate pirate king. He saunters around the front yard as though he owns it and mews commandingly for attention and food.

The adoption process has gone fairly well with two kittens positively spoken for, another almost confirmed and someone coming to view the last. They should be picking up the kittens weekend after next - i.e. when we estimate the little pirates to be 8 weeks old.

They have grown considerably - so we have started letting them run in the kitchen every night. They were a bit nervous at first, and still take time to warm up but after that it is go go GO! Full of energy, they play their own version of 'kitten tag' where everyone is the catcher at the same time. They skitter and scamper all over the kitchen floor, weaving their way through chair legs and human legs alike. They hide behind the rubbish bin, and pounce on whichever little kitten next comes by. They can keep going for ages - should have called them the "Energiser Kittens" rather than the pirates. The photos here are of them in a less frentic mood, taken after they were fed and sleeping off their meal during the warmth of the afternoon. To see little pirates in action, check out the videos on my Multiply site (see sidebar for the link).

I must admit, I will miss them when they are gone. But they are still tonnes of work. One of them left a series of little deposits in the corner of the kitchen just now and we had to clean up after. Sigh.