Foster Kitten Update
Mr. Bart and Little Mouse got adopted… TOGETHER!!!
Lots of people wanted only Baby Mouse without his brother… but the people who adopted them LOVE BART TOO.
When the adopters came to my house, we spent nearly two hours! We got talking, and the time just flew by! I TOTALLY LOVE THESE PEOPLE… and knowing that MouseMouse and Bart-the-loudest-purrer-on-earth are going to such a loving home is THE BEST FEELING EVER!!!
Do I miss my boys? Of course! SO MUCH!
I miss BabyMouseMouse curling himself under my chin at night, so that every breath I took was chock-full of delicious toasty Mouse smell.
I miss Mouse’s tummy mohawk— his fur is the softest! It comes together in the center of his torso and makes a little tufted mohawk all the way down his belly… and if you say to him: MouseMouse! Show me your tummy mohawk!! He WILL ROLL OVER ON HIS BACK to show you!
I miss Mr. Bart careening through the house (destroying everything in his path) to catch a fly.
The boy LOVES flies.
I miss him squawking to ask where you are; if he cannot see you, YOU MIGHT HAVE DISAPPEARED!!
He does not like to think you have disappeared!
ALARMING!
And you have to say— Mr. BartBart! up here! And then he comes TEARING up the stairs.
I miss ALL the monkeys that have come through my home since Elvis died… they all took a piece of my heart; but I am SO happy to know that they are out in the world carrying it with them! (And it appears that you do not run out of heart to share.)
If you have room for some love in your life… fostering kittens will fill your heart with purrs and fluff and hilarity.
If you cannot foster, there are still so many ways you can help! I wrote a whole post about how you can help your local animal shelter… Lots of ways don’t even necessitate you interacting with animals, or having them in your home!
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Bart and Mouse are the seventh and eighth fosters I’ve had since Elvis died… and I’m feeling like I AM READY now to meet another permanent soulmate— having a relationship with an animal for the span of their entire lifetime is one of the greatest joys on earth!
BUT.
Daily, I get emails from multiple shelters, rescues, volunteer organizations… Asking for help. Asking for fosters. Asking for homes for babies… if no one takes them, they die.
I know that a solution might appear to be: get off these email lists!
But to me, that is EVEN SADDER… do you know what I mean? To simply delete them as though they are of no consequence.
Ignoring it does not erase it.
To me, there is value in ACKNOWLEDGING these little furry faces… in witnessing their existence.
Their lives did not go dark without being seen.
Looking squarely at that which fills us with grief feels counterintuitive… but I think the things that rip our hearts out are the things we are obligated to KEEP OUR HEARTS OPEN TO.
I think that is our Self telling us: THIS IS A THING YOU MUST DO SOMETHING ABOUT.
Hence these four munchkin maniacs.
It took them about five seconds to destroy their new home, tear down the hammock, upend the food bowl, SIT in the water dish and overflow it everywhere.
Plus! For extra fun! They are not socialized!
Two of them seem willing to consider humans… the other two are like, NOPE!
There is more on my Instagram stories (which I’ve just started trying to figure out; is it just me or is it NOT AT ALL INTUITIVE?)
I am not changing the world… but for EIGHT animals so far, I have changed their ENTIRE world.
And these four make TWELVE!
#kittenmathisthebestmath
The feeling this gives me is the opposite of hopelessness.
This is so valuable to me, because hopelessness is a place I have lived in since I was 15 years-old: the first time I saw inside a slaughterhouse and became fully aware of the suffering of animals at the hands of humans… these beautiful creatures who share our world but not our language; end their lives in terror and pain so grotesque it defies understanding.
Even all these years later, I struggle to live in a world where humans have embraced the death of empathy.
We say things like– Oh that is terrible. Oh that is horrifying. Oh I cannot stand to look.
OH! DON’T TELL ME!
These responses send me into a cave of grief, defeat, and pure hopelessness… not to mention how it implies that I have some sort of immunity; like I am INTO this stuff because I am somehow LESS bothered than other people… and I should keep it to myself because I shouldn’t upset the nice people of the world who are more delicate than I am.
I promise that is inaccurate (and rage-inducing!)
I engage BECAUSE IT RIPS MY HEART OUT.
I engage BECAUSE WHEN WE KNOW, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Turning away and ignoring our own culpability in GREAT SUFFERING changes nothing but OURSELVES… When we kill our own empathy, are we not ultimately killing ourselves? Killing our ability to fully engage in the world?
Is empathy not the key to every single problem in the world?
Well… empathy AND KITTENS.
Throw back to my very first batch who started it all! (I still suspect I made a horrible mistake in giving them up!!! LOOK AT THOSE FACES!!) you have to turn the volume WAY UP if you want to hear their little baby motors!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:00 am
Compromise: do you think you could adopt an older cat, you know, one of those who have been in a shelter too long, BUT, adopt one that GETS ALONG with other cats/foster cats/kittens? It might be a benefit in some cases such as this one, where these sweet children need socialization.
You are a good person. It’s hard to be brave when you want to cry, but you continue to amaze me. I care. I donate as much money as I can, but my fiance is DEATHLY allergic… I wish there was more I could do.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:16 am
just last night, Paul asked me if we were going to end up with an elderly, incontinent, cat that no one else wants… I said— yes… I trust that the “right” one will show up eventually.
xoxo!!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:01 am
Oh My!!!! The one being held in the pic looks exactly like my Cowkitty….he’s been gone a few years now. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss him. I foster Great Pyrs and it’s the photos that get me every time. I keep saying I am going to take a break from fostering big dogs (they are huge and furry) but then I see another photo of a Pyr needing a foster and BAM!! Another houseguest!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:03 am
your new babies seem to be settleing in nicely….. were they feral captures? they take a little longer to be socialized but it can be done with great success. Bless you for being a foster to so many unwanted babies…. now if we could only obligate people to spay or neuter their pets and help with the TNR programs in their area, we would avoid so many kitties and puppies in High kill shelters, which should not exist at all.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:05 am
You are making a world of difference!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:07 am
Thank you so much for what you do!! I have 4 kitties, all of which were rescues. We did not foster, but went to the Humane Society here and got them over the years. The 2 youngest are Dewey and Louie, identical (almost) brothers and very sweet tuxedo kitties. The oldest is Squeebles, my Maine Coon shadow and last but not least, Junior Beans – a mostly white kitty with orange spots who is a lover and was in our yard as a kitten trying to eat a peanut we had put out for the Blue Jays. I think they own us and have trained us very well rather than the other way around.
I think you fostering kittens is fabulous – I never thought about doing that.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:10 am
Oh, Victoria. Lately I’ve been feeling a little hopeless myself. Reading about the work your doing reminds me that there are still kind, caring people in the world. I admire you so much and I don’t feel I can say that about many people right now.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:10 am
Thank you, VEB, for keeping it real!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:13 am
Each baby kitten is the best baby kitten! Especially impressed at the variety of cuteness here!
My hubs and I are too limited in our functions to socialize or care for babies, but I always imagine we could help an older cat. We have two cats and every day I think, maybe we should rescue one more cat, surely, we could help one more cat…and then I remember the strange feeling in my heart that we are holding a space for a cat who needs a certain thing at a certain time, that the universe sends one the cats it wants to send you. So I wait, a little longer, for the old guy who needs us.
But my friend Carrie fosters kittens, batch after batch, and posts updates and pix, for the twitterers here : https://twitter.com/yetra
June 22, 2017 @ 11:17 am
Fostering is the BEST!!!! Our specialty is bottle babies. We’ve done it for 10 years and we just succumbed & adopted our last two. They came to us w/their eyes still closed from different mothers, but have totally bonded. We couldn’t bear to see them separated. You will just know when it’s the right kitten(s) to keep. And we will still continue to foster, the socialization really helps the kittens get adopted more easily.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:19 am
Yes yes yes! Preach it sister!! You have the truth of it in your head, heart, and fingers. Thank you for being who you are – your personality makes me feel less alone in the world.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:19 am
For the love of EMPATHY and the very essence of what it is to be HUMAN…
VEB, you are kooky and spastic and I love you.
You speak what is in my heart. Thank you.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:21 am
I’m glad they were adopted together. I have always been told cats do better in pairs. We have two boys Maxxim and Xander. They are 9 years old and have never been apart. Max I’m cries if he can’t find Xander. I worry what will happen when they get old and one passes away. 😔
June 22, 2017 @ 11:25 am
God bless you and good luck socializing those babies! New life is amazing! Those sweet little faces! Thank you for sharing your incredible heart and love with all of us! I love these pics you share as you help them on their journey!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:25 am
Well, you’ve already gotten a lot of well deserved kudos for adopting, so I’m just going to say – I love the towel/hammock/slide contraption you’ve rigged up! I have two grown kittens, but if I ever add another real kitten to the mix I need to know how to make that thing. Fabulous and sooo fun!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:29 am
Paul took two smallish dowels/boards (long enough to hang over the wire bars just slightly) and then wrapped a towel around (secured with small clamps so I can remove to wash).
He needs to cut a divot in the ends of the boards to sit on the wire, because when they really get active they pull it down!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:48 am
There is something about tuxedos that melts my heart! When mine is sleeping on my bed and I come into the room he flips over onto his back so I can scratch and rub his belly. He lifts up his front legs and I scratch his little leg pits. I could pet and hug and kiss that cat all day. You are doing such great things. Bless you.
June 22, 2017 @ 11:57 am
I love your new fosters! I bottle-feed for a rescue here in Georgia. I currently have 7 kittens I am fostering (plus my own 4 cats). Kitten season has been brutal here with daily dire pleas for help! Bless you for fostering!!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:57 am
You are an angel kitty-mom! I love what you stand for and that you have a wonderful husband who helps you to help the kittens. Mine is so against getting another cat or two, and I want them so bad. But I know what happens when I surprise him with an animal, and it becomes a battle ground for years. SAD. I would foster if he would only agree!
I hope your forever kitty comes along soon, you clearly have love to give!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:59 am
We are now bringing in refugees from violent war torn countries to work in the slaughter houses. Anyone who works in a slaughter house has to have zero compassion or empathy for any living thing. How is this good for our country or the refugees?
June 22, 2017 @ 12:03 pm
Fostering is so hard and so rewarding – I’ve been doing it pretty much constantly since 2005, and have fostered more than 300 of them. I’ve currently got a mother cat and her two 11 week old daughters in my foster room – the mother came to me from a local rescue, pregnant, and had her babies here.
We live in a 1930 Craftsman-style house in the country in Alabama and are planning to sell the house soonish – we’re looking at other houses in the area, and I’m pretty insistent that we need to have at least two rooms for fostering. 🙂
Your current fosters look to be in great shape – and I think you’ll tame them in no time flat.
(We had realtors out to our house a few weeks ago to talk to us, and they RAVED about how the house doesn’t “smell like cat.” I mean, what? Pardon me? I DO CLEAN, YOU KNOW. I can’t decide whether to be offended or amused.)
June 22, 2017 @ 12:05 pm
Very similar situation…. when ours died… we fostered. I see it as honoring my dear sweet furry one. So Elvis has a legacy. You may end up adopting and fostering perhaps….this has proven to be amazing socialization for our kitty!