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 @ 12:16 pm
This was extremely poignant and on target, especially what you said about how when something rips our heart out and we can almost not standing knowing or seeing something, then it must mean that it is something we need to do something about.
June 22, 2017 @ 12:30 pm
You have such a huge heart and it’s wonderful to see 4 more babies that will have better lives because of you. I can’t adopt or foster because my one kitty that I adopted as a stray wouldn’t allow it sadly. The most I can do at this time is donate as often as I am able.
Because you are so witty and already have a huge following both here on your blog and your personal IG account, I had suggested a couple months ago that you might want to use IG to advance your kitty fostering. The cat community on IG is incredible, and articulate, kind, loving foster accounts get hundreds of thousands of followers which enables them to bring so much awareness to helping these innocent kitties. I had sent you in a DM some IG account names that are incredible accounts of foster moms that have such great followers that their fosters are almost immediately adopted as soon as they are ready (old enough, vetted, spayed/neutered).
You are so amazing that I really believe you will become one of the most influential foster moms if you wish to go that route.
I might suggest one important thing though since you seem to be a sporadic IG poster. For maximum impact (eyeballs, influence, comments, followers and eventual adopters for your kittens) you might want to create a cat-centric IG account seperate from your current personal design/fashion account. IG is quite segmented based on interests. Home decorators look at decorating IG accts. Travel people follow travel accts. Dog people follow dog IGS. Cat people follow cat ones. Your recent kitty post on your fashion/blog type IG won’t get nearly the attention that you would get if you set up a VEB_fostering acct for instance (assuming on your regular IG you tell your 10k followers to go follow your “fostering” IG Acct).
Sorry for the long winded post, but I truly believe you could be one of the true “Influencers” on IG if you so choose to spread your message.
June 22, 2017 @ 12:33 pm
Such a beautiful and important post. I’ve never understood how people can CHOOSE to look away at the animals suffering even though the animals have no choice or power to help themselves. They must depend on humans that care enough to actually do something. Bravo to you for fostering these precious furbabies! All three of our cats were rescues and we used to always foster before we finally adopted. One of our cats is now 17 and it looks like in the final stages of her life. Once she passes and I have time to grieve we will go back to fostering, as our younger two love kittens! We have very strange cats. One even loves baths, plays fetch, walks on a leash, comes when he calls, and spoons with me every night. We think he has special identity disorder lol. He was around dogs a lot before we got him. One of the momma dogs had a litter when he was a kitten and adopted him too. He also doesn’t like anyone else but me, which makes him even better 😜 Gorgeous black cat. Keep doing what you are doing and spreading the word. And thank you for helping make a difference!
June 22, 2017 @ 12:35 pm
I do not like cats/kittens at all. But I am thankful that there are people like you in the world that do care and take care of as many as you can. Bless you! We are dog people and have had 8 rescue dogs so far. Keep up the good work!
June 22, 2017 @ 12:58 pm
Amen Sister! Anyone with an ounce of empathy and available means should get on the foster/rescue train, whatever animal you identify with; You save lives and get so much in return for just being involved. Actions speak louder than words, go to a shelter and see what chaos is like……….see a starving horse in a field? Call your state equine rescue league………suspect neglect of a neighbors dogs or know someone has moved and left them behind, call animal control. There is no shortage of orphans, only a shortage of passionate hearts and open homes. It really does make a difference, and you are reminded every day of the good you are doing
June 22, 2017 @ 1:25 pm
Those 4 kittens are absolutely adorable and you are a good soul Victoria. I hope all is well
with you 🙂
June 22, 2017 @ 1:44 pm
Beyond the decorating, the witty posts and enchanting sense of humor, I love your spirit. As our world evolves into a more technical, detached & often disparaging place to exist in, there are those, like yourself that help us remember our humanity and the amazing gift that life is. That connection with all living things soothes my soul. If you want to read a very old, but amazing book, try “Kinship With All Life” by J. Allen Boone. It’s a tiny little volume but it will leave you to ponder this life and the creatures we share it with. I read it once a year, just to remember.
June 22, 2017 @ 2:17 pm
Something you said reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books. “There is no division nor subtraction in the heart-arithmetic of a good mother. There are only addition and multiplication.”
― Bess Streeter Aldrich, A Lantern in Her Hand
If you haven’t read that book, YOU MUST! It’s not about kittens but it is very wonderful.
June 22, 2017 @ 2:42 pm
Thank you so very much for not turning away as so many people do. And thank you for championing empathy and it’s continued place in all our worlds. Love your kittens and the joy they bring so many (and I adore your blog soooooo much as well). Continue your great and important work!
June 22, 2017 @ 2:48 pm
Thank you for spreading your compassionate message about kitty fostering. I’m an ‘adopt, don’t shop’ kind of girl – my 15 year old Torti cat isn’t adaptable enough to bring foster babies in the house – and have committed to donating a portion of each real estate commission (I’m in real estate sales in Nashville TN) I earn to the local Middle Tennessee German Shepherd Rescue organization, in memory of my beloved GSD Ruby that died this past April. It does feel good to save another animal’s life and even better to know I’m going to help more than just this one that’s coming home with me soon. Waiting for adoptee Lola to come on down!!
Keep it up! You’re an inspiration to me.
June 22, 2017 @ 3:05 pm
Victoria, you should have the shelters in your area check out the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County, Washington. They have a ‘dog-a-thon’ every year that raises $$ for all their animals. A local gal does foster kittens with a very entertaining blog, TheIttyBittyKittyCommittee.com, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for our shelter. The shelter has been able to expand and have built rooms for senior cats, community rooms to socialize, and even a ring-worm room. They have low-cost spay & neuter and subsidized low-income pet food. Their goal is no-kill. People that care deeply about animals CAN make a difference!
June 22, 2017 @ 4:43 pm
I never say this when people post photos of the fosters they have (because they are always bloody out of state +a million miles, so what would be the point) BUT; I would take all four of them. Now. Well as soon as I pack a toothbrush and drive to you from Maine…..❤️
June 22, 2017 @ 5:06 pm
Here’s what I do… donate every month automatically to animal rescue organizations. Even a small donation regularly helps! I do social work, so I make sure that the families I see with un-neutered/spayed animals are heartily encouraged to get it done and provided with information about free services, including shots and vet care. Recently we had a trap and release program and I told them where to find the ferals. I have a 19 year old ratty incontinent cat and a younger one that someone left behind when they moved. These are the things I can do. There’s plenty that everyone can do to help! (Also my dog came from a place that was busted twice for animal cruelty and neglect. He’s a challenge, but he’s ours for life!) Thanks for what you are doing, and for talking about it, too!
June 22, 2017 @ 5:08 pm
“I am not changing the world… but for EIGHT animals so far, I have changed their ENTIRE world.”
Yes this this this!!!! I feel like often people are all, “ugh I can’t do anything that makes a meaningful difference, the problem is just overwhelming and too large” (and here in Oklahoma… as in most of the South… the unwanted dog and cat problem is very, very large and very frustrating). But you totally CAN make a huge difference, one animal at a time, with minimal effort!!!
We are dog people, not so much cat people, but 🙂 our first foster dog went home five weeks ago. We had had him for SIX MONTHS. We totally cried and missed him but the couple he went to live with is SO great and has sent us pictures! It’s just one dog, but he was on the euthanasia list at a shelter in rural Oklahoma, and now he has an amazing life and a family to go camping with and it makes me so happy because he’s an amazing dog. We are taking a little break (we have two dogs of our own so three gets a little tiring, and we have some travel coming up) but can’t wait to foster again! Bonus points, it was GREAT for our younger dog who got to have a temporary best friend and playmate! 10/10, highly recommend 🙂
June 22, 2017 @ 6:07 pm
Thank you, Victoria.
June 22, 2017 @ 8:39 pm
So wonderful that you have been fostering!!! Every word you wrote rings true!! I volunteer with a rescue and you go through so many emotions, but to see animal florish and feel that wonderful feeling when you just know the right right person/family comes along is amazing!! It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, but the good out weighs the not so good!!
June 22, 2017 @ 11:10 pm
Enjoyed reading about your foster experiences. I have fostered over 300 kittens in the last 13 years with only 3 foster fails, all special needs kitties that no one wanted to adopt. Today my 8 yo son told me it was okay if we didn’t keep any of the kittens this summer because when one gets adopted there is always another one that needs help. It filled my heart with love and joy to know that he gets it. We give them all of our love while they are with us and then we send that love out into the world, so we can help another. Thanks for being a special crazy cat foster.
June 23, 2017 @ 12:50 pm
You inspired me to foster awhile back and we have our first foster kitty right now! His name is Lorax.
June 23, 2017 @ 4:31 pm
Yay to you for saving the kitties! Have you considered getting a no-kill shelter started in your area? The https://www.sfspca.org is a no-kill shelter. They help an amazing number of animals to find their forever homes. They help animals from surrounding shelters to find homes, too. I adopted a kitty from them last January and learned she had been a rescue from Napa. I really have no idea how one would accomplish this task, but the people at the http://www.sfspca.org are really wonderful and I am sure they can share how they got their start…and how they manage to keep going.
June 24, 2017 @ 1:48 pm
I love this post (and I really have loved all of your other posts as well). In a world that has gone bonkers I can’t tell you how much I look forward to reading your words and seeing the photos you take – it does the soul good. Thanks for all the good you do for the kitties in your area!