Kitten Camp

Two weeks ago I was asked to foster some almost ready to be adopted kittens. They had been in a foster home, but the their family was going on vacation so they needed someone to take them for a week or so while the two littlest ones put on a few ounces. So of course I agreed.

This particular group was again a group of four. Three boys and a girl. Two tuxedos and a pair of black ones. The girl kitten was one of the black ones. I learned how to tell the black ones apart. The girl, Lola, is of of thinner, sleeker stature and has yellow eyes and her twin brother, Andy, is rounder, plumper, has longer hair and green eyes. When I brought them home, Lola and Andy were instantly wonderful and lovely, but the tuxes were a bit, um, not pleased with me. They did not want me to hold them at all. They were fine with me feeding them, and touching them. They would purr when I pet them. But, it is important to know that purring isn’t always indicative of pleasure. I was very perplexed. ”Why don’t they like me?” I wondered. I sat with them for awhile, the tuxedo boys ignoring me, and the twins loving me. But eventually, I had to get ready for my evening outing. When we got home that evening, my husband said that he would go take care of and visit with the kittens while I attended to the other cats for the night. They seemed to like him a little better, but still weren’t too keen on him holding them.

Well, I don’t stand for that kind of behavior in this house and two weeks later, the tuxedos are now lap kittens, and allow me to trim their nails, put eye medications in and do whatever else I need. I guess they just needed to get used to me and my environment. They are now, however, unwilling to be foster kittens any longer. When I open their door, they jump the baby gate (that is really quite adorable, as they are so tiny and yet so agile they can pull themselves up and over) and run all through the basement. They want to be real cats now. They want to have owners who love them and will let them have free reign of the house and explore and have a lap ready for them at all times.

They go back to the shelter tomorrow and I hope they all go home over the weekend. It is generally not hard for me to give them back to the shelter and to give them to new people. It is hard for me to split them up from their siblings. I’m also glad that I don’t have to choose which one of them to adopt. Although I’d probably choose Andy, cause he is the cuddliest. But I had to work hardest to get Thomas to like me.

Below, the first four pictures are my favorites of each of them, then I included some candids of their brief stay.

This is Thomas. It took me nearly two weeks to get a good shot of him as he would never look at the camera.