Meet the cat: Lalasa!

Meet our next foster, a cat of many names! To Jacki, who misheard her name originally, she is Elena. To the people who have her at the moment, she's Dana. Before then she was Maga. If there's anything we will not be calling her, it's Maga. To be honest, though - she doesn't know her name, we have a friend named Dana, and my partner isn't overly fond of the name Elena. Who knows what name she'll acquire once she comes into our house?

To Be Named is a pregnant cat who was pulled from a high-kill shelter. Jacki said we can expect to have her for about ten weeks, which means she'll be about two weeks from giving birth when she gets here on Sunday! I have been told that "She is super friendly with dogs and people alike. Gets along great with other cats too. [She is] very laid back, loves to be held and loved on."

Overall, To Be Named sounds like a great cat and I can't wait to meet her and however many kittens she pops out during her stay!

(Edited at a later date to announce that we have named the cat! From here on out, she is to be called Lalasa, or Lassi for short!)

This week has been hard. We knew it was going to be hard because we were going to send the cats off to their forever homes and we've gotten rather attached to them. Caring for Shadow and Kismet was always going to mean that they left our lives, but we knew it would be hard.

It was harder than we could have imagined. Both cats went to the vet on Sunday and were given a clean bill of health, though the vet told us that Shadow's distended stomach probably meant worms. First thing Monday morning we took them to another vet to be spayed and neutered. This is a normal procedure; it happens to every rescue cat, as well it should. We don't need more kittens in the world, as cute as Kismet is. We expected to get a call later to pick them up.

Shadow never came home. Shadow died on the operating table. They tried to resuscitate her and couldn't. We don't know what happened. Maybe it was something the vet missed. Maybe she was more fragile than any of us knew. Maybe she took badly to the anesthesia. We don't know. All we know is that this is rare. This is the first full-grown cat that Kitten Connection has lost in spaying. It's one of only two cats that Jacki, who introduced us to Shadow and Kismet, has ever lost in spaying - and the other was a kitten spayed too young. It shouldn't have happened. It did happen. Shadow never came home.

Kismet almost didn't come home. He went to the head of Kitty Connection before he came to us after neuter, and she saw that he wasn't okay. She rushed him to the animal hospital where he seemed to be going in and out of consciousness. They gave him fluids and medication and he made it through, but for a while I was sure we were going to be mourning both of them.

Kismet came home yesterday. We monitored him, played with him, and pet him. We put him in a harness and brought him out into the living room and by the time I went to bed, he'd figured out how to walk on a leash. He's a beautiful, rambunctious kitten. Today, he's back to his normal self.

Kismet is now somewhere in Boston in his forever home. We packed him up with all his toys and some food and sent him off. His new parents have promised to send pictures every once in a while, so we're looking forward to that.

We'll be mourning Shadow for a while, but we have another foster coming on Sunday so the circle of feline life continues.

It's the play post! Kismet is now - well, we once again don't know how old Kismet is. We took the kitties to get tested for FIV/FeLV yesterday (they're negative!) and Kitty Connection decided that he's big enough to get neutered on Monday or Tuesday! That indicates that he's actually seven weeks old. Which, according to the Kitten Lady's milestones, makes sense. Here's what she says:

• At six weeks of age, a kitten's deciduous teeth will have fully emerged, and she will typically be perfecting her weaning onto wet food. Weaning is a sensitive time in a kitten's life and should be handled with care; provide supplemental feeding and ensure that the kitten is maintaining a healthy weight and body condition.
• Six weeks is a standard age for the kitten to receive her first FVRCP vaccine.
• Average six week old kitten weight: 650-750 grams

• At seven weeks, kittens will have all of their baby teeth. Most seven week old kittens will be fully weaned onto wet food.
• At this age, the adult eye color will begin to emerge. Kittens' eyes will change from baby blue to the eye color they will keep permanently. Kittens with grey, green, or yellow eyes are likely 7 weeks or older.
• Average seven week old kitten weight: 750-850 grams

Well - Kismet's eyes are no longer blue! It's true. Kismet seems to be ALL over the place when it comes to milestones, but his eyes and his weight say he's a seven-week-old kitten. Which means yes, next week is neuter time. And then we have to give him up!

In the meantime, life with cats has been a lot about play. Shadow is a very energetic cat. Play with her is all about quick movements and a jumping cat. She is definitely our mighty huntress! Turns out that it's really hard to get video of that, so our video of Shadow playing is very short. I took four different videos and this is the best of the bunch.

Kismet has finally learned how to do interactive play. For a bit now he's been a bundle of energy running around the room and playing with toys on the ground (I swear his favorite is the packing paper, though he also does love the catnip rat), but he's finally learning to play with toys that are off the ground. Katrina was the first to get him to interact with the cat dancer, and I got video of it. It was very exciting!

The video above might be the most boring video you will ever see of Kismet, but it is really exciting to me! See, Kismet is now five weeks old. The Kitten Lady says this about five-week-old kittens:

• At five weeks of age, a kitten's teeth will continue to develop. The premolars will start to emerge, indicating that a kitten is ready to be introduced to weaning onto wet food. Weaning is a sensitive time in a kitten's life and should be handled with care; provide supplemental feeding and ensure that the kitten is maintaining a healthy weight and body condition.
• Average five week old kitten weight: 550-650 grams

We've been attempting to wean Kismet but it's hard. When we put wet food into the room, Shadow immediately eats it. When we tried putting wet food near Kismet the first time, Shadow went to eat it. When we tried feeding wet food to Kismet a couple nights ago, Kismet wasn't interested. Also, Kismet is still nursing. We've seen Kismet nursing. How do you wean a kitten who won't stop nursing?

Turns out, you don't. When I went to check on the cats today I found that they were out of food. When I refilled the wet food, Shadow went for it. When I refilled the dry food, Kismet went for it! According to The Kitten Lady, this is okay! Some kittens prefer dry food and as long as they're also drinking water, it's fine. We've seen Kismet drinking water for a while, so I'm not worried. However, it seems Kismet may not be that picky. Once mom left the wet food alone, Kismet decided to eat some of that too. Of course, then Shadow wanted more. The video below might be the most adorable cat eating video you ever see.

It's been about a week since I've posted and that's mostly because I've been having trouble getting decent video of the kitties. It turns out that active kittens are hard to video. It's even harder when you've just started filming and mom decides it's grooming time (see video below), which happens a lot, and your phone keeps switching from video mode to photo mode and you manage not to notice. Thus, the above still, which was supposed to be a video.

Kismet has reached the age of play! He doesn't seem to like wand toys; he's much more comfortable with anything that's on the ground. He likes to play with the plush rat (pictured above) and a plush treasure chest that we have in there (both filled with catnip), but he also improvises with basically anything that he can get at. The litter box. The blanket edge that comes off the futon onto the floor. My water bottle, if I forget it on the floor when I'm feeding Shadow. Mom's tail (see video below). Anything he can get his paws around.

Did you notice I'm using "he"? That's because Kismet is finally old enough that we could examine his genitals and determine his sex! You tell what sex a kitten is by the shape and space between the genitals, and because a young kitten's genitals haven't developed much yet, the younger the kitten the harder it is to sex them. However, Kismet has finally developed enough that we can stop playing guessing games and be confident in the fact that he has male genitals. Now, we don't know whether kittens have gender and if they did whether Kismet would identify as a boy cat, but we're going to use male pronouns for him. Pronouns don't mean the same thing to a cat.

Next on the developmental road map: getting Kismet to use the litter box and weaning him. His side teeth don't seem to have come in, or they hadn't two days ago, which means he can't eat meat quite yet. When he can, the trick will be feeding him without Shadow trying to eat the food.

Speaking of Shadow, you can no longer feel her ribs when you pet her! She's still happily hunting flies and she's also playing with Kismet (when she's not grooming him), which I take as a really good sign. She's spending more time on top of the futon instead of behind it, though she does still like that behind space. Also, she's a purring machine! Her purrs are loud and can be felt through her side. It makes petting her extra rewarding.

Today is all about Kismet. Surprise! We think Kismet is potentially around FOUR weeks old now! Yes, I know. We skipped a week. But! The Kitten Lady says:

• At three weeks of age, a kitten's first teeth will begin to emerge. The tiny teeth at the front of the mouth, called the incisors, will start to come through the gums.
• Three week old kittens will have ears that point upwards, like a miniature cat.
• At this age, kittens will be walking, exploring their surroundings, and even beginning to explore the litter box.
• Three week old kittens still require a heat source, but will be more active and may stray from it when not sleeping. The kitten's environment should be around 75 degrees at this time.
• Average three week old kitten weight: 350-450 grams

• At four weeks of age, a kitten's teeth will continue to develop. The long tooth next to the incisors, called the canine teeth, will start to come through the gums.
• Four week old kittens will be confidently exploring and developing more coordination that allows them to walk, run, and even begin to play.
• Around four weeks old, the kitten develops the ability to retract the claws into the paw.

• Continue providing a heat source for four week old kittens, although they will likely use it only when resting. The kitten's environment should stay comfortably warm and never colder than 70-75 degrees.
• Average four week old kitten weight: 350-450 grams

Kismet is definitely starting to master the whole walking and exploring thing, as seen in the video below. I call it "Kismet is starting to act like a real cat" - but of course, as the end of the video shows, ze is still just a kitten in need of some washing from mom. Hir ears have also reached that mostly upright stage.

450 grams is just under a pound, a milestone which Kismet reached this morning. (1 lb 1 oz, to be exact.) Hir claws also retract now and those canines are popping up. This goes to show that a) kittens don't all develop of the same timeline and b) we don't actually know how old Kismet is. We're just guessing. However, it's definitely time to make some changes to the foster room, starting with a kitten-friendly litter box!

Speaking of changes, the newest addition to the foster room is a replacement for the box. No one really liked the box. It was just what we had around the house when our surprise guests arrived and Shadow never took to it, no matter how we positioned it. Last week we replaced it with a cat cave which Kismet seems to really be loving. Shadow won't do more than stick her butt or head in it, but Kismet goes in and out and can generally be found in it. See below for some adorableness.

Off to fill a kitten-friendly litter box!

We're now in our second week of fostering and both cats are developing well. Shadow has become much more comfortable and seems to have learned her name, as evidenced in the video above. Of course, while she loves attention, she also loves her food. Just a few days ago you could feel every rib when you pet her, and now she's gaining some weight. Shadow is pretty much on an "all you can eat" diet right now as we try to give her enough calories to build up both herself and her kitten!

Kismet is also gaining weight. As of this morning, Kismet was 14.6 ounces (414 grams)! Kismet is also starting to react to the wider world, though ze can't see much at this age. As evidence see this video from two days ago:

and this video from today:

That's all the cuteness I have for the day! I hope you enjoyed!