The Kitten Shower...

So, we went to a kitten shower a few days ago and it was amazing. We got to hold kittens and learned about a lot. It was so much fun! I can't wait for the next time, but let's talk about what we learned at the kitten shower. We learned a lot, as you know How to take care of a kitten and all the things they need, which is a LOT! I named one destiny with a blackish grayish coat. I loved that kitten! haha It would mew when it was away from me and it would relax if it was near me. Oh, and did i not tell you, I'm the youngest daughter of the blogger you read, who makes these blogs so well! Well, I'm gonna let the real blogger take over! haha!

Thank you, Anie, for your narration of the kitten shower! She snuck onto my laptop while I was away! ;)

With "Destiny" - 2 weeks old and eyes still are shut!

Were you aware that baby kittens are more needy than infant humans? With my three, I was able to enjoy 3-4 hour stretches of sleep, but kittens? Nope! Twenty-four hours a day, every two hours, begins the cycle of bottle feeding and bathroom time. Litter number determines whether this is a 20 minute thing or over an hour! I had no idea that kittens aren't able to use the bathroom on their own. Mother cats lick the baby's genitals to stimulate the nerves and muscles to urinate and defecate (pee and poop, folks, pee and poop!) So, caregivers to the baby kittens have to do the same; clarification - with a warm, moist tissue! :O Then, they have to be cleaned up afterward. Baby kittens also need specific temperature of warmth and cuddling, as well as extra medical care without the antibodies of their mother's milk. They are prone to digestive issues, respiratory infections, eye infections, etc..

So - why the kitten shower? The local animal shelter hosted a "kitten shower" for the public - open to anyone interested in fostering, adopting, or just curious about kitten care. My aspiring vet girls wanted the education, but also the kitten fix. :) During the class, two litters of kittens were brought into the shelter. The ones my kids were holding (and me, of course) were about 2 weeks old, a litter of five: two mostly black, two gray, and one black and white. The other litter was just shy of a week old, long umbilical cords still attached - a trio a calicos. So - eight cats in less than 2 hours, with twenty-three brought in the day before!!

Kittens apparently do not fare well in shelters - between the germs and the needs, ones without mothers need a foster home until they are old enough to be adopted (around 2 months or 2 lbs, when they can be "altered," aka, spay/neutered). Ones with more serious health issues generally go home with vets, techs, and shelter staff. With cats, there are three types of fosters: 1. Mother and kittens - this is the easiest route and great for first timers. The momma cat takes care of the kittens and the foster's main concern is caring for the momma (food, water, litter, etc.). 2. Weaned kittens - these are generally over one pound and about a month old. They don't need the care every couple of hours like the neonatal ones do. 3. Neonatal kittens, aka baby kittens - these are the ones described above - needing help with everything and the fosters full attention every couple of hours.

So - now that's all of that is out of the way (and if you are still reading and interested), a few more basics of fostering. 1. Limited to no cost to you - shelters pay for all vet bills, medicines, food, formula, etc. They do ask that you bring them in to be checked once a week, something that takes less than twenty minutes. 2. Fosters need to be kept away from all other pets - this means that a spare bathroom, laundry room, etc. are great places to keep them. It is for all the animals protection, as you wouldn't want your precious pets sick from something they might have or the babies from, well, everything that healthy animals have! 3. Shelters are more than ok with take-backs and foster failures. Take-backs are when a foster comes home and realizes they just can't do it - this happens and shelters are ready for it. They are just grateful that the kittens had a day or two of not being in the shelter, exposed! Foster failures are when fosters just don't want to say goodbye to their balls of furry cuteness and end up adopting instead. Again, shelters are very understanding and appreciative!

Before Saturday, my exhaustive understanding, if we shall call it that, was that fostering baby kittens required bottle feedings, personal time, and are for a duration of around a couple of weeks or months. All of this is true, but I was clueless to the facts that can't pee or poop on their own, how poorly they thrive in shelters, and the extent of need for foster families!

This little guy would only eat and pee for Ab!

Evan getting his snuggles in

** NOTE: If you find a litter of stray kittens without a momma nearby, do NOT take the kittens. Watch and see when the momma comes back. Momma cats are like us human mommas - sometimes we just need a break or a snack! Rarely do the mother cats actually abandon their litters. However, bringing in the mother AND her kittens to a shelter is a great idea!

Yes, of course I got my furry fix, too!!

A funny "who's on first" type moment, from when this picture was taken. (Who's on first, what's on second, and I don't know is on third - Abbott and Costello comedy routine)

Evan: Ohhh, mommy, he's asleep!

Me: His eyes haven't opened yet.

Evan: I know, he's sleeping!

Me: No, his eyes haven't opened yet, Evan.

Evan: I know, it's so cute, he's sleeping.

Me: (Sigh) No, his eyes haven't EVER opened yet, he's only about 2 weeks old and baby kittens don't open their eyes until they are older than that.

Evan: Ooooohhhhhhhhhh.

He must have been gazing longingly at the donuts when the vet mentioned that part. ;)

"Shhhhhh - Daddy's working!"...

There are wonderful aspects of having a husband who works from home - no lost time driving to/from work, enjoying impromptu lunches on the lanai, no need to find a sitter for a sick kiddo, etc. The list is vast. However, when homeschooling three children, the quiet blocks of time are, well, limited! Much of each day, it doesn't impact our lives; but when phone/video meetings are scheduled, it does.

"SHHHHH - Daddy is working!!!"
That phrase is uttered no less than five times a day, sometimes upward of thirty…like today.

It all began with my son letting the cat, Sassafras, out onto our pretentious lanai without checking for anoles. "Mom, Sassafras has an anole in her mouth."

I thought he was messing with me, so I ignored the comment until rounding the corner to see just that. Sigh. Outside we go. She dropped the anole for a second before chasing it again, us on her heels. Evan left the door open, so when we grabbed the cat, the anole escaped into the house. If you have ever tried to catch an anole - it is a very tricky exercise, often involving a bowl and at least three people! This time, I just let Sassafras do the work. (Remember, this is during one of those "I need it to be quiet" work calls and Anie's squeals were more than enough to invoke a "be quiet!")
I picked up Sassafras, poor anole in mouth, and we went back outside, where I had her drop it. Toting her back in, I tell Evan to pick up the anole and put it outside. Um…I think he would have rather picked up a spider…or a bear cub. :O So, out I go and AGAIN, he doesn't shut the door…so, out runs the cat. Let the cycle begin again!

Eventually, I had Sassafras on the inside and the anole into the grass. Amazingly, the cat's play and bite was soft enough for him to run away quickly - anoles are pretty resilient. :)

To anyone unfamiliar with anoles - here is a little one! (Think gecko, but smaller)

Flooding the kitchen...

As a continuation of the previous post, my son did stay true to his gender, but not in such a gag-inducing way.  (See "Painting with Poop" for that one.) After coming home from a playdate, I put on one of the kids favorite shows and ran upstairs to change my clothes. Apparently, a toddler can do an incredible amount of damage in a 7-10 minute window of time. When I stepped into the kitchen, my feet felt it - the wet. I looked to my left, where only my daughter still sat on the couch, eyes glued to the animated entertainment that I so wrongly assumed would keep them both occupied. Looking to the right, I saw him, a bowl in his hands, frozen like a statue in front of the fridge. At his feet was the kids' toilet chair insert, already overflowing with water. 

"What are you doing?!"

"Ummmmm. Don't ask me dat!" Mr. cute furrowed forehead tells me.

"Why is the floor all wet?" (Mind you, I was at least 6 feet away from him.) "Cause I made it," he said, proudly.

"Why in the world would you want to make the floor wet?!" I am trying to remain calm…poorly.

"Cause I going swimming!!" He is so proud. (I Sigh.) "See, I get water here, den I put water dare, den I make a pool!"

Yes, he got water out of the fridge via a bowl, then dumped it into the toilet insert, and, once full, onto the floor. I later found out that desk was also wet and puzzle pieces were floating in the drawers! At least the mess was made entirely from water…unless there was something in the toilet bowl insert before he started…oh dear!

Painting with poop….

My mom once told me, “Cleaning your house with kids playing is like trying to brush your teeth while eating an oreo cookie.” The “pre-kiddos” me was borderline OCD - anything other than perfectly straightened and clean was heart chaos. After my first was born, I was able to maintain that semblance of peace and tidy, but, nineteen months later, that all went sideways. Adding number two meant a lot more, well, number two! My only means of sanity was learning how to ignore the clutter and letting go of my ideal household. Still, there are those huge messes - the broadsiding “this is going to take hours to clean up” types - that can really get to us. These are the embraceable disarray.

It is said that boys make bigger and more disgusting messes than girls, but in our family, it isn't my son that has caused the most chaotic upheaval, but my daughters that do! For instance, my artist. When she was a little less than two years of age, one of her masterpieces stunk…literally. After waking early from a morning nap, she was suspiciously quiet, but happy - so I continued cleaning my bathroom, instead of going in to check on her. Bad move! She had climbed out of her crib and decided to add to the artwork already in the room. Using the dark clumps her digestive track had created after waking, she proceeded to scoop out pieces and use them as brown finger paints - coloring pictures on the walls, furniture, and some toys. Imagine my amazement when I opened her door! First, I was greeted by the lovely aroma accompanying such creative artistry. Then, her happy face and "'ook, momma! I 'ainted deese!" If she hadn't have been so cute and proud of herself, I may have had a major meltdown right then and there. Embracing the disarray, I praised her handy work before explaining that we don’t use poop as paint!

A more graceful use of paint, albeit still messy, from 12 years ago!

Playing games with Sandhill Cranes….

Here in Florida, we have a wide variety of large birds. My personal favorite is the Sandhill Crane - large, light brown body with a long neck, topped by a small head, red colored capping, and long beak. Although they walk like the 80s "King Tut" dance, they truly are graceful. Each spring, a tiny, orange puffball or two are often spotted, awkwardly following around their  tall parents. It is amazing how much personality is packed into their tiny brains - curiosity, their social nature, the way the tilt their heads while listening... Even though we have never fed them, our pair, lovingly named Bernard and Bernice, strut around for a "talk," gracing us with their presence while we sit on our pretentiously named lanai.

One day (clearly we were bored…or just facetious), we opted to find a video of Sandhill Cranes mating. Playing it on my phone, Bernard became all flustered, making the Raptor like call-back sounds to the unseen cranes. He urged Bernice along (who I swear had a "seriously, Bernard, you aren't falling for this?!" look on her face) and then went looking for the invisible others. I suppose that was more of the start of the story than the end, though. It was after having our little fun that the pair became frequent visitors.

Sassafras, our cat, is especially intrigued by the pair, which tower over her in height. She likes watching them…and Bernard, well, he likes watching Sassafras, as well. He will slowly creep closer and closer to the screen, listening to Sassafras's little squeaks and gurgling responses. (Again, Bernice stays far removed, watching Bernard like he has lost his mind, occasionally turning away from him completely - her stance against his insanity!) The first time Bernard and Sassafras met, I thought he would try to poke his beak through the screen (or Sassafras would jump up and tear it) - nope. He will put his beak downward and push in a bit, gurgling all the while…until the cat-like instinctual need to jump up a bit occurs and he flutters back a few steps…and does it all again. It is entirely too entertaining to watch, nature channel in real time.

Bernard approaching Sassafras - let the games begin!