Monday Madness

Craziness reigns here in Teeny Tiny Tabby Town.  More news and photos than will fit into a comfortable blog post (or in a week worth of blog posts), so Metro Monday will be taking a rest this week.  

To begin with, we must make amends to our dear Henry.  So I give you... Henry-day (Henday?)

My Brother Henry

by Eloise, Queen of the Universe

Kitten's real name: Henry

"Please note that my brother Henry is definitely not as innocent as he appears in this picture.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he either bit, scratched, or pounced in the split second after this picture was taken."

Kitten's approximate date of birth: May 2, 2012

(Making Henry approximately 16 weeks old)

******************************************************************

Kitten's Nicknames: Hank, Hankers, Hankie...

 and Sir Chomps-a-Lot

"Henry chomps on anything, anytime.  He chomps on camera straps, camera lens caps, toys, carpet, ears, legs, necks.  He tried to bite the wall last night.  Hide your valuables. Nothing is safe from Henry."

******************************************************

"Eloise loves Henry, really she does.  But Wheeze must not tell a lie... Henry is one-part kitten, one-part puppy, and one-very-large-part Tasmanian Devil."

"HEY!!! I resemble that remark!"

"This isn't something that Eloise likes to tell around the litter box, but Henry LIKES to play with dogs."

"He LOVES wrestlemania and tries to copy the wrestlers he sees on television whenever the Lady isn't looking."

"And... he eats the tails off toy mice.  Ewwww."

"And WEEKS later, Henry STILL acts as if he's NEVER seen a shoelace before."

"Hey, El... Henry is not sure he likes the direction your photo essay is taking."

"Whatcha gonna do, Henry?  Beat me up?  Or is this the point where I tell people that you're not really beating me up in this picture?  And that the Lady thinks it's about time you got tutored... whatever that is."

The Lady would like to interject here that the above photo is as far as the advances got.  Henry is easily distracted and Eloise's innocence was preserved.

"HEY!!!!  HENRY ORDERS YOU TO GET BACK TO THE NICEY-NICE PROFILE OF HENRY OR ELSE FACE HIS WRATH.  IT'S NOT PRETTY!"

"Okay, okay... Henry is a good brother.  He works hard until he gets the job done right.  In fact..."

"Henry escapes from our room so often that the Lady lets us out for a few hours at a time now.  Henry runs around the house like his tail is on fire.  He stopped once to look at the fish.  Eloise doesn't think the fish liked that very much.  He tried to talk to them, but they blew bubbles back at him."

  "When Henry gets sleepy, he likes the Lady to snuggle him like a baby.  He purrs and purrs.  He pats her cheek with his paw, combs her hair with his claws, and lulls her into a false sense of security.  Just when the Lady thinks Henry is falling asleep... CHOMP... he bites her nose.  She falls for it every.stinking.time.  Eloise is starting to think that she likes her nose to have a chewed-on look.  Different strokes, I guess."

"Hmm... Eloise does not remember this picture being taken of Henry."

That would be because this is Tika, the whirling dervish wild child currently in residence at Petco.  Tika came out of the same house as my four.  She looks just like Henry, acts just like Henry (right down to the face patting, hair combing, and nose biting).  There is a resemblance, yes?

"Henry thinks one sister is MORE than enough!"

"Henry would like to tell his OWN story next time.  There's LOTS he could tell you about prissy little sisters."

************************************************************************

The Washington clan found themselves on the wrong side of their door.  Eloise had an issue with that...

Umm.... Teeny Tiny Eloise doesn't look so teeny tiny any more.  Keep in mind that she's barely three pounds and extrapolate to what the Adams kittens might weigh.

(I would love to rotate this photo for you and did on my own computer, but every time I put it on the blog it looks sideways.  Just tilt your head and enjoy.)

There are five Adams kittens in residence.

Pictured: 4 Adams kittens and their stuffed puppy

We'll reveal the names one per day this week, taking the kittens in alphabetical order.

Meet Bentley... squeeeeeee!

Bentley is a very friendly tuxie gentleman.  One of three boys in the bunch.

Gotta say it again... squeeeeee

The Adams kittens are part of the litter of 13 that I told you about last week.  Mama has had enough and so has their foster mama.  The kittens went into crisis over the weekend and our original 13 is now 12.  They've been split up into 3 foster homes... 5 here, 5 there, 2 in the the last.  Our Adams kittens are wheezy, sneezy, and goopy, but they're in pretty decent shape.  We're doing antibiotics, eye drops, and breathing treatments with the nebulizer three times a day.  But they're eating on their own, using the litter box, and seem pretty happy to be here.

Our babies are roughly five weeks old and t.i.n.y.  I didn't get to name this bunch, but I do admit to liking the names they have (and if I didn't, you might know this set by a WHOLE different group of names than the rest of the world).  They were rescued from the shelter during the week of the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, where thousands of people gather on Woodward Avenue to cruise around and gawk at classic cars.  We've got a car theme going here, but first names that not only work with Adams but appeal to my sense of giving real names (well, mostly...)  Ironically, the North Gratiot Cruise (same thing, different road... Motown residents are serious about cars) was going on outside the Petco when I went to pick them up on Sunday.  

THIS might make it a tad bit easier to let the Washingtons go when it's time... but only a little.

***********************************************************

Oh, and Penny spent one last night with us on Sunday.  Her new mama is coming to pick her up on Monday.  

She's really got to learn how to relax a bit.

Pardon the Interruption

Okay... so as you all know, Friday was supposed to be Henry's big day on the blog.  As seems to be the case each and every time that it is our Henry's turn, life intervened in a big way to make the expected somewhat more difficult and the unexpected the big news of the day.  With so much news to share, I humbly beg Henry's forgiveness as we will be postponing his featured spotlight day until Monday.

"Henry is beginning to feel... unloved and most definitely not the favorite.  It is a very good thing that you lock Henry in a separate room while you sleep."  

(If Henry only knew how I really feel... He might talk me into never letting him go)

Thursday afternoon was the big vet appointment that we've all been waiting for... you know, the one where all of our kittens were declared totally free from the dreaded ringworm and healthy enough for adoption.  Well.....

WE ARE RINGWORM FREE!!

WOO HOO!!!!  100 PERCENT RINGWORM FREE... SAYONARA, SUCKER!  DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT!

Photo re-blogged from Oso de Madre, who re-blogged from Piss and Vinegar

But....

UM.... HOUSTON?  WE HAVE A PROBLEM...

4 kittens may be ringworm free, but we do not have 4 kittens ready to leave our nest yet.  One, and only one, kitten was cleared to go to Petco this weekend... and it's not the one you might be expecting.  They are all adoptable and will all be added to Petfinder on Friday and made available for adoption, but due to various issues cannot be exposed to the Petco crowd for a while.  I may or may not be doing a secret happy dance at getting to keep my babies around for a bit longer.

Before you get the specifics, let's recap our adventure...

Four kittens loaded up and made their way to our fabulous veterinarian's office.  Three kittens decided they were interested in seeing the outside of the carrier.  One chose to stay where he was, thank you very much.

Kitten craziness pervaded every corner of the room.  They showed off their incredible floor-to-counter and counter-to-counter leaping ability.  Ben thought about trying a counter-to-ceiling jump, but thankfully thought better of it.  Porter remained in the carrier, thank you very much.

He eventually came out, but only if I promised to hold him.  ((If this photo had been taken a split-second sooner, you would see two back feet on the table, two front feet wrapped around my neck, and a kitten head buried in my chest... Oh how I love my timid boy))

THE VITAL STATISTICS WE ALL CRAVE

Ben     6 pounds, 2 ounces

Porter     6 pounds (even)

Henry     5 pounds, 10 ounces    

Eloise     3 pounds, 1 ounce

I was thrilled today that MY vet was there.  You know how it is to have a vet that you connect with and completely trust?  Well, she wasn't in the office on the day that I brought my kittens home (July 2nd)... and she was in the surgical suite on the day I brought the babies in for their ringworm diagnosis (July 5th)... and she wasn't in the office 2 1/2 weeks ago when I took the kittens in for their upper respiratory infections.  She has been there for me every step of the way (offering immense support and advice between visits) but she had never even seen my babies yet.  She came to a few interesting conclusions...

Conclusion #1... Probably not sister and brother (at least not by blood)

A. Their sizes are just too far off and always have been.  We were going on the word of a hoarder that didn't keep good records.  Chances are that our Eloise was switched with Tika (the Henry look-alike at Petco).  And I am not sorry the mistake was made.

B. Henry's dental development when compared to Eloise's makes him several weeks older than she is.

C. When they were rescued from the "rescue" in July, we went on the assumption that Henry and Eloise were littermates and only Feline Leukemia tested one of them (Henry).  Eloise had her own test this afternoon and came out blissfully negative.

Conclusion #2... None of them are the ages we thought they were and their birthdates are (probably) a mess.

Our original thought about the fearsome foursome's birth order (again, going off the records of a hoarder/"rescue") was Porter as the oldest, Ben a few weeks younger, and Henry and Eloise two weeks younger still.

After examining their teeth (over and over again to be sure), the vet questions ALL of this.  True, kitten teeth develop at individual rates just like human teeth.  But also, just like human teeth, there is a general pattern and usual pace and order to their dental development.  If we were to go off their teeth, HENRY is the oldest kitten in the bunch and might be older than we thought.  He is the only one with all of his adult teeth.  

Ben is still considered the second child, with Porter and Eloise taking up the rear.  In fact, our little Ellie Belly might be so much smaller because her teeth place her as being roughly three weeks younger than the first vet thought she was.

"See??  There's a reason I'm so teeny.  I'm just a BABY!!!"

Conclusion #3... One of them is still fighting an mild upper respiratory and needs to stay home with me to finish another ten-day round of antibiotics.

I'm not one bit upset that my love staying with me.  I am upset that our Henry started wheezing again on Tuesday.  The vet decided he's big enough to try Batril this time, which should knock the last traces of this illness out of him.

Conclusion #4... Two of them are still fighting a goopy eye and really shouldn't leave for Petco until it clears up.

Shocker, huh?  I am happy to keep Porter, as was the original plan, to work a bit more on friendly hand touches.  This does get more challenging, however, when I need to dose him with Tobramycin drops three times a day.

"Where's the other goopy eye kitten?"

That would be you, Ben.  One more week of kitten snuggles for me!

Conclusion #5:  Our one and only kitten cleared to go to Petco is the wee baby of the family.

She's not going either.  We're going to wait until Porter and Ben are done with their eye drops and send the first pair then.  Ellie's not going by herself and that's all there is to it.  So they are all still with me for another week... and I am ever so happy to postpone the tears that I know I will shed when it's time to send them to their forever homes.

If someone finds them on Petfinder before they are ready to go to Petco, they will be made available for adoption as long as the adopter is willing to medicate and keep the kitten(s) separate from their own animals for the time being.  But I'm trusting that the karma that keeps stalling kittens at my house will work for another week or two.

IN THE MEANTIME...

The kittens are sleeping off their new round of vaccinations. 

"Henry thought he put out the Do Not Disturb sign."

We indulged in lots of stinky cat food.

We broke out the new kitten beds to celebrate the end of ringworm.  Hooray for no fungus among us!  ((Henry was the only one willing to try it... brats!))

No pictures of it, but Eloise got the all clear to roam the house for a short time Thursday evening.  She sat on my shoulder during Project Runway, watched the fish swim, played with a few cat toys,  tried to climb into the fireplace, and was thoroughly sniffed over by Charlie.  Not one hiss, from her or the adult cats.  The boys are j.e.a.l.o.u.s.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Benny and the Jets

My Brother Ben

by Eloise, Queen of the Universe

"When the Lady said that she brought me something special, Eloise was really hoping for a sister... or maybe sparkly princess crown... or maybe even an Oreo.  And then the Lady took out a Benny.  Eloise would rather have a sparkle ball."

Kitten's Real Name: Ben

"The Lady did not name Ben. She said his first foster Lady named him.  That should have been my Lady's first clue.  The first foster Lady gave him away.   Pfft.  Eloise would give him away too... along with at least two other brothers."

Kitten's Approximate Date of Birth: April 23, 2012

(making Ben approximately 17 weeks old)

***************************************************************

Kitten's Nicknames: Benny, Benbo, Benny Bop...

Benny Jumping Bean and...

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-Benny and the Jets!  Seriously, the Lady does.NOT.stop.singing.that.song... ever. Eloise does not know this 'Elton' person or why he likes airplanes, but perhaps he could write a different song for the Lady to sing to the next group of kittens?"

**************************************************************

"Benny is a great big baby.  The Lady calls him a 'loverboy'.  Here he is 'loving' a catnip frog.  The catnip frog can never love Benny back though, because Eloise kicked the snot out of it and scrambled the froggy's brains."

"Benny monopolizes ALL of the Lady's snuggle time.  'WAH... I'm a baby who needs kisses and snuggles!'  AND SHE FALLS FOR IT!!!  It gets so crowded in her lap sometimes that Eloise sits on the Lady's head instead.  

PS...The Lady wants Eloise to tell you that her neck doesn't really look like that in real life."

"Look at him making a fool of himself and giving the Lady nose kisses.  Ben should be more discreet and kiss the Lady on the inside of her elbow like the Wheeze does."

"And you should see how he makes a fool out of himself in front of Not-the-Mama Kitty.  Heh... Penny and Benny sitting in a tree, H-I-S-S-I-N-G.  She loves him not."

"So he sneaks up on her..."

"But big old Thunderfeet makes too much noise and she catches him every time."

"Benny likes to play Top Cat.  Here he is sitting on Henry, who probably deserved it."

"The Mister must have taught Benny military maneuvers.  Now Benny 'army-crawls' everywhere... even though the Mister is in the Air Force."    

"Benny enjoys getting air, too.  He never shares his Invisible Pogo Stick, even though we asked him almost politely even."

"Boing... boing... BLUR!"

"That boy has NO modesty!"

"Yeah, that's right Benny... I said NO MODESTY!  Don't you know what 'modesty' means?  Eloise thought you were smart since the Lady said you got tutored before you moved in here.  Perhaps we should send you back there."

*************************************************************

Movie Night

It was the petite princess's turn to pick the flick for movie night.  Eloise's choice... The Princess Bride.

The boys worried that we didn't have enough snacks to last the whole movie.  I should have listened... 1 adult, 2 kids, and 4 kittens need at least two bags of goldfish crackers for a full-length feature film.

"Hey, Eloise!!  Down in front!!  Henry can't see!!"

"But, but, but.... the Giant is hurting my Westley!"

"So sorry... Eloise can't help herself.  This movie is SO exciting!"

Yes, the movie was SO exciting that Porter began bouncing around the room like a jumping bean during the sword fight between Inigo Montoya and the six-fingered Count.  He landed behind the television on top of the power strip... and turned off the movie (and the television and the dvd player and the fan) in the process.  While we restored power and scanned to the right spot in the movie, Eloise sent Facebook a couple messages: "2wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and "6546".  Perhaps that's her way of telling you that the blog will be all about Henry tomorrow.