Jersey and Holstein were liberated from the animal shelter on Black Friday. They were emaciated, filthy, and had upper respiratory infections. Holstein, the little black and white girl, also had a horrid eye infection. Another foster took them in, named them, and fattened them up.
But the other foster was heading out of town the same weekend my jailbirds headed to adoption and my kitten room was scheduled to be emptied. This happy set of circumstances brought the cows home. To my home.
Well, they had a pitstop at my mom's house. I was at work when the other foster was available for a drop off. We set up a small kennel at my mom's house. Her baby, Beignet, sat on top of the kennel the entire day-waiting for them. He skipped his third breakfast and all of his lunches.
Beignet was sorely disappointed when the quarantined kittens had to go directly into the kennel. He was desperate to play with them and stuck his arms through the opening. Mom got no pictures as she tried to keep Beignet and the nosy dogs out of the way for their brief stay before we picked them up.
Both kittens purred easily and showed no fear. Beignet shared some of his food and Jersey dug in with gusto.
The cows adjusted to their kennel easily, but they came alive when let out for play time in the kitten room.
These two kitten cows rolled around for nearly an hour. I could not get enough of watching their big round kissable bellies waddle around on their stubby little kitten legs. I wonder if they're actually munchkins!! Their legs are just so short!
At one point, Jersey bounced and pounced his way back to my lap, stopping from a dead sprint with his paws on my leg.... looking up at me with love until he couldn't keep his little eyes open any longer.
They both quickly fell into the routine. Sleep in their kennel, sprint around on stubby legs until they start to wear down, then crawl onto their people for loves.
I almost don't want to say it and jinx myself, but these two have fantastic appetites and are gaining weight steadily. I cannot even imagine them as emaciated- their round bellies delight me repeatedly. I wonder if they ever tire of me scooping them up and exclaiming (to anyone around or to the empty room) "LOOK AT THIS KITTEN BELLY!" then smothering it with kisses.
My obsession with this kitten belly is pretty strong.
Not to be outdone by my love for this kitten belly.
Because they spent a week with the other foster, they only need a week of quarantine with me. But last night and tonight I told them they could sit with me while I blog if they could stay in my lap. Jersey is not good at this... he wants to explore. But Holstein was pretty happy to curl up with minimal effort.
While Holstein napped in my lap, Jersey told us just what he thought about being left in the kitten room alone. He told our dog. He told the neighbors. He told the world.
Update 12/19/20
My little dragons.... so fierce and scary. These little wings are probably my favorite costume I've purchased for my kittens... and they didn't seem to mind wearing them at all.
My husband has managed to stay pretty stoic throughout our foster experience, but if we had less pets, I think the Cows would have done him in. We're fairly obsessed with their stubby legs and round bellies.
Perhaps it was good that Kepler's/Zoey's and Hubble's/Bella's mom and dad were looking for a new little kitten. They reached out to me, saying they would only adopt a kitten I raised, as they love their spoiled girls so very much. But they also worried how Zoey and Bella would take to new babies, so we arranged a home visit!
Zoey was wary, but fascinated. The little ones paid them no mind as they made themselves comfortable playing and snacking. Bella took off, but Zoey was never far. She hissed, but never raised a paw to them. I think they'll be friends quickly.
In the few days it took us to arrange the visit, their new parents had fallen in love with the babies via pictures and videos. They were looking for another girl, but their human daughter, freshly off to college, renamed Jersey "Chester" before we even arrived for the visit.
They considered several names for Holstein, but I'm still not 100% sure they'll stick with Luna. Hasn't mattered so far, she answers to anything we call her.
While they may not be committed to her name, they are committed to the adoption-declaring they'd take both, though they wondered if they would be able to give Chester up to the daughter. My heart soared- I know they'll be very spoiled and loved... but I also despaired, because their stubby little legs waddled into my heart... I love every foster, but these two are so special!!
Update 12/23/20
I passed out last time I was blogging- these babies wear me out! On the way home from their visit with their new family, we stopped to visit my parents and Beignet. Beignet loves visitors but he doesn't remember how to play with them nicely. He's a little rough on the munchkins!
Grandpa was intrigued by her name.
Beignet was a great host during meal time.
They had so much fun, we decided to take them back for another visit after their vaccination clinic. Though we ordered the food in advance, it wasn't ready so we hung out in the parking lot for awhile. The Cows can be comfortable anywhere- so they just ran around the dashboard, playing without a care in the world. They were happy to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house though. Beignet is still a little over enthusiastic, but he's learning to tone his behavior down so they won't run away from him so much.
My dad was quite amused with Jersey/Chester's instant connection with this feather toy.
Luna liked beef, but had a hard time eating little beef chunks and played with it before finally consuming it. She's continued this behavior at home now, sometimes choosing to play and hunt her food instead of just eating it. On the flipside, the trip to visit grandma and grandpa awoke Chester's appetite- and he now chows down everything in sight as if he's never eaten food before in his life.
These babies are super cuddlers. Woke up one morning, wondering where they were. Finally realized my belly was extra warm. I peeked under the covers and under the large plushy unicorn and found them tucked up into me and my heart just nearly melted.
They've also developed some... interesting cuddling habits. Luna is a face licker- I've encountered many kittens and adult cats who like this habit now and then. She's particularly fond of nostrils, but she's easily distracted. She is super playful and can go from naptime to play mode with little provacation.
Chester nurses on my earlobes. I don't know how it started but he's become rather obsessed over the past half week.
He will yell at me if he wants my ear and can't find it. If I tuck my ear into my shoulder or cover it, he will root around, crawling back and forth over my face until he can find an open lobe. He purrs loudly and often smacks while he's doing it, which I think is an adorable and comfortable sound. But it's also LOUD. Not just to me, with him purring and smacking in my ear... one morning he woke me up around 3am, nursing on my ear and it was so loud he woke up the husband, who usually sleeps like a log. In the dim morning light, I saw this huge hand arc over, patting around the pillows until he found Chester and pulled him off my ear. Chester yowled and crawled right back to me.
I'd discourage it more if he was indiscriminate about it, but he seems to only do it to me. When he was attempting to suckle this morning, but I had to get up and go workout, I tried putting him on my husband's ear. He rooted around, then realized he'd been duped, crawled across the husband's face in a beeline for me, YOWLING. I've tried offering him other things- blankets, my finger... but he's pretty attached to my ears, both of which have scabs on them from his suckling. He did, when I refused him access last night, settle on my PJ collar... suckling away under my chin until we both fell asleep.
Didn't have to wonder where they were this morning... woke up with them tucked directly under my chin and they did NOT want to move. I didn't really either, but I had promised some friends to meet them at the gym...
They always want to be with me and need frequent claw clippings... they play or climb up my leg to get to me.
Luna's other new habit is to swim in her water bowl. I rarely catch it on video because she gets distracted if I approach her. She's usually more enthusiastic!
Chester is so special to me. I love everything about him.
Update 12/31/20
I got this little shark stool for Beignet, my mom's cat who was a former fuzzy landshark. In the days before he became the king of his domain, he'd go into a massive feeding frenzy any time food was around. But Beignet showed no interest in his shark stool, so it came home with me. Chester/Jersey is particularly fond of it.
They didn't even mind being photobombed.
Luna and Chester were thrilled when my dad came over for Christmas. As most videos with my dad in it... this is NSFW.
This one, however, is perfectly safe-mostly because my dad wasn't really aware that I was recording and had probably already forgotten there was a kitten in his hoodie when I started.
Luna is attached to Chester, but Chester is friendly with everyone. Please notice his tiny blep in the last picture. I just love everything about that face.
Chester and Luna are used to traveling a lot-they've gone to visit people and pets several times. After one particularly long day of traveling, Luna stayed in her crate for around 5 hours to sleep, so Chester had to look elsewhere for his feline attention.
Luna has two modes. Hyperactive and cuddly. In her play mode, her 2.5lb body thunders around like the sounds of a herd. She loves interactive play, but will carry and bat around little toys all over the house or all over the bed. She outlasts Chester almost every time, but then is ready for extended cuddles. Luna never cares much to be picked up, but prefers to crawl onto you and making herself comfortable.
When he isn't attached to another body, Chester's favorite place is to be in the laundry basket. I couldn't figure out why, but my husband theorizes it is because it's soft and smells like me.
Both kittens are unabashed lap kittens. I have to sit by them during meal time to keep my house cats from eating their food. As soon as they're done eating, both of them immediately crawl into my lap. Since I'm on vacation, I've been able to discover they'll lay there for HOURS... long after I've lost all feeling in my bum. Lately, I've started putting a cat bed on the floor to sit on before I feed them.
Sometimes I try calling for reinforcements. You can hear the toy jingle as my husband tries to entice the kittens off my lap. But they really, really, like my lap.
I can't imagine fostering this litter when it isn't vacation time. I have "lost" a lot of time as a cat bed. My back hurts, but really, I have no complaints about this. I desperately needed the reprieve from the long, emotionally taxing school year that isn't even halfway done. I've never had such a hard year at work!
I suppose it's possible I've mentioned that I love Chester. Something about his prominent kitten waddle on his stubby little legs and big kitten belly just delights my heart. Husband insists we cannot keep him and reminds me that he already has a home waiting for him. But he also admits there is not much he can do if I just bring him home to be a permanent part of our family. If he didn't have a great home lined up, I would be hard pressed to give him up. I reminded him of M'Baku and Okoye- two other previous favorites that wandered off to be adopted by strangers who never reached out with updates. And Baby Spitzer in his baby Spitzer diaper who went to a lovely home... but stopped sending updates after the first few weeks. (Thank you to all the families who keep in touch... it's so hard to let the babies go!) Hubby patted me on the head, rather sarcastically and without much empathy, and told me "it'll be fine" and wisely walked away before I could really launch into full pout mode or convince him to let me keep Chester. So I take billions of pictures (he has particularly cute toe beans), mostly while I'm holding him with one hand and trying to focus my camera with my other...
Update 1/10/21
Since my last update, there have been so many changes. Zoey & Bella's parents realized their lives were too busy to give a new baby the attention she deserves, so Jersey and Holstein are adapting to their original names again for now. Poor Jersey progressed from some congestion to a full cold. Though he struggled to breathe, he never lost his affectionate side, his zest for life, or his appetite. He's very good at taking his medicines and will even come sprinting up to me for it- he basically waddles as fast as he can to me almost any time I call for him.
Even when they had a home, I was teasing my husband about keeping Jersey & Holstein. And I do love Holstein, but if he would even begin to consider just one kitten, I'd have to choose Jersey. I've never had a foster kitten so completely attached to me.
I've had some medical issues lately and one of the recommendations was heat pads or warm baths. Jersey was confused and concerned for me to be in the house and not available to him.
He was so pitiful, I made him a floating kitten boat so he could be with me.
But last week, we had a night apart. Another driver didn't see a stop sign and plowed into my parent's car when they were on their way to our house for a belated New Year celebration. My dad and Beignet were shaken, but physically ok. My mom was transported to the hospital and needed surgery the following day for 2 broken bones. My mom is my dad's main caregiver, as he has tons of medications and health needs, but his Alzheimer's means he needs a lot of reminders and monitoring to stay on track- so I slept on their couch and stayed until mom was released from the hospital. The husband brought the cows to visit me the next day. Holstein is cautious at my parents house because Beignet always gets a little over enthusiastic when they arrive. Jersey is much more accepting of Beignet's aggressive affection, but Holstein hides until Beignet calms down. I could tell Jersey was happy to see me and I kissed him all over, especially on his big fat kitten belly.
Once everyone was settled and my dad was giving the cows their third treat, my husband casually asks, "guess what happened this morning?"
We learned long ago that he needed to sit down for ALL toileting needs, so kittens don't leap into the stream. But Jersey waited until the few seconds between the husband standing up to flush, before he could close the lid, and kamikaze dived into the pee water to splash around in a panic.
"Did you give him a bath?!" I asked, aghast. He looked at me sheepishly and said, "I dried him really well". He later admitted that since the incident, he had only kissed Jersey on the head-not all over like he let me do upon our reunion.
While I gave Jersey a bath, I sent the husband off to find my parent's hair dryer. He returned a few minutes later to tell me "he looked everywhere he could think, but could not find a hair dryer"
He's lucky I have a good sense of humor and am not a complete germaphobe. We played and ate and Beignet finally calmed down enough to nap and groom the kittens instead of wrestling them into submission. Beignet shares his kitten bed and all his toys so nicely!
We were all thrilled when mom was released from the hospital and able to come home. Jersey promptly curled up behind her on the couch and snuggled into her butt.
These kittens are so used to traveling. One of my friend's knew I'd had my eye on this cat backpack. When her daughter moved out and needed to downsize her belongings, they gifted this to me, as their cats HATED it. Jersey and Holstein (yes, she's in there too... but she is just so hard to catch in a good photo!! If you look carefully, you can see her) have accompanied me to volunteer at curbside sign-ups, on a walk to the boba shop, and on a long walk with the dogs this morning.
While hanging out with me at Petsmart this weekend, we met a lovely girl and her mom who fell in love with Holstein. They were at Petsmart to look at the kittens we had available, but now they've got their eyes on my little girl. I really love when future families read about the kittens and know their personalities more in depth than can be done through the little bio we get to post on Facebook- and since they reached out to me already through this blog- I'm pretty thrilled at the prospect of finding a great new home for Holstein with a family that may pass on updates as she grows.
I have also reached out to my uncle, who contacted me before the holidays seeking a kitten for my aunty. But now that she knows the plan, she is really hoping for a maine coon- and she is wary about anyone in the family getting on a plane during the pandemic (they live across the country) so I don't think these babies will get to stay in my family.
My sweet munchkins are such loving, cuddly babies. They've had free reign over the house since I didn't think they'd really end up at Petsmart in kennels for adoption-so I wasn't too worried about crate training them, so they've gotten into the habit of sleeping on my face, or on me somewhere. I would be more delighted to wake up like this every morning if they'd wait until it was time to wake up, but they often wind down from play mode and come to purr loudly in my ears, nursing or licking any part of my face they can find until they finally fall asleep, any time between 1-3am.
As a result, I passed out today after doing all the morning errands. Husband caught a few more pics of us all curled up for a cat nap.
When I woke up, I managed to get a few decent shots of Holstein!! Finally pictures that show her cute markings instead of looking like a black blob with eyes. Right now, she's laying in the open kitten backpack... black cat in a black bag... she's back in blob mode or I'd try to get more pics to balance out the very Jersey dominating photoshoot. Jersey spends so much time demanding my attention, I wonder if Holstein ever feels left out. But she is so responsive and she actually purrs more easily than her brother.... often purring for no reason and purring nearly any time you touch her when she's in a non-playful mode. Of course, Holstein lives to play!! She discovered a poof ball recently and is so delighted to carry it around, drop it, bat it away, then pounce after it.
Both kittens have become big climbers in the past 2 days. Before, they'd mostly climb up to get into my lap while I was working on my computer. But this entire weekend, they've taken to trying to climb up while I'm standing up or walking around the house, particularly in the kitchen. Earlier today, I don't remember what I had in my hands, but we were putting away groceries when I suddenly had two small attachments hanging off my sweatshirt. Good thing they're both really good about getting their kitten claws clipped!!
Update 1/31/21
Jersey continued to be show us how adorable he could be. He loves everyone he meets, 2 or 4 legged.
No kittens were in any danger of being cooked in the making of this video.
But though generous with his love with visitors, Jersey showed a definite attachment to me. Emotionally and physically, Jersey spent as much time connected to me as he possibly could. Life has been overwhelming on multiple fronts lately, and all my furbabies have brought me comfort... but Jersey's insistent purrs and snuggles were an extra solace. The husband had to agree that no pet had ever shown such an intense connection with a single person as Jersey showed to me.
Jersey was my partner in a family card game!
And he's pitiful if I'm giving my attention to other furbabies.
Still, if we had not had the added sorrow of losing Chiyo Chan, he may not have relented in my repeated wheedling, pleading, begging, and negotiations to keep Jersey. The timing lent itself to my cause, with his scheduled surgery for 2/3 and his scheduled adoption day of 2/13. After we worked out a reasonable agreement, the husband has promised me Jersey for Valentine's day. The rescue agreed as well, and though I have a small bit of guilt, knowing that we've had more families looking to adopt than adoptable kittens lately, I can't help but be very happy. A new kitten season will start soon and there seems to be no shortage of newborn kittens, despite community efforts to trap-neuter/spay and to educate the public on the importance of fixing their pets... fostering is hard, demanding work- but getting first pick at kittens is one of the many rewards!!
When we told him, Jersey showed his appreciate to dad. He adjusted, yet again, to a new name. WICKET!! Short and adorable, it seems to be the perfect name for this little fella.
Meanwhile, Holstein has also become more snuggly and vocal. She used to climb up with/after her brother, but now she's often first to come settle on me after a play session. Nearly every morning, she'll follow me into the bathroom, waiting patiently as I do my business, then cheer me on when I am finish and it's time for me to get her breakfast ready.
She's learning to nurse from her brother. Though less insistent, she has a more powerful suck when she does latch on. She will take an ear, but prefers your lip!! But her favorite spot is her brother's ear/neck.
One of their favorite activities is doing a nursing chain during naps/bedtime.
Holstein is still extremely playful. The blue fuzzball is still her favorite toy, but she'll play with most anything.
My youngest (until Wicket is officially mine) Pigwidgeon has also taken an intense liking to Holstein in the past week. Holstein seems to love getting groomed by Mama Pig.
Yesterday, we got a new toy... this yellow banana. It was an instant hit!
Holstein will be the perfect kitten in nearly any loving home. She's a great combination of playful and snuggler.
Update 2/13/21
Holstein is going to be so difficult to drop off, as she's been my little shadow the last few weeks whenever I am home. Brother Wicket was sick and slept on his own for a few days and Holstein took advantage and claimed my lap whenever I was sitting, whether at my computer or in the bathroom. I did several computer organizational projects for the rescue, the regular monthly bills, and added a second foster blog to maintain with Tango and Mango (and I'm not fast at this) so she had lots of time to trap me in my chair while I worked.
When Holstein recovered, she was happy to share the lap with him, but would not be removed. It's hard to get any work done when they curl up together and look so adorable. Here are 4 pictures, but I took around a million... half a million on these little entwined paws alone.
Don't mind Wicket's funny face and mouth breathing... he was feeling better but still recovering from his URI.
I feel guilty keeping her brother while letting her take her chances in a future home, but vowed to give her the best chance I could. I volunteer a lot during adoption events at Petsmart and took her with me last week in her little cat bubble with a completely shameless plug for her upcoming adoption, lol.
Sure, I know this is the wrong season, but I couldn't resist putting her in the little after Christmas clearance costume. She's a dear, but a terrible reindeer.
I'll be leaving very soon to take Holstein in and my heart is already breaking. But I think she'll easily find a lovely family- she's so used to being handled and running errands with me. Good Luck Holstein!!
Update 3/21/21
Tragically, Holstein's story does not yet have a happy ending. She found her forever family but her forever was woefully short. At first I was sad I never heard from them, but then got a request from the rescue to reach out to them with any medical history, as she had fallen quite ill and the vets were stymied. I shared what I had- but after her initial infection she had when she first arrived, she was actually heartier than little Wicket. Shortly after, the rescue told me she had passed from FIP. With my long history of cat companionship, I've had 2 pass from FIP. It's very expensive, both financially and emotionally. No warning, very little chance of treatment, and usually fatal within weeks or months of symptoms starting. It's absolutely devastating.
My heart aches for little Holstein, but I know she was loved right to the end. Her family did everything they could for her. In fact, they did save her life by adopting her- and giving her that love and care. Without them, Holstein may have spent her last days alone in a kennel at Petsmart, waiting for a family that would never come. The rescue will give the family priority on a new kitten, and I hope they'll find the joy and comfort they deserve.
Though FIP can strike any cat at any time, we do try to keep an eye on the siblings- which is why the rescue notified me of Holstein's fate. Wicket seems to have fully recovered from his URI and is quite the handful. He gets into EVERYTHING.
Wicket continues to nurse on my ears at every possible moment when he is not zooming around the house in spaz mode. Though he is rarely interested in the husband's ears and sniffs without interest at most other lobes... one of my close friends was CHOSEN last night. He was 100% enabled by our other friend, moving hair out of the way and removing the weird metal thing from the ear... and Wicket settled in happily.
One night, I came in and found him napping in one of the pet beds and decided, for funsies, I should nurse on HIS ear. He was completely unfazed. A trainer friend asked me what he would do if I blinked slowly back at him. I've been trying this for a week with no results. He's either hyper and won't look at me long enough for me to blink-or he beelines for my ear and can't see my eyes. The few times he has been relaxing but not on my ear... by the time I open my eyes, he's closed his and curled back up to continue his nap.
We discovered he sticks his tongue out every time he meows. It's adorable.
And he goes completely limp when he's relaxed.
He engages in his favorite habit daily... for hours.
Mom is his comfort and his playground.
But he loves everyone! And everyone loves him, too!
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