5/19/05

IN REALITY THE URBAN RAT IS A DIABOLICALLY CLEVER RODENT, I would totally buy it and wear it with pride. Hell, if someone wants to send me a rat drawing, I’ll make the shirt myself at CafePress. On a side note, “Diabolically Clever Rodent” would be a great name for a domain, band, OR a novel.

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There’s a lot of really dorky, annoying slang in this world, but after watching The Shield last night, I can report that hearing “The PoPo” over and over and FUCKING OVER AGAIN makes me want to jam a pencil into my eardrums so I never have to hear it again. It’s fucking idiotic. “The PoPo”, my ass.
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It’s been a busy, busy day for me. I didn’t want to say anything until it was a done deal, but Fred and I are now foster parents, at least for a little while. Last night we cleared out the guest bedroom and set it up for our new foster children. Today I went and got supplies, and now the children are comfortably installed in the guest bedroom. You can’t really tell from this picture, but there are four of them. The fifth. That’s right, five kittens in all. The others were sleeping, but this one was awake and let me hold him – her? – for a little while. Strictly speaking, I guess you could say we’re not actually foster parents, since the mom is still around.
The mom’s story is that she lived at a junkyard, but when she came up pregnant, the owners of the junkyard didn’t want her anymore. Fuckers. So they gave her to a vet clinic way out in the country, and one of the employees of the vet clinic has been taking care of them. They are awfully damn adorable, and I have a feeling they’re only going to get cuter. I know I didn’t get any really good pictures of them, but we’ve only been home for about half an hour, and I wanted them – the mother, at least – to get comfortable in her new home before I snap ten thousand pictures and harass them. The mother is very very VERY protective of her kittens when it comes to other animals. She was perfectly happy to have me petting the kittens and holding the one, but before that, when we walked into the house, she saw Mister Boogers and went into protective-mommy mode, hissing and growling and spitting at him. I’ve mentioned before that we’ve never seen Mister Boogers knead or hiss. Well, today? He hissed. And he looked just as dorky as I expected he would. I’m not going to be required to do much but scoop litter boxes and make sure they have plenty of food and water. The director of the shelter said that oftentimes kittens who are with their mothers will go directly from mother’s milk to hard food, but she gave me canned kitten food, just in case. I have to keep an eye on their eyes to make sure they don’t get goopy (and if they do, I have drops). I have to give them deworming medicine once a week, keep an eye on the litter box for bloody poop, and at six weeks I start giving them vaccines. Other than that, the mother will take care of making sure they have enough food, and know how to use the litter box. The mother isn’t terribly friendly, but she did let me pet her. She’s very sweet. There are four boy kittens and one girl kitten. The woman who’d been taking care of them said she thought the girl was going to be a real spitfire. Oh, and I have to check with the director of the shelter to be sure I heard her right, but I do believe I get to name them. I may need y’all’s help with that! Okay, I’m going to go check on them and make sure they’re settled in okay. You KNOW there’ll be more tomorrow! See you then.
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“Kittens? Bleh!” ]]>

43 thoughts on “5/19/05”

  2. Oh, my shit! They are so cute. I want you to put them on the Giveaway Page and send me one immediately.

  3. they are simply adorable…Even though i am scared of kitties, i love them…

  5. Robyn,
    You are the most generous person I’ve ever “seen.” Honestly. To take in a mommy and her babies is the sweetest thing EVER! And they are sooooo cute! I’m sure you’ll be an awesome foster parent.
    Good luck with the little rascals. Heh! 🙂

  6. Oh yay! They are incredibly adorable. And Momma Cat looks so much like one of my cats it’s uncanny.

  7. This can only end in tears. Or you having a total of nine cats, in which case you will be firmly in crazy cat lady territory.
    I keep saying that I want to be a puppy raiser for the guide dogs or other assistance dog organizations, but Jamie thinks that the handback time would lead to me either heading for the border with the dog, never to be seen again or suicidal depression.

  8. OH NO. little bleary eyed kittens. my heart hurts for how much i NEED a little bleary eyed kitten in my house. or maybe four kittens. the cuteness of a kitten kills me. please let there be a ton of photos.

  9. Oh, I second that!
    Please, Robyn, baby kitten pix Every Single Day, Please! They are just too adorable for words!

  10. Uh-oh! You KNOW you are not going to want to let those gorgeous kitties go! How many do we think Robyn and Fred will actually end up adopting?!?!?! They are too cute for words!

  11. Way to go fostering those kittens and their momma! I sure wish everyone would spay and neuter their pets so that there would be less homeless animals in our communities.
    A friend of mine is fostering 6 kittens right now. At night, the kittens sleep in the bathroom and all six of them pile together in a sink (even though they have a cozy bed available). SO CUTE!

  12. *ahem* I have 9 cats. Two of them are mommy cats (ferals) and between them, we have 4 of the kittens. They are so dang cute when they are that age…and they are terrors. 🙂 Have fun, Robyn, and trust me, it will be VERY difficult to give them up! We adopted out 3 of the kittens, and it nearly broke my heart.

  13. I volunteer with a dog rescue and we were foster parents to homeless dogs for a few months…but we kept adopting them so we had to stop. We now have four dogs! Big ones too, all of them are between 50 and 100 lbs.
    Thank you for opening your home to homeless animals!
    Oh, and I think you should name one of the kittens “Paisley”. If I had a cat I would totally name it that, but since I have all of those dogs I won’t get the opportunity.
    Good luck to you guys!

  14. Oh how wonderful! Kittens kittens kittens. Oh boy! I commend you and Fred, too, for taking in the mom and kittens. I don’t know how foster people keep from becoming animal hoarders! No way could I stop myself from becoming *too* attached.

  16. PONGO!!! the kitty with the brown face that is. it looks like a pongo. lol I LOOOVVVEEE kittens!! Ima have to send you a picture of my kitty when she was that lil, makes my heart melt still (two years later).

  17. How the heck do you manage to sex them when they’re so little?! We were told it’s very difficult to tell until they’re nine weeks old or so, when fluffy little balls begin to show. So I’ve spent two weeks squinting at internet diagrams of kitty genitalia, and then inspecting my poor kitten’s rear end to her very vocal displeasure, and I’m STILL not entirely convinced she’s a little girl.
    First visit to the vet tomorrow, thank goodness!

  18. OH!!! THE KITTENS!!!! My husband is a dork and said no more animals and when the cats go, we can’t replace them. 🙁 So, if you need a name, I’ve got a wonderful girl name for you 🙂 Madeline Janine Mango Bon-Bon. (FTR, my cats are Claude Augustus Lennon the Third -shortened to Gus or Gus Gus- and Brianna Jamie) I would love to use the name for one of my own, but I may have to wait until the hubster goes before I can “replace” him with a kitten (or puppy LOL).
    Good luck bein’ Mama!!!

  19. We’re fostering kittens now, too. It’s that time of the year, I guess. Last month we had three five-week-old kittens, and now we have a feral mom and her four babies. Kittens are The Cuteness. It’s hard to let them go when the time comes! We’re very careful not to refer to them as “our” kittens.

  21. Thank you on behalf of feral mamma cats for fostering the “family.” I have done that myself, and as proof…I have seven cats, only two males in the bunch! Every time I “save” a mamma or female cat, have her spayed, I think I am cutting down on the population of “unwanted” cats in the mean world out there.
    I am looking forward to the new pictures of all those adorable kittens!!!

  22. Yeaaaaaaaaaa Kitties!!!!
    Can’t wait for the pics. Are you gonna let them interact with the rest of the fur-family?

  23. The kittens are adorable! I’d love to do the kitty foster-parenting thing, but our cat is FeLV positive, so we have to keep other cats away. Daily pictures, pleeeeeze.
    I’m betting that you keep at least one. Mr. Boogers needs a little playmate.

  24. You must keep the one you’re holding. Something about that baby reminds of Tubby.

  26. How can you foster them and NOT keep them? They are so dang cute! And when they mew? Cuteness intensified! How are you going to keep them separated from your own brood? What will Miz Poo think? Oh the fun!

  28. **sob** YOU ARE SO LUCKY!!!! I want some fuzzy fluffy kitten in my house, too! Oh, keep the girl kitten! I’ve been reading your journal since 2002 and have always wondered what your house would be like with more than just ONE girl cat, especially if this one may likely end up being a spitfire!!! Miz Poo just might meet her (female) match!

  29. Oooh! I’ve wanted to foster cats for awhile now (waiting until I have my own place, etc) so I’m looking forward to hearing about how the fostering goes. They’re soo cute.

  30. I’ll answer all questions in tomorrow, entry, I promise.
    Also, anyone who might be seriously interested in adopting should know that it costs at least $75 to adopt (if the fee hasn’t gone up since we adopted Mister Boogers), and the cats will be neutered/ spayed when they hit 2 lbs, which can be anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks of age. We, of course, would give ’em to you for free, but they don’t actually belong to us, they belong to the shelter, and the shelter won’t adopt them out before they’re fixed. Also, they’ll be microchipped!

  31. They are SO cute! We have four kittens right now, they are 3 1/2 weeks old, that look a lot like yours! And FUN FUN FUN! I’m loving this part of *parenthood*, mostly for the NON midnight feedings and in about a month, they’ll be moving on to good homes 😀
    I have pics of ours from day one on my blog, but you might have to search the April archives to find them all. Our kitties were born April 24th (and how AWESOME that our mama kitty is so young she wanted me RIGHT THERE the whole delivery time 😀 )

  32. Ahhhh kittens!
    My cat just gave birth last night..well technically early this morning. We now have 6 new babies in the house. 🙂
    I looove the kitties!

  33. Could there possibly be anything in the entire world more precious than a new kitten? Thanks for sharing.

  34. I’m NOW just getting to your journal. I’m always good about checking at lunch, but no journal. What a beautiful idea. Your home during the day and you’ll have tons of fun playing with the kitties. I do believe that The Boog needs a young buddy! Do I recall you mentioning that you were bored recently. Not any more!

  35. OMG at the kitty faces!! Nothin’ cuter than a kitty face, unless it is a puppy face, ah hell who am I kiddin’? I am a sucker for any baby, human or animal.
    Just when I think you and Fred are the greatest you just get greater. I know it will be so hard for you to let go (or maybe not if people keep on with the 9 cat crazy lady stuff..LOL! )

  36. I love your kittens! So precious. Ok, please name three of them, Fred, Robyn and Spud. One has to be Spud. I can’t think of any other names though…

  38. Robyn, I showed my husband the photos of the cute cute kittens and he said the photo of the kitten you are holding looks like Jimmy Durante. He thinks you should name it Jimmy. So cute!

  40. Oh my God! The mostly white one with the dot on its nose is just too cute!!! Maybe all your and Fred’s journal readers can talk him into keeping just one. Just one? Pretty please?

  41. ACK! Kittens!! So fricken cute… o.O
    Haha. Fostering kittens seems to be the perfect job for you guys! : )
    Hey, I remembered you posting about Napoleon Dynamite a while bag (tater tots – the randomness) and wondered if you had seen this link (http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/napoleon).
    You can learn to do the dance number!!

  42. Well, I have considered that any new animals in our house will have to come in pairs, and their names will have to be Critter and Varmint. I offer those to you.

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