SelectKitten Update

When we last left off in mid-June, Bianca and Margot were almost 10 weeks old and fending off a potentially life-threatening virus.  Quick update: everyone did well, which includes these two plus their siblings being fostered elsewhere and their still-wild brother living with Mom in the yard.

It was a long, stressful period for me, though. Nothing was certain. It was a day-by-day, hour-by-hour project until they were in the clear. That meant that I got to spend much of June and early July sitting on a bathroom floor in quarantine with them.  Lise was assigned to keep things as normal as possible for our existing cat in the rest of the house.

I did lots of special cleaning to keep things safe. It was like the start of COVID… washing everything, and not being sure if the virus was lurking about.

As a result, Bianca, Margot and I did more bonding than we might have otherwise done. At various times I was a big brother cat, a toy, a climbing tree, or a monster/god, and the hand that feeds me (shall we bite it?).  

Everyday they tried new things. New styles of attack or defense. New ways to jump, climb, or roll.  How to run and slide into a pile of papers, how to carry things around in our mouths, and how to figure out what something new might be by biting or poking at it.

I tried to give them new toys or challenges every day.  Here’s a cardboard tube!  Here’s a weeble – it’ll wobble but it wont fall down!  Here’s a wiffle ball (and a radio playing a Sox game).

…

Once we got the virus all-clear in July, we started letting them out to explore the rest of the house. “Letting them” might be sound a bit more planned than it was. In practice, I kept putting up barricades and they kept knocking them down. The walls had been breached! The perimeter was no longer secure. I could only hold up a line of resistance for so long. Without multiple reinforcements, the battle was lost. The kittens had stormed the rest of first floor.

Now that the kittens are liberated, Lise and Mickey share the supervision duties and I’m not stuck in a tiny room anymore.

Both Bianca and Margot have had another round of booster shots and are schedule to be spayed next week.

I found out that my little  ladies are famous, too. I was buying cat food at Hannaford when someone asked if this was for the wild kitties that they had read about here on iBrattleboro.

Now it is decision time. We can have one for free, but the second will cost $300 to cover the cost of shots, spaying, chipping, building that new addition on the WCHS, etc.

For me, the decision is between both or none. Pick one? I can’t pick one.  They are sisters. I’m adopting the pair.  They have great patterns and personalities and I’ve been with them since before they were born.  It’s a rare experience to have a stray show up and present this sort of situation. We’re in it together.

It’s money I hadn’t really planned on spending, though. And I’ve already committed to feeding mom while she’s outside if she wants anything.

If you happen to be a wealthy animal-lover who’d like to assist in the cost of adoption, food, litter, etc. for this pair and their mom and sibling outside, you can send a donation to Kittens/c/o C.Grotke, PO 6005, Brattleboro, VT 05302. Just mention the kittens and it will be spent on them.

As I write this Bianca and Margot have joined me in the office. They are exploring. A bit of sniffing where we stack wood. Playing with cables23p`1o   (and helping with typing!)Z AŻ.

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I also have a question – these little gals have razor sharp claws and needle-like teeth and spend much of the day biting and attacking one another.  How do they keep their skin so, uh, puncture-free?