seventhe | Entries tagged with fff: feline foster family

I’m sure approximately zero (0) of you are aware of this, but every year since like 2012 or 2013 i come up with a tag at the beginning of the year that i hope fits the year’s theme. (It doesn’t always work, so occasionally i replace the tag, or come up with multiples.) for 2017 i have ended up with 2 tags that really capture most of the year: “fight me” and “no”.

Unfortunately in my heart 2017 has ended up being a year of pain. Physically; emotionally; spiritually; professionally; financially; nationally; politically; chronically. In every area of my life I’ve ended up hurting for most of this year. The one exception has been romantically, and I’ll start out what will end up being a depressing entry telling you all that Mike and I are engaged; we will be married on 14 April 2018, and then there will be a big reception party some time at the end of May (Memorial Day wknd plus or minus a week). Mike has been my bedrock for so much of this year, and I’m honestly not sure i would have come out of this year as intact as i have if I hadn’t had him. I call him my grounding rod, my ground wire; he keeps me balanced.

I will try to intersperse good and bad, but here’s a memorial to the year that has hurt me in more ways than I’ve ever known.

( “2017 )

Honestly, i really lost myself and my place this year. There were huge gaps and chasms I spent a lot of time and energy trying to fill whatever way I could. I spent a lot of time being tired and overwhelmed, and feeling exhausted and hopeless. With everything on top of itself, it really took until about October before I started finding handholds and climbing out of this goddamn pit.

The thing I do need to say here is that my friends and family - and family friends; you know which ones you are - have also really stepped up to help me through the low times this year, and I can’t help but love you more for it and look forward to having continued fun positive memories in the years to come. <3

Part of moving forward is archiving these things here; i have to get this out and over until I can start to look at 2018 and what I want to do and change and how to go forward.

So, I get into bed and, as always, pull the sheet and blanket up to my chin with the comforter resting around my hips. This is because I am a very warm sleeper and if I end up under that comforter there is a 50/50 chance I will spontaneously combust, burning myself into ashes, and coming back as a naked, sweaty, and somewhat confused baby phoenix. (have you ever removed your clothes during your sleep? i have.)

Potato jumps up, wanting to be the first to claim a sleeping spot On Or Near Mom. He drapes himself over my legs in a few different ways, oozing like a furry snake, and then decides he wants to come and fling himself across my neck. He's purring like a fiend at this point, but the neck isn't good enough.

He walks himself down my torso, shoves his face under the comforter, and proceeds to scoot under the thick blanket and curl up, somewhat in my lap, in a little cave under the bedspread. My cat sleeps under the covers.

We continue to grow and mature :3 At 5-6 weeks, the kittens are less clumsy (please note I did not say "no longer clumsy" because, well, kittens) and very curious. This weekend we had our first outing, to my screened-in porch. it went reasonably well; the kittens were a little intimidated by things like SUN and NATURE!!!! but recovered quickly and had a good exploration. I need to start showing them to Porter and Rydia, so that they understand that cats other than themselves exist, to help them be potentials for a multi-cat home.

Mama also had some outings: she got to explore the 2nd floor, and went out on the porch, and exchanged some tentative interactions with Porter (they ate treats within 2 feet of each other with no signs of distress). The problem is, now she wants to go out the door, a lot. I can understand hating being trapped in one room with your 4 hyperactive little shits, but Mama's gotta bear it for now.

Fostering takes time. On a work day, I have 3-4 visits: once in the morning before I leave (food, water); once right after I get home (food, water, litterboxes); once mid-evening (playtime); and once before I go to bed (whatever needs doing). Ideally these visits should be at least 15 min, and the more time you can spend with your fosters, the better they'll do...

I'm in a new job (MORE ON THAT LATER, YO) with the 9/80 option, which I'm going to try initially. This makes my target work hours 7:30-8:00 -- 17:00-17:30 for most days. This means normally I need to be up and moving by 6:30 at the latest, and that includes no time for kits; it also means I won't be home until like 18:30-19:00 usually, as I have to hit the grocery, run errands, work out, etc after work. I have to get my ass in bed earlier to hit that earlier hour, like 23:00 latest. This gives me a little over 4 hr every night to relax, eat dinner, care for ALL cats (mine and the temps), do chores, and maybe do a hobby thing. I am not sure I like this schedule; however every other Friday off sounds nice.

My sleep goals are 23:00-06:00 for now. This means I need to be in bed ABOUT 22:30 because I take a ton of time to fall asleep. Even typing about sleep is gross right now. I am tired

I don't know what else to say, I'll try to post some more recent photos because these stupid assholes are 2cute

I haven't gotten to post updates this week because I've been sick, plus some absolutely unexpected shit went down at work, but I have nothing but good news about the little family.

Rosa responded well to my cues and figured out how to use the litter box within 48 hr. It's still a bit funny watching her go as she chose one of the kitten sized boxes as "hers", so when she tries to bury it, its with newspaper and blankets as well as litter. We haven't quite learnt communication yet - I feel like she wants something she's warbling for, but maybe it's just attention and pets - and she definitely gets a look of solid relief when I have all 4 kids romping on me, like oh ok you've got this imma nap.

The kittens are all eating on their own, though they're also still nursing. They think that Big Mom is Best Toy, who comes with variations like Chew Pants, Attack Toes, and Climb Up Back. They also doze off on me occasionally in those 5-10 min kitten power naps.

They're all curious about the door. I need a plan of attack.

This is the Mama, known as Queen Rosa (because queen is the term for a mama cat with a litter of kittens). She's made huge strides even in the two days she has been in my house, although not in pooping.

This is Noctis. He likes to zoom, and chew on my fingers.

This is Prompto, the only lady. She likes to romp and climb on me.

This is Iggy Alton Brown. He likes to romp, but also likes his solitude. He tries to climb my sleeves.

This is Potato. He likes to sit on me, and refuses to eat because he likes nursing the best. He is pretty clumsy.

This is a lap party: see from top down Prompto, Iggy, Noctis, and Potato.

So today has hit some small pros and our first major con, so i'll get that out of the way first: even though the kids are taking splendidly to the litterbox, Mama Rosa for absolute definite sure is not litter-trained. She has been very polite about it, albeit rather weird -- most cats don't want their business near their food, while Mama has, uh, used whatever I have under the food both times -- so while i get to manage these terrible little twits, i also get to litter-train mom. woo. done it before, yeah, but was really hoping mum would take a hint from kids. especially as i'm changing their litter over to a non-clumping natural litter, because babies lick tons of it off their feet when learning how to poo and i'd rather not have one of my darlings need an emergency run from blockage. tiiiiiime to line that side of the room with newspaper so i can use it to t r a i n.

some good moments from the day: apparently all 4 kids have decided that Big Mom is the greatest thing in the world to climb on and romp on. I'm covered in tiny little claw scratches - today, we introduced the concept of claw-clipping - but i CAN say that Potato sat on my shoulders for a good deal of the morning. I open the door and get flooded by tiny bodies fighting over who reins the magical Land of Lap. i finally got mama enough food that she isn't scarfing down everything she gets (this will, unfortunately, be a fact of life days i'm near work, until i can convince her that dry food is in fact tasty and will be okay to nom). Mama comes out to greet me and purrs when i pet her.

i am desperately in love with all 5 of them, and i already know that this separation is going to be really, really hard. i've fallen for two of them already, hard, but today the other two really worked on my heart, and of course a not-so-secret part of me is hoping Mama shapes up to be a merge-able friend to my existing family -- but as always i keep telling myself that fostering is to make other families happy and that taking a foster needs to remain a last-resort option in my back pocket for true emergency situations. my cousin today asked about them on facebook and i think my heart broke thinking of not being able to keep them.

i had low-key anxiety all day; i woke up exhausted, 3 hours of sleep according to my Fitbit, had a dr appt this morning, just a "check up" which ended up being generally useless AFTER being late because the power was out in the entire area, so i was later than expected to work and never pulled myself out of the hole; the latter half of my day was full of anxiety that someone would shock themselves or swallow too much litter or make it out the door of god knows what, and i couldn't get home fast enough ALTHOUGH i HAD to stop for more supplies to keep this crowd going.

also not helping the fact is that i'm still crying about Marzy - around every 2-3 days, something will strike me, and i am suddenly Not Okay again in tears on the floor. (i've built a tiny - shrine makes me sound crazy; it's a little memorial area, with the three cards from his vets (that made me cry again) and his ashes and the bit of fur they saved for me and some flowers and an offering bowl of water, of course, with a hairband in it, because he was an asshole.) these cats are in no way a replacement for him, but it's like a double-whammy-gone-bad: i feel like i'm desperately trying to plug something in the hole, except it's more obvious now that nothing is ever going to fill that hole and all i can do is wait for time to smooth out the jagged edges.

i'm starting to realize that this isn't all about the loss of a piece of my heart, and that it's more about the desperate cry for help of someone who's at the end of her rope and has been for a while and is compiling issues on issues because she has the emotional range of a tree stump

ANYWAY, let me see if i can upload some photos, and you all can meet the kittens, enough with this sobbing ass bullshit

So with the help of

drakonlily and

crankyoldman and some other friends, we have collectively rescued a mama cat and five babies from the wilds of a porch in Columbus. One of the babies was adopted out; the other 4 came to live with me until they are old enough to leave mama.

Mama is 1-2 years and incredibly smol. The 4 babies are around 3-4 weeks old. I know it's gonna go quickly, so I'm gonna keep a record here of what we do each day that's cute and noteworthy. I've been up there maybe 6-7 times today, making sure mama has enough food, making sure everyone is adjusting. Here are today's benchmarks:

- all the kids run to greet me when I come in the room, with tiny squeaks
- I had four amazed and confused kittens breathlessly watching me scoop their poops
- mama realized she could get away from the kittens by jumping on the bed; she then proceeded to take a half-hour breather-nap while I babysat
- for the first time since they've been here, mama lay down by me and let them nurse. I've never been able to actually watch a mama and litter nursing from that close and for that long before. The purring as the kittens feed reaches incredible volumes, and mom alternated between dozing and giving me this worn-upon look that's the cat equivalent of rolling eyes. I was just surprised and impressed that in the short time she's been here she came to trust me enough to feed the kids less than a foot from me. <333333

Tomorrow we start clipping kitty claws, and introduce some new toys. As for tonight, I'm curled up on the couch (where I've been sleeping bc my bed is covered in stuff, but that's another story) with my cats on and near me, and we're off to bed. They aren't mad yet, just a bit needy and kind of resigned.

Obviously pics will be coming -- it's hard to get great shots in that room, but I'll manage. :3

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Page Summary

2017: a year of pain
i realize i may have been slacking on kitten stories
Kitten update: 5-6 weeks
Kitten update, day... 6?
FAMILY PORTRAITS ARE GO
foster family: day 2
Foster Family, Day 1

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Entries tagged with fff: feline foster family

2017: a year of pain

i realize i may have been slacking on kitten stories

Kitten update: 5-6 weeks

Kitten update, day... 6?

FAMILY PORTRAITS ARE GO

foster family: day 2

Foster Family, Day 1