Sad News

I have both recent and belated sad news to report tonight.

The belated news first--I've put this off far too long already. Last year in the middle of my relocation to Las Vegas, we found out little Chewie (formerly known as Dwayne on this site) had FIV, the feline equivalent of AIDS. My sister returned him to the shelter in the hope he might be placed in another home (to avoid spreading the disease to their other cat). Unfortunately, he was very sick by that time. The shelter took good care of him, but he never recovered enough to be adopted, and ultimately, the decision was made to end his suffering. Chewie was one of my first two fosters. I still remember those wide eyes, and the way he was absolutely fearless around children of all ages, despite his own tiny size. It seemed so unfair that he was born with a disease that prevented him from having the chance for a long healthy life.

Now, a little over a year later, my sister once again has to comfort my niece and nephews over the loss of a pet. Their Egyptian Mau, Shadow, escaped their home over the weekend while they were away on vacation. He was injured and passed away in a neighbor's yard before he was found. Shadow was an awesome cat. He was friendly with every single person or animal he met. He even managed to make peace with my grumpy cat, Pablo, while he was boarding at their house during my move last year. Their home won't be the same without him.

Visitors

Starting tomorrow, Snowball, Socks, and Leo will get their first taste of what it's like to live as part of a human family. My sister, her husband, and their three kids are coming to visit. While the kittens have had some exposure to other people through visits from neighbors, by far the majority of their human contact since they came here has been with me. They are still a little shy with other people at first, so this will definitely be good for them to get used to having others around.

The kittens have crossed several milestones in the far too many days since my last update. First, they finally broke the litterbox rule--one of them (I suspect Leo) decided to try out one of the towels for a poop instead of going in the box. He was really polite about it, though (or sneaky?)--he folded the towel over to cover up the mess so it was nice and dried on there by the time I found it. Gross, Leo!

They got their second set of shots on October 4. They were still too small to do their surgeries the same week, so they got to stay here a little longer than expected. Snowball and Leo have since gained to over three pounds. Leo has actually passed Snowball, and is now the largest of the three. Hard to imagine, given how rail thin he was when I first brought them home! Socks remains the smallest. She's still under three pounds as of her last weighing.

Around the first of the month, Snowball went through a phase where she didn't want to be held for more than a second or two. It seemed to be an attention span thing--she preferred to play. Now, however, she's back to being the cuddliest one of the bunch. Leo is also very sociable. He still "play bites" occasionally, but he's much more gentle about it now. Socks is now where Snowball was a couple of weeks ago. She prefers playing to cuddling, and has started running away when I try to pick her up. Hopefully, she'll grow out of that in a few days like Snowball did.

The kittens are scheduled to have their spay/neuter surgery on Monday. They will then return to my house for a few days of recovery before going back to the shelter for adoption, most likely on Friday. Rest up, kittens! You have a busy week ahead.