Cats fill my life with love, affection, and entertainment, and I truly couldn't be happy without at least one of them in my home.  This is an old story now, and if you're looking for a kitten, I'm sure you'll find a sweet kitty who needs a good home.  My kittens are all grown up!

     In January 2003 when the temperature dropped to a brutal 9 degrees in Atlanta, I gave shelter and food in my carport to two cats who had been wandering the neighborhood for quite awhile. When I realized the female cat was pregnant, I decided to give her a safe place to have her kittens.   After having her checked out by my vet, "Grace" got accustomed to safe shelter, good food and pampering, and her kittens were born on April 3rd. I was there for the birth, and it was quite a memorable event! 

     All of the kittens found permanent homes in June 2003, but I hate to take their little pictures down! Sammie and Casey went to one home with a little girl (and her mom) who loved them.  Jesse went to another home.  Alex was all set to go to his new home, but became quite ill with a virus, and had to be on antibiotics for 10 days.  His new owner bailed, and he has found a permanent home with me.  At the last update, Alex is approaching his 2nd birthday and weighs about 17 pounds.  He is very rambunctious!  He has learned that he can keep my attention by fetching his favorite mouse toy and dropping it at my feet.  If I don't keep throwing them for him to fetch, he'll jump up and grab my hands or "shove" me.

     After almost two years, Grace just went back across the street where she began her life.   She had never been comfortable with my other cats, and remained an outsider in her mind and theirs.  She still drops in for an occassional meal of canned cat food.
 
      Norman's family moved away last summer and left him behind, so he's now a resident of my yard and carport, where he has a warm weather bed, a cool weather bed, and a little dog house filled with blankets for cold weather.  After the kittens were born, I had Norman and Grace neutered and spayed. 

Grace

A Kitten's Diary

April 3, 2003.   I was born in Lilburn, Georgia around 6:00 p.m. I can't see or hear anything, but I know how to find my mom and the "all you can eat" buffet. I know there are other furry creatures in here with me, because they keep shoving me aside.  All I do is sleep and eat.

April 18, 2003.  My eyes are open, and I can see and hear!  I still can't walk very well, but I creep around inside our nest, and sometimes run into other kittens.  When that happens, I just climb right over them!

April 22, 2003.  That's me above with my three siblings.  It's not a very good picture because we were scared.  We all have round deep blue eyes.  Some of us were black at first, but now we have little stripes.  Our mom doesn't know what we'll look like when we get older.  She sometimes leaves the nest (which I now know is just a bathroom cabinet), and we cry and try to follow her.  I get right up to the edge and look down, and I'm afraid to jump.  One day I will!  The last time she left us alone, we all got into a big fight and rolled around together.  It was fun!

April 24, 2003.  The human who takes care of our mom comes in and pets us sometimes, and Mom has to lick us clean again (getting the cooties off).  If the lady picks us up, we cry, and our mom gets us and puts us back in the cabinet.  Sometimes the lady looks under our tails and asks us, "Are you a boy or a girl?"  We don't know what the heck she's talking about, and we don't like to be handled in such an undignified manner.

April 29, 2003.  We have been roaming all over, and our mom just can't seem to keep up with us anymore.  Sometimes, after playing, we just fall down in a heap on the floor and fall asleep.  Today, we learned to lap water out of a saucer, and we really liked it!  Unfortunately, we walked through the dish several times and got really wet.  We've got our own litter box now, and we like to climb in and out of it.  Are we supposed to do anything else while we're there?

Here we are, a circle of friends, one day short of Four Weeks. 

May 4, 2003.   Oh, boy, have we been having fun today!  We got a new 2-story cat condo and scratching post, and we take turns climbing up and trying to get into one of the condos...while the kitten inside tries to push us out!  Today we got loose in the home office and found dust bunnies in the corners!  When it comes to dinner time, we still just want MOM. 

May 12, 2003.  We've been eating this ucky smelling IAMS kitten food.  We won't admit that we like it, but when nobody's looking, we sneak over and take a few bites.  We use the litter box MOST of the time, but sometimes we're so busy playing, we just plain forget!

          

• Cat & Kitten Care
This is a page I put together to give with my kittens when they are adopted.

• Cat Help Message Board

http://www.cathelp-online.com/chwelcome.html

(This board is monitored by cat lovers, vets, and emergency animal hospital employees.  It’s the first place I go for advice…even before I call my vet!)
 

• Kitten Development

http://www.angelfire.com/il/kimlance/development.html

• Cat Care Society 

http://www.catcaresociety.org/

• Care For My Cat

http://www.care-for-my-cat.com/


---