Things Have Been a Little Hectic...

Things have been a little hectic around here over the past two weeks. Egnatius left to go back to Ireland and I helped him move out and pack. My family and I agreed also to host my friend's cat while she went to visit her parents on the other side of the country. This cat is fun and adorable, but quite particular so i will call her Princessa.

Cats love windows

While Princessa was here, she managed to become absolutely terrified of my room. She hung out up there most of the time for the first three days, but on day four it became the zone of horror.

Cute Kitty Pose

After that, late the night of 4th of July, she managed to jump off of something and twist her leg. Catullus II and I  took her to the vet. The vet said that she had only some soft tissue damage and gave us an anti-inflammatory, but not before dear usually-sweet Princessa attempted to rip the vet's face off.

However, in the mean time between agreeing to host Princessa and actually hosting her, my friend took in a pregnant stray whom she called Gimli. Gimli was a thin and lithe little ginger cat who sought out my friend at the beginning of the school year and my friend and her roommates had been feeding her. Gimli disappeared for a while in the spring and returned with a little ginger kitten, whom my friend named Eowyn. Sadly, one day shortly after arriving for the first time, Eowyn disappeared.

When Gimli became pregnant again, my friend took her in so that she and her kittens might be able to survive. Gimli, while bulging with pregnancy, was still as thin as she had ever been. About five days later, she had a litter of seven kittens.

I met the kittens on the first day after they were born. They were so cute and helpless. They looked almost like tiny hamsters.We gave them all nicknames based on look and personality attributes.

Calico, 1 day old

By the second day, we were arranging to take Princessa (my friend had to fly to the other side of the country to see her mother). However, my friend had not found foster care for Gimli and the kittens so she was going to have to take them to a shelter.

Kinky tail, 2 days old

Kittens, however, are much more likely to die in a shelter than in foster care, so my family agreed to take them until we could find homes for all of them.

Gimli and kittens

Gimli is an wonderfully sweet cat. She takes incredible care of her kittens. We have been looking for homes for all of them. I put up a website so that people can watch the growth of the kittens.

At one week old, they looked like this:

Superman, meowing. Photo by Steph Joyal

At ten days old, they looked like this:

Kinky-Tail, Photo by Steph Joyal.

They look much more like this now:

Calico, 16 days old

Smokey, 16 days old, asleep

So, this is the reason I am not posting quite a often as I had planned...