Last 2 Kittens

Hey, Everyone!

Great news! We were able to catch the last two kittens. They will be taken to the East Valley Animal Shelter as soon as they open in the morning. We've made sure that they have been fed and are well-hydrated.

Again, if you would like to adopt these kittens, please visit the shelter's adoption section here: http://www.laanimalservices.com/adoptapet_eval.htm

We still haven't had any luck catching Robert's Mom for FixNation, but we think we may have a significantly better chance now that her kittens are no longer distracting her.

Speaking of FixNation, after we caught the runt kitten last time, I mentioned that I got some hate mail. One of the complaints I received that I didn't mention was that everyone presumed we had caught the kitten in a FixNation trap (which are only meant to be used for FixNation purposes). This time, to avoid that particular argument from coming up again, I'm posting this picture:As you can clearly see, the kittens are not in a FixNation trap.

We felt bad lifting up their towel (covering a cat when it's enclosed in a trap or carrier helps to calm it significantly!) to take this picture, but we didn't want to get any more guff over something that isn't even an issue.

Again, if anyone out there is adopting these kittens, or any of the numerous other kittens at the shelter who need homes, please click here.

If anyone out there sends me hate mail over our taking these kittens to the shelter, their e-mails will not receive an answer.

Until next time...

--Lauren*

Precious Ruby

Hey, Everyone

After my last post, I started receiving hate mail about the fact that we took the runt kitten (and will be taking the other two kittens) to a shelter. At first, we were upset by it, but we're not anymore because, look:

a.) We've been saying for over two months now that we were going to take the kittens to a shelter if nothing better came up,

b.) That kitten needed medical attention, which we could not afford to give (and the shelter was willing to provide),

c.) Those kittens wouldn't do well in the wild as we've been handling them pretty much since birth & they depend on us for food (which is what FixNation told us to do!),

d.) Even if the kittens DO get euthanized (as the writers are insisting), at least it'll be quick and humane--unlike starving to death and/or being eaten alive by parasites--though I highly doubt they will be (why would the shelter lie to us that they thought he had a great chance?) and,

e.) If those people liked the kittens so much, they could have stepped up and adopted them!!!! We've been advertising these kittens for a long time now!

I'm taking a stand right now. If you write me a hate mail message on this subject, you won't be getting a reply.

On the bright side, we got to go visit the kitten who DID get adopted today. She looks WONDERFUL! She's the most spoiled kitten in the universe and she's so clean and happy and tame and well-adjusted. He eyes are sort of brown now and she looks just lovely.

Her name is Ruby.

--Lauren*

Shelter Kitty -- Please Adopt?

Hey, Everyone

We still haven't caught Robert's Mom. We tried the trick that was suggested (tying a drumstick to the back of the trap), but she still eluded us. And she managed to untie the drumstick! We didn't tie it on with some mamby-pamby homemaker bow either, we wrapped the twine around and around and tied it on with hardcore square knots! I'm starting to feel like Wile E. Coyote...

We did, however, catch the runt of the kitten litter--the littlest black one.

The past few days, the kittens haven't let me pick them up. They still come up to our feet, but they no longer want to be touched. And that's because they've become infested with fleas to the point that they're bleeding. They're in terrible pain. The runt was taking a nap yesterday and when he stood up, he'd left a small puddle of blood behind. We got a good look at them and their fur looks like it's moving. They're just swarming with fleas. They keep scratching and scratching. It's horrible. And in no way are we in a financial state to help them ourselves...

We took the kitten to the East Valley Animal Shelter. They were able to pick him up easily, which proved we had been taming him, so he stands a good chance of not being euthanized. They said that they would bathe him and give him his vaccines and treat him for fleas. They're on alert that we're going to be bringing in the other two kittens (male black & female tabby) as soon as we can catch them. Hopefully that will be soon.

If you're interested in adopting this kitten (or the other two once we bring them in), they post their pictures here: http://www.laanimalservices.com/adoptapet_eval.htm

--Lauren*

Robert's Mom = Our Weekend Plans

Hello, Everyone!

I'm sure you all remember Robert's Mom (also the mother of the kittens we're trying to find homes for)...
She was supposed to have an appointment at FixNation today, but, again, we were unable to catch her. We set up the trap and, once again, she used her paws like a raccoon to scoop up the bait without triggering the trap. Though, one time, we DID catch her kittens! And, man, were they pissed!!

So, from 7pm to 12am last night, we sat outside with a long piece of twine attached to the door of the cage. Like a cartoon trap... You know. With a box, some bait, a stick, and a piece of rope. Like the way you catch the rat in Monkey Island 2.

Anyway, she went in the trap when we did that too, but she managed to slip out as the trap was closing. She's FAST!!

We wrote to FixNation and got this in reply:

Will this cat go anywhere near your feet? If the cat will get close enough to your feet, you plop a laundry basket trap over the cat, then "spider" the cat onto a piece of secure plywood, which becomes the "floor", then duct tape the whole thing together. Bring along an extra empty trap for the cat to recover in. Make sense?

You're officially on the roving reservation list. Let me know when you've been able to trap her, okay?

Yes--keep the trap and keep trying!!!

don't give up--you'll get her.

liz

So, I guess you all know what we'll be doing Sunday night. Wish us luck!!

--Lauren*

Kittens Finally Sexed

Hey, Everyone!

As you all probably know by now, the tabby kitten is a female. However, up until now, we were unsure about the sexes of the black kittens. We now know for sure: They're both males.

Funny how that worked out, huh? Both tabbies being females and both blacks being males...

Again, if you or anyone you know would like to adopt one of the kittens I've been posting about here, please contact me at littlezotz@gmail.com

Thank you!

--Lauren*

Black Kitten Videos

Hey, Everyone!

I just took some more videos of the kittens, this time showcasing the 2 black ones. One of the black ones is the biggest and strongest of the bunch now! Followed by the other black one and then the tabby. Check 'em out:

Once again, these kittens are now about 9 weeks old and should be fully weaned in about another week. If you or anyone you know would like to adopt one, please contact me at littlezotz@gmail.com AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! We would like to find these kittens homes, but we cannot afford to feed them. If we cannot find homes for them shortly after they're weaned, we will be turning them into a shelter.

Thank you!

--Lauren*
PS: For those of you who read my last entry about my laptop, I've already put some cool stickers on it (made by my Ramiro) and I got myself a cool desktop image. See?

Steff & Kurt

Hello, Everyone!

First, your kitten update: They're soooooooooooooooo big now! Ramiro and I just looked out the window of the back door and saw them learning how to hunt with their mother. They grow up so fast!

As for the lucky one that was adopted, she's doing really well. She's been treated for fleas and is eating regularly and is apparently a very great pet. We were very happy to hear that!

July 28th was Ramiro's birthday. Here are some pics from that.Ramiro likes pie better than cake, so I got him a cherry pie to make his birthday wish on! And it was sugar-free so I could eat some too!!This little guy was one of Ramiro's more unusual birthday gifts. It's an action figure my dad made for Ramiro based on Ramiro's comic SKINCUBE. I think it turned out pretty well. He now has a spot on our manga shelf.

Yesterday, my friend Steff came up from San Diego to visit us! Steff is one of my longtime friends whom I've known since the first day of 8th grade in 1998. We were in science class together first period and she liked my pants and came over to talk to me.

Anyway, she gave me the most amazing gift! Her old laptop!! I'm writing on it right now, actually. Isn't that fab? I feel so fancy! She named "him" Kurt and I decided to keep the name. I've known "Kurt" for a long time now--whenever I'd go visit Steff, we'd browse the Internet on Kurt and one time we even watched a movie on him--so it seemed a shame to change "his" name. :) Take a look at my laptop!I actually really like that Kurt has stickers on him. That means that if I find any cool stickers, I can slap them on without feeling bad like I'm ruining the computer or something. Kurt has two problems--he needs a new power cord (I don't know if you can see, but it's being held on with hair ties) and a new battery--but if I ever get a "real" job, those problems are fairly inexpensive to fix. Other than that, my laptop is PERFECT! It has everything I could want. Ramiro spent all day yesterday setting it up for me. It was a complete blank slate.

After Steff hung out here for a while with Ramiro & me, she and I went to the L.A. Zoo. We had free passes. It was pretty fun, but most of the zoo was under construction and the animals were extremely hot. I actually thought this red kangaroo had died until I finally saw him take in a breath:Like I said, we didn't really get to see many animals because the zoo was under a ton of construction. The primate areas were open, but Steff and I both don't care for primates so we didn't go there really. Here are the other animals we saw:
The Bongo was probably the animal that was saw that was faring the best. As you can see, his enclosure is in the shade.

I don't know if you can see it or not from my crummy cell phone picture, but the lion has his tongue sticking out. He was panting in the heat, poor thing. There was a group of obnoxious children yelling at him to "ROAR, YOU BIG DUMB OAF!!" and I got mad and told them to "Shut up!" and they did. Stupid kids. In my opinion, people like that shouldn't even be let in to the zoo. Just because something's in a cage doesn't give you the right to disrespect it.

The giraffes were the last thing we saw. Those are Steff's favourite. We were impressed how big baby giraffe has gotten. Baby giraffe had just been born the last time we went to the zoo together.

I guess that's about it for now...

Until next time!

--Lauren*

More of the Same

Hey, Everyone!

I've got a whole bunch of "more of the same" to report at the moment. I want to keep you guys up to date though, especially on the kitten situation:
They're still adorable. And still looking for homes! We found a home for one of the tabbies, but there's still one left (female) and two black ones (sexes still unknown atm, though I think one of them is male).

Ramiro and I got the above tabby to come inside and were able to give her some wet "kitten formula" canned cat food. She gobbled it up. These guys are about 8 weeks now. According to the Internet, they should be more-or-less fully weaned by week 10. And once they're eating nothing but "real" food, Ramiro and I will no longer be able to take care of them. We already have two cats of our own and take care of Ramiro's sister's cat as well (so THREE cats total!) and we can barely afford those cats. So please, if you or anyone you know would like a kitten, contact me at littlezotz@gmail.com If not, in another 2-3 weeks, we're going to be looking for a nice "no kill" shelter to turn them in to...

In other news, I'm nearly done working in my parents bathroom. I cleaned their bathtub:I was going to post some "before" pictures so you could see the difference, but I thought that would probably embarrass my parents. And I didn't want to do that when things are finally going really well. So, you'll just have to take my word for it that I did a lot of work to get it to look that nice. :)

I was also working on turning the light pink areas (like the window frames) maroon:
BeforeAfter.

Unfortunately, while I was painting, I ended up having a very bad attack where my throat closed up and I couldn't breathe very well... I ended up having to use my inhaler (which I haven't had to use in over a year!). Turns out the paint had latex in it. Which I'm allergic to. I was totally taken by surprise! I always thought of latex as being something you paint on, due to my parents' work, and not something you paint with. I feel silly now, of course. Oh well. So, unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish the borders on my own. But, while my dad was finishing that up for me, Ramiro and I went in their back yard and tidied up the lawn.

Also, a few of you have been asking me about Ziggy and how she's doing. I guess I didn't make it clear in previous entries (or maybe I forgot to?) that she's all better now. :)

Here's a picture of her snuggled up with her catnip mouse:She loves that thing. She plays with it like crazy and then falls asleep pretty much immediately after. Speaking of sleepy kitties, the following are some of the most adorable pictures of our cats ever (taken last night at bedtime):Those two cats love each other more than some people we know! haha. They're so great.

I guess that's about it. It's Tuesday, so the latest update on my comic should be up soon. Drunk Duck is apparently having troubles or something, but I have confidence they'll be able to work it out. Check back on it periodically to see.

Also, tomorrow is Ramiro's birthday. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

Until next time!

--Lauren*PS: One more picture of our kids...PPS: Last one, I swear! This is what Ringo, Robert, and Ziggy all looked like when they were just slightly older than the kittens we're currently trying to find homes for:

Kitten Video

The part where one of the tabbies climbs on her mom's head cracks me up.

This was taken with my cell phone camera through the window of our back door.

Once again, if anyone is interested in adopting a kitten, please e-mail me at littlezotz@gmail.com

--Lauren*

1 Down; 3 to Go!

Hey, Everyone!

We found a home for one of the tabbies!

There's still 1 tabby and 2 black kittens left.

They have about 2.5 to 3 weeks left until they're fully weaned. They were eating a smidge of wet food from my hand last night, but are still primarily living off of their mother's milk.

Once again, please contact me at littlezotz@gmail.com if you or someone you know is interested in adopting one of the kittens! Thank you!

--Lauren*

Other entries on the kittens can be found:
http://littlezotz.blogspot.com/2010/07/4-kittens.html
http://littlezotz.blogspot.com/2010/07/better-kitten-pics.html
http://littlezotz.blogspot.com/2010/07/taming-day-1.html
http://littlezotz.blogspot.com/2010/07/taming-day-2.html
http://littlezotz.blogspot.com/2010/07/momma-cat-babies.html

Momma Cat & Babies

Sarahe took those pictures yesterday.

You can't see the other black kitten in the pics (I'm not sure where he/she was at this particular feeding time), but he/she is alive and well. We've been working hard to make sure Momma Cat doesn't get dehydrated in this crazy-hot weather. We don't want her milk to dry up. We've been going out every couple hours to make sure the water bowl we leave outside is still full-up.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

--Lauren*

Taming Day #2

Hello, Everyone!

I held three kittens today. Well, 2 for sure. I may have picked up the same striped one twice... Pretty sure I had 3 different ones though. One of the striped ones has greener eyes than the other.

Anyway, I was able to "sex" two of the kittens today. For those of you who don't know (or are horribly immature), that means that I was able to look at their "parts" and see if they were male or female. And, if this is correct (and I think it is since it's what I used to determine Robert & Ziggy's sexes), then so far we have 1 black male and 1 striped female. The other two are still unknown for the time being. My entire forearms on both arms got clawed up in the process.

In the end, I was able to calm the kitties down during each Taming session I had with them. One got so cozy she fell asleep. Ramiro also gave the girl one a little wet food and she gobbled it up. The kittens are about 6.5-7 weeks old now, so they're right at the age where they can start being weaned.

The kittens have been hiding from the 100-degree heat lately, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay under the deck where it's nice and cool (and where they're totally unreachable), so this was only the 2nd time I've gotten to hold them. I've been trying to sit near them every day so they get used to humans though. I go out every day and sit near where they're lounging and I talk to them and stuff. Hopefully it's helping. I think it is. After the initial shock of being picked up, they seem to calm down pretty quickly.

In other news, Ramiro and I harvested the potatoes we planted a while back. We planted 3 russet potatoes and today we dug up 43 (FORTY-THREE!!!). They were slightly dinky though because we planted them in a super small space (we didn't expect it to actually work), so we took our 43 small potatoes and planted them in a very spacious area so this time they have lots of room to grow big potatoes. That's the plan anyway. Let's see... If 3 potatoes yielded 43 potatoes then 43 potatoes should turn into....................................? Well, enough to make a good pot of soup, huh? :)

That's it for now.

--Lauren*

Taming Day #1

Hey, Everyone!

I've made friends with one of the stripy kittens already!
This morning I played with him/her, picked him up, and then played with him again until he got tired and fell asleep. One of the black kittens was curious, but declined to come near me; and the other two were terrified.

Later, I came back and all four of them were in their little hidey-hole and he/she jumped down to play with me, but the other 3 ran off. Anyway, I played with him/her again and picked him/her up for some more snuggle time. Ramiro got to pet him/her too!

This little one is coming along quite nicely, I'd say! (KNOCK WOOD!!). Anyway, I'm going to keep trying to tame these little guys every day and hopefully we can find them great homes. :) Once again, if you or someone you know is interested, please e-mail me at littlezotz@gmail.com

--Lauren*
PS: My shirt says "The Click Five," in case you were curious.

Better Kitten Pics

Told ya we'd get better pictures! Ramiro grabbed the real camera (instead of my cell phone) and here are the results (click on them for a larger view):So, like I said in my last post, there are two black ones and two with stripes. They're quite adorable. I was able to boop the nose of the stripy one in the big picture up top (he's like the kitten ambassador or something; he's always the one that comes up to us or looks at us and "speaks" for the other kittens). They're very curious, so I have high hopes that we'll be able to tame them a little bit, thereby making them more desirable for adoption... They're still drinking mother's milk, but they were (to the best of our knowledge) born in early June, so hopefully they'll be getting weaned soon. They've got cute stubby lil legs, but they're really starting to run around now. They all have their eyes open and all that good stuff.
Once again, we're hoping to be able to find homes for them. Since it's cat boinking season right now, the shelters and rescues are already packed to the gills with unwanted kittens! :(

So, if you or someone you know would like a kitten (or know of a good Cat Rescue that is currently accepting kittens to be homed), please write to me at littlezotz@gmail.com

Thank you!

--Lauren*
PS: These kittens have the same mom as our cat, Robert. So the black kittens may grow up to look like this:So handsome!