Time Flies! Aristocat Babies Moving On...

More scoop from Jackie about these wonderful kittens! It's amazing how fast the time has gone, and the kittens are now ready for their new homes!

Last week I talked about how the kittens are eating well and Momma Duchess is getting her separate time from her babies. She is driving us crazy with her meowing to be let out of the bedroom. We take shifts of who gets to be out first. When I get home from work all the animals get to come out and stretch their legs. Momma and kittens come running out of the room as soon as the door opens. They all head to the kitchen as they are pretty sure about what comes next. The cacophony of kittens crying for food is so loud all our other animals run for cover. The raw diet has the babies growling at each other to stay at their own dishes and eat their own food. It is pretty hard with only two hands to get 7 bowls of chow out to 7 hungry felines. I didn’t think it was possible but the kittens can pack away as much as the adult cats in our house. They would eat even more if we let them. I feed the litter three times a day to try and get them their full dietary requirement. It can leave a person tired after 11 cats and a sad puppy.

I have been trying to get the kittens to stop from using me as a climbing apparatus. My legs are filled with little claw marks as they have used them repeatedly to climb up to a lap or a higher place to see when their food will be ready. How do you get a cat to stop climbing? It is natural for them, but, not something we as humans appreciate. Toulouse is famous for climbing legs and ankle biting. He will catch you as you are walking by and tag along for a ride. Some may think this is cute, but, the bare leg he is attached too, not so cute! Toulouse is also the fearless kitten in the litter. He has faced down the mighty dog and won. Well, Buddy laid there and let him sniff him, that is a huge step for us and the kittens.

Berlioz aka Bear is the tough cat in the litter. He likes to fight and nip at hands. His cute little face and lightning paws of fury can leave you wounded. I have been trying to find ways to deter him from thinking fingers and hands are things to bite and scratch. A loud firm NO has had some effect on his behaviour. We are working on all the kittens and the need to attack hands and feet. Moving targets!

Right now as I am typing I have Oliver another foster cat in my lap curled up for his computer snuggle time and two kittens running across the keyboard as they try to figure out a way to help with our weekly Blog. The light on our mouse is always a fun toy!

Marie is like her momma Duchess. She is regal looking with her golden eyes and soft meow. We had trouble in the beginning telling the two black kittens apart but as they have grown bigger Marie has a more feminine face. I don’t know how to put into words but she is a petite little girl. She likes to wrestle with her siblings and cuddle up at nap time.

Spooky is a handsome little critter. He has caught the eye of many potential adopters but has not been scooped up as of yet. He is an all grey kitten with a sweet personality. He loves to cuddle up for snuggle time and he doesn’t mind being carried around like a baby doll as evident by his many ventures with our youngest daughter.

With Duchess not letting up on her attacks on the family dog we have been putting her in a room by herself with a couple of kittens for company. She is not too happy about her new digs and made it known by urinating on the bed. As she is the only adult cat on the main floor of our house it was not hard to guess who the culprit was. It was a surprise when you go to pull back the comforter to get ready for bed and find a smelly puddle. Needless to say we were doing laundry at 11 o’clock last night.

Mittens has made her way to her new home this week. That little girl won the hearts of many of our friends as we watched her grow over the past 8 weeks. Cute and tiny she loved to cuddle and always had a mighty purr. We hope she finds two new friends where she is going as the family that adopted her has 2 cats at home. One of those cats is an other successful adoption from People for Animals. Yea for PFA!

This weekend we will be at Pet Smart here in Regina for Adoption Days or a Pet Expo of sorts. We will be showcasing PFA’s kittens and cats that are available for adoption. I have made plans to bring the litter of kittens and Oliver for some added exposure. It should be a great event. Come and see us while you pick up your pet supplies.


See you at Pet Smart!
Jackie Kruger

Foster Mom

The mystery of Stroller

People For Animals found out the other day that the Regina Humane Society had a cat out at the shelter that had been found and was registered to People For Animals. We quickly had a volunteer run out and picked it up. The tattoo in the ear had indicated that this was a cat named Stroller; a 2 yr old grey and white male..... PFA keeps track of all our adoptions and we sprung into action trying to find out where Stroller belonged.

After some investigating we learned that OUR cat Stroller was still safe at his forever home and this grey and white cat was an imposter! After a vet check we realized this RHS "Stroller" was a female, about 8 yrs old and the tattoo, which was difficult to read - was only 1 number off of the tattoo of Stroller.

So we tried to find "Stroller 2nd's" family with no luck.

She is now in PFA care, awaiting foster placement and will be up for adoption soon. Her name has been changed from "Stroller" to Pigeon as she coos like a pigeon when petted. (Also 2 cats named Stroller may get confusing again in the future)

Above is a picture of Pigeon at the vet's.

Below is pictures of our original rescued cat named Stroller (who was rescued during a TNR blitz March 2009) , enjoying the good life with his forever family. Note the simularaties! Also snuggled up to Stroller is cat buddy Friday, who was also a People For Animal's rescued cat. Click here to check out Friday's story.















Phew! Now that we solved that mystery, we can focus on adopting out cats and kittens at Petsmart's adoption days this weekend!

-Michelle

A Real Cheshire Cat!

Meet our beautiful and friendly Cheshire, a little stray who has been hanging around an apartment building in the General Hospital area. A kind student was feeding her and took pity during the recent rainy weather and opened up her home to this adorable little cat.

Cheshire had a tattoo, and through that we were able to determine that she had an owner at one time, but he suffered from mental illness and was evicted months ago from the apartment building where she was found, obviously leaving poor Cheshire behind.

Cheshire is affectionate and sweet and has adapted well to the other two cats in her foster home. She is happy to be safe inside and to be cared for by a kind human again. Cheshire is now available for adoption – please contact us at saskpeopleforanimals@gmail.com for more info.

-Alanna

Dusty and Minos at Home

These two adorable little kittens are Dusty and Minos, two of our early summer rescues who were quickly scooped up by a loving adopter.

Dusty and Minos, along with Portia Reese (also adopted) were living under a shed in the core area of the city in an area heavy with strays and where a number of PFA feral cats have been mauled by dogs. It took feral team volunteers hours of patiently waiting watching to nab these little guys and get them to the safety of a PFA foster home.

Now, they are living the good life!

-Alanna

Dramatic Rescue of Whisper the Cat and her kittens

One week ago I received a concerned call from two of our wonderful feral team feeders, Dona and Pat. They had found a very tiny, young mama cat and two kittens in a perilous location in North Central where exposure to distemper has been a concern. The feral team named the mama Whisper as she is so tiny and thin that she is just a whisper of a cat.

As full as we are, we knew they needed to be rescued quickly to have a chance at surviving, and our dedicated feral team put together a small group to focus on nabbing the mama and kittens.

After several setbacks and having to leave Whisper there knowing she was seriously ill but couldn't be away from the babies, there feral team nabbed them all and they are now safe and sound. Whisper remains at the vet clinic in isolation, so she's lonely and bored but it beats life on the street! The kittens, Jasper and Louie , went to a foster home where they are doing great!


These are some lucky little cats!




-Alanna

Aristocat Kittens - Week 7

The little babies are ready for adoption as of this weekend (labour day 2010! Michelle and I vaccinated the kittens and mama Duchess yesterday and it was like an assembly line of kittens! Luckily, we had some special helpers organizing the kittens as both Jackie's and Michelle's little girls were on hand to assist.

It's gone so fast - hard to believe these little kittens, taken into foster care at 10 days old, are ready for forever homes! Two are adopted so far; there are still 4 gorgeous sociable kittens and the sleek and lovely Duchess as well.

Week 7 – AristoCats are nearing Departure

The kittens turned 7 weeks old on Saturday, August 28th. We are weaning them from Duchess so they will be ready for their new homes on the Labour Day weekend. What started out as an all milk based meal from momma is now a combination of soft cat food and the raw diet we favour for our other family pets. The first trial of raw beef went well with all the kittens eating until their bowls were clean. We mixed Spring Meadows Raw Beef Diet with the Wysong chicken soft canned food to make it something they were familiar with and something they already enjoyed eating. The texture of the raw diet along with the soft cat food made it an easy introduction for the kittens. The staff at Metro Pet Market suggested that if we feed the kittens a variety of flavours, they will be less selective eaters as adults. As the kittens are growing in leaps and bounds a complete and balanced diet has been our main concern. Our feeding the kittens has been consistent and we have introduced new flavours gradually, not switching back and forth, to avoid upset tummies and diarrhea. Whatever we are doing has been successful for all 6 kittens as they have had no issues.

Our veterinarian says it is almost impossible to over feed a kitten. Their daily food requirements for proper growth and maturation at 10 weeks of age are eight to nine ounces of canned food or a quarter of a cup of dry food daily. Because we favour the raw diet at our house the kittens foods are mixed together to get a balance of texture and nutrition. At four to six months of age, the daily requirement will closely resemble that of an adult cat as growth of the kitten slows down. Between 8 months to one year of age a kitten will reach its adult body size and weight. The daily requirement for adulthood is roughly an eighth of a pound of raw diet, or one ounce of canned food per pound of body weight. The average cat weight is 7 to 8 pounds. Our family of animals are fed in the morning and at supper time and with the addition of 7 mouths to feed we have continued that with the AristoCat Family. Who would have thought that feeding 11 cats would turn out to be a math lesson! Can you guess how many cans of soft cat food we go through in a week? Three 14 ounce cans a day just for the Aristocat Family! It sure was nice to have donated food to supplement our cat food pantry.

With our focus on food and diet what more do kittens need than a warm place to sleep and plenty of exercise? Duchess has been getting longer separations from the kittens in the house. We have put our resident cats safely in the basement to roam. We have found out one too many times what a mother cat will do to protect her litter of kittens. On Saturday morning I was the victim of her latest attack. Buddy, our dog followed one of the kittens into the bedroom where I was sleeping. Duchess quickly followed him to protect her kitten. Buddy jumped over me on the bed and Duchess flying with her claws bared landed straight at my head. By the time I realized I was getting attacked by our momma Duchess she realized too she did not have the dog. I was confused as to why I was attacked and have scratches in my hairline to prove it was not my imagination.

We are now looking for a foster home for Duchess to unwind from her hormones as a momma cat. Somewhere she can be the only pet for a few weeks so we might get her dried up from nursing the litter as well as spayed and ready for her own forever family as well. We have seen many good things in Duchess that will make her a loving companion for someone with children. She has shown her best side as an attentive mother in her caring for the kittens and as they reach 8 weeks of age next week the litter will be moving on to their own fur-ever homes. So must Duchess move on as well.

Duchess is a young cat and loves to play along with the kittens. Her favourite toy was a recent purchase we made at the PFA BBQ at the Golden Mile. Someone, I am not sure who, made these sachets with catnip in them. I purchased 3 for our house and they have been a hit with all the cats, especially Oliver and Duchess. They like to roll on them and love them up against their cheek.

Do you know someone that might like to be a temporary foster home for Duchess? We hate to see her have to go to the vet to get spayed and then get kennelled there until a spot becomes available for her in the foster homes PFA has already. PFA is always looking for more homes to open their doors to the stray cats of Regina. Food and supplies can be provided in return for your loving care and attention given to one of these strays.

As a new foster family ourselves we have seen the rewards of fostering cats for PFA. Lolita was our first foster cat. She was mostly black with two patches of white fur. Our foster home coordinator advised that black cats are sometimes difficult to find homes for and we should not be surprised if she was with us after a few months. At 8 months into our fostering Lolita we were certain she was going to be staying with us and then a lovely family came to meet her and they were swept away by her gentleness and her quiet ways. Duchess reminds me a lot of Lolita and it is not just because she is a black cat. She is gentle with our girls. She lets our 2 year old carry her around the house without a fuss and that is saying a lot for a cats tolerance of small children. If it was not for her momma hormones making her a crazy kitty we would allow her to stay with us, but, with the kittens it can be difficult to make that situation work. We could shuffle the kittens and Duchess around from foster home to foster home, but, in the end all we want is what is best for each of them and their future opportunities to find good homes.

If you can offer any of the kittens a forever home or maybe a temporary foster home for Duchess contact Alanna at HYPERLINK "mailto:abanana71@gmail.com" abanana71@gmail.com September 10, 11th and 12th is Adoption Days at Pet Smart and we will be bringing the litter, what remains after adoptions, down to meet and greet people. Oliver will be there too! Come out and show your support, maybe take home a kitten as well.

See you at Adoption Days!

Jackie Kruger
Foster Mom

Snuggly and Sweet Stray Needs Place to Stay!

This adorable little female cat was found wandering in traffic at College and Broad St on the week-end and so far hasn't been claimed. She is friendly and loves attention, purring and purring when she gets it.

She is currently hanging out in the spare bedroom of a PFA board member with multiple animals and two foster cats already. She can't stay long due to renovations occurring in the home.

She is a very easy cat to look after - just needs a place to go for a bit of TLC, so we are looking for someone to foster this sweet girl, even short-term until a longer term placement can be arranged.

PFA continues to be very short of foster homes going into the fall, with cooler weather looming and late season kittens appearing all over. We need foster homes for:
-late season kittens
-several tame adults who are being cared for as outdoor cats due to lack of foster space
-one special needs older male (Teddy).

If you are interested in opening up your heart and home to help a rescued cat, please contact us at saskpeopleforanimals@gmail.com

-Alanna