KODAK MOMENT

For those of you that were born BEFORE the digital camera age, you'll understand what I mean by a "Kodak Moment".

For those of you that were born DURING the digital camera age, then I should probably explain that a "Kodak Moment" would be the equivalent to a "Perfect Social Media Moment" ... be it on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Periscope, Vine or a Blog.

Taking pictures or videos of a perfect moment in time is pretty difficult (especially kittens) as they are not easy subjects to capture. They are always on the move and never just 'STAY'. But if you have a good camera, or one that can shoot a ton of pictures in a split second, then you'll be lucky enough to catch more than a few "Kodak Moments".

Here are a few of mine:

Dalton taking a nap in the most adorable 'Superman' position

Trig and her kittens cheekily sticking their tongues out at the camera

Trig sitting still long enough for me
to capture her in all her beauty

Dalton on his back taking a nap on my lap

Magus from the perfect angle

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

KITTY AQUARIUM

I have a shower stall in my bathroom, which makes it an ideal place to put the kittens when I need to clean their litter and the bathroom in general.

Kittens are curious by nature, so if I am trying to clean their litter without first putting them into the shower stall, I will have kittens clamoring all over me to find out what I'm doing. Also, if I'm taking too long to get their food ready, I will get little nibbles on my ankle and toes. This batch is pretty quiet when it comes to their feeding times. I've had some batches of kittens meow so loud that my husband would ask what the heck I'm doing to them. No, I am not purposely starving them ... they are just impatient!

When I placed the video of the kittens in the shower stall on Facebook, a few people told me to put some ping pong balls into the stall with them and watch the mayhem begin. My goodness! Check out how much fun the kittens are having with those ping pong balls:

6 ping pongs: $1.25
Update from tub to shower stall: $1,000
Kitty Aquarium: PRICELESS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVLmSQl37YE

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

GRATUITOUS PICTURES

I think I wrote too much on the last post. So as the title says, I'm just going to post gratuitous pictures. That's all ... *MIC DROP*

 

 

 

 

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE POOP

When *VOKRA wants to determine whether a kitten is ready for adoption, they first want to know: "How is their poop?"

In other words, they want to know:

#1.  Is the kitten pooping on a regular basis?
#2.  Is the kitten having normal poops?
#3.  Is the kitten pooping where he/she should be pooping?

I have no problems with item #1. These little buggers poop ALL.THE.TIME. I swear, I feel like I'm scooping poop every 10 minutes ... Ah, yes ... the joys of being a foster mom to baby kittens.

On the other hand, item #2 has been posing me some problems since the kittens all stopped nursing. I feel like I'm scooping peanut butter out of the kitty litter sometimes. *VOKRA co-founder, Maria, gave me some probiotic powder to add to their meals and I purchased some pureed pumpkin to mix into their food as well. Did you know that pureed pumpkin works as both a softener and hardener of kitty poop? I didn't know that until I started fostering kittens. I`m hoping that after a week or so of the combination of probiotic powder and pureed pumpkin that we can get the kittens`poop back to an ideal state!

Item #3 was problematic for a couple of days when I first got the batch. They would poop right at the entrance of the bathroom door and then all the kittens would proceed to do a little dance on it and trample it all around the bathroom. In an attempt to rectify this, I put more litter pans as close to the door as I could, but to no avail.

To stop kitties from doing their business in places that you do not want them to, you have to make that place undesirable. I had one previous kitten who would poop in the sink, so all I did to rectify that was to plug the sink and put a bit of water in it.

He stopped immediately.

With this batch, I just taped down some packing tape onto the floor by the door. Once the kittens stepped onto the tape, they would feel the tackiness and step back.

I have not had an accident there since.

I wonder if *VOKRA would be interested to know that Zeal likes to sleep in the kitty litter.

Of all the places to sleep Zeal ... really?!?

The rest of the litter all huddled together on the base of their scratching post

Whenever I clean up the bathroom, I usually try to get all the kittens out of the way because they definitely slow the process down for me if I let them wander around while I try to clean. The best place for them seems to be my shower stall ... and they are quite content to be in there too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlCri1HqigM


Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

TOO MUCH CUTENESS

Have you ever seen a really, really cute kitten and all you want to do is pick it up, cuddle it and give it tons of kisses?! Well, this batch evokes those feelings every time I go into the bathroom to see them. They are 6 weeks old now and the way they bounce around and stare up at me makes me want to kiss and cuddle them all day long.

So, can you understand why my productivity level goes WAY DOWN when I have kittens? Just take a look:

Frog

Crono

Dalton

Magus

Zeal

Lucca

Excuse me now while I go play with them some more!


Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

ADOPTED: BREECHES

When potential adopters make an appointment to look at your foster kitty, you hope that they have scoured through the gallery of available kitties up for adoption and found that your kitty is THE ONE. Realistically though, that is not the case. Often times, potential adopters will view a few kitties at a time and then choose the one that is best suited for their particular family dynamic. That means that one kitten (or more) will have to be passed over.

When my viewers dropped by last Sunday to see Breeches, the lady told me that she had viewed another tabby kitten (named Jellia) the previous day and that she had fallen in love with her. However, when she saw how cuddly and passive Breeches was, she became uncertain as to which kitty she was going to choose. She already had a 10-year old tabby at home and I wasn't sure whether she wanted to introduce 2 more kitties into her home. But as luck would have it, she adored the two kitties enough that she chose to adopt them BOTH! That is the best case scenario!

ADOPTED! Breeches - July 15, 2016

With Breeches being adopted, that left Bloomer all by herself. As Bloomer would have been protesting loudly about being by herself, it was best to buddy her up with another kitty. So, I delivered Bloomer downtown to be paired up with another single kitty (who was left on the Pattulo Bridge). I hope they become fast friends and find a forever home together.

Last night together for Bloomer and Breeches

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

BATCH #9

Just call me the "Relief Pitcher" for kitty fosters.

My 9th batch came to me in a hail of furriness as the previous foster had just found out that she was pregnant and did not want to have her kitty litter duties affect her growing fetus. In other words, she did not want to risk the chance of contracting Congenital Toxoplasmosis, which is a specific form of Toxoplasmosis in which an unborn fetus is infected via the placenta. Congenital Toxoplasmosis is associated with fetal death and abortion, and in infants, it is associated with neurological and neurocognitive deficits.

Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by a parasite. This parasite is called Toxoplasma Gondii. It can be found in infected cat feces and undercooked meat, especially venison, lamb and pork.

So, with all that being said, you can understand the previous fosters`urgency in relocating their latest batch of kittens to me.

Mommy kitty and her six 5-week old kittens were dropped off to me on Wednesday night. Mommy kitty is only a baby herself at 7 months old.  She has the biggest, roundest eyes I`ve ever seen on a kitty. She looks like a cartoon character, which is probably why her previous fosters named the whole litter after a video game called "Chrono Trigger": Mom - Trig; kittens - Lucca, Frog, Magus, Zeal, Cronos and Dalton.

Mommy Kitty "Trig", with marbles for eyes!

So, now I am fostering 8 kitties in my home. The last two kitties from Batch #8 have been relocated to another room, while Batch #9 now occupy the main bathroom.

Unable to tell all the tabbies apart, I had to resort to having each tabby
wear elastic bands with their respective names written on them

My husband now has to navigate around a land mine of kittens when he enters the bathroom. Walk S-L-O-W-L-Y !!!

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

ADOPTED: JEAN & CORDUROY

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

It's always a great day when two siblings get adopted together and get to live the rest of their lives in a loving home together.

Jean and Corduroy were picked up today by their new family, but unfortunately they forgot to bring their adoption papers with them.  So, instead of having them make the 45-minute trek back home to retrieve the adoption papers, I made a quick phone call to *VOKRA Operations Headquarters to confirm that all the paperwork had been done and I was authorized to release the kittens to their new family.

What potential adopters do not automatically know is that the viewing of a kitten or cat is simply that - a viewing. If a potential adopter decides to actually adopt the kitten or cat that they are viewing, they must first fill out the necessary paperwork and pay the adoption fee before returning to the foster to pick up the new addition(s) to their family. All this must be done within 5 days of the viewing to ensure a speedy transition.

Most families are so excited to get their new kitty home that they almost always complete the necessary paperwork well ahead of the 5 day period. I had one adopter fill out the paperwork in a couple of hours because she was so excited about getting her kitten home. Now that's the kind of excitement I want for my foster kitties!

ADOPTED! Jean & Corduroy - July 10, 2016

Corduroy will forever be Jean's pillow

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/

PERSONALITIES

For every batch of kittens that I foster, you get all types of personalities within the litter. But as a whole, each batch of kittens differs from the other. For example, this Kittypants batch ... they are so affectionate when I come into the bathroom to visit them. They come up to me and purr away and push against my hand for pets, except in the case of Jean, who likes to nibble at my hand and bat at it with her paw. (I`m sure that`s her way of showing affection as she doesn`t nibble hard and her claws are not out when she bats her paw at me).

Now, as soon as I open the door to let them out into the rest of my house, they take off like a bat out of hell and then it`s good luck trying to get them back. They will dart back and forth from under the dining room table and the chesterfield. Jean has a habit of hiding behind the cabinet because she`s so tiny and I have to move what seems like a mountain to get at her.

Jean checking out the flora

I let them have their run of the place, but I must keep a very close eye on them while they are out as one time I went into my office to do a bit of paperwork and I heard a *CRASH* and went back to the living room to find that my lamp had been knocked over and my picture frame was face down on the floor.

This litter definitely does not come when called, unlike another litter that I had where when I called out "KITTENS!" they would all come running, some sliding sideways to get to me. It was the cutest thing. My husband tried calling them and they just all looked at him, like "you`re kidding, right?"

The only way to get this batch back into the bathroom is to enlist the help of my husband to catch the kitten going the opposite way, or if all else fails, to bring out my trusty Dyson.

A foster mom has to do what a foster mom has to do.

Bloomer posing in front of the blooms of orchids

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

http://www.orphankittenrescue.com/adoption_application/