ADOPTED - HONEYDEW & WATERMELON

Timing is everything. I truly believe this.

Hamimelon was adopted on Aug. 28 by a lovely couple who had a resident cat at home to keep Hamimelon company. They took all the necessary steps to introduce Hamimelon to their resident cat, even reviewing all of Jackson Galaxy's videos on how to properly introduce a new cat into their home. Unfortunately, nothing worked and Hamimelon was relegated to the bathroom for the three weeks that they had her for fear of being attacked by their resident cat. They made the heartbreaking decision to return Hamimelon back into VOKRA's care for the betterment of both cats.

I had wanted to pair Hamimelon with her sister but as luck would have it, on the day that Hamimelon was returned to me was the same day that a viewing was set up for Mom and Watermelon. The adoptions coordinator and myself informed the potential adopters of Mom and Watermelon that they also had the option of adopting the two siblings as well.

They ultimately chose to keep to their adoption plan and go with Mom and Watermelon. They will be picked up on Sept. 26, which means that Hamimelon would be adopted out as a single kitten again. I know that the adoptions team (and myself) will be extra vigilant in ensuring that the next home Hamimelon goes to the resident cat will be either (a) an easy going cat; or (b) used to having other cats in their space. I would hate to have Hamimelon returned back to VOKRA again or live a life of fear in a home that she is not welcomed in (by the resident cat).

* ADOPTED *
Honeydew & Watermelon
(Sept. 26, 2021)

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

ADOPTED - CATALOUPE & WINTERMELON

Cataloupe and Wintermelon have found their forever home! They have been adopted together by a wonderful family with two young kids, aged 5 and 7 respectively. Each child chose the kitten that they wanted by the kittens' profile pictures. The little boy chose Wintermelon, while the little girl chose Cataloupe.

The kittens will be staying with me for a few more weeks while their furever family goes on holidays before picking them up on Aug. 29. The kittens will almost be 13 weeks old by that time, so two weeks longer than I would normally have them. Kittens are all ready for adoption after all of their vaccinations/deworming/defleaing have been done and when they reach 11 weeks of age.

Cataloupe and Wintermelon are going to have so much fun playing with their new brother and sister!

- ADOPTED -
Wintermelon & Cataloupe (Aug. 29, 2021)

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

BATCH #24 - TORTIE INVASION

I picked up Batch #24 shortly after seeing the call out for foster homes by the owner of VOKRA. Apparently 40+ cats & kittens were surrendered from a hoarding situation in Abbotsford and Ops was overrun by all these kitties that needed foster homes ASAP.

I am now fostering a young Mom (probably 1 or 1.5 years old) and four of her 7.5 week old kittens. As they are all torties, they are all female. A male tortie is very rare to behold. I haven't had torties since my very first batch of kittens, way back in Nov. 2013.

The Mom and one of her kittens are very shy and were hiding and showing a lot of fear in their eyes and posture, while the other three kittens had no issues with being picked up, pet and cuddled by me.

My sister used to own a cat named 'Melon' with very similar coloring to this batch. So, I thought I'd name this batch after different kinds of melons:

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

MAMA PASTA - ADOPTED

Mama Pasta had a line of up of people wanting to adopt her, but after her spay the vet noticed her panting and wanted to give her a week's worth of medication to combat what he thought was an issue he heard in her chest. There was never a problem with her panting after her first week with me, but I attributed that purely due to stress.

After waiting the week and giving her medication (which she was totally great at taking because she knew she was getting treats shortly thereafter), I brought her back to the vet for a follow-up appointment. The vet didn't hear any change in her chest and I again reiterated my feelings that her panting was due to stress and being in a different environment.

Once she got back home, she was back to her playful, sweet self. Her new adoptive family is a lovely young couple that have no children or other pets at home, so Mama Pasta (they are keeping her name!) will have the two all to herself. I love seeing the updates on her Instagram page (@mamapasta7), although my only wish is that they were more active. I want to see ALL.THE.PICTURES!

ADOPTED - June 13, 2021

All drugged up after her spay

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

ALL ADOPTED - BATCH #23

In all the years that I've been fostering, this has got to been a first. There are too many available adopters and not enough available kittens to be adopted. Even Mama Pasta has a waiting list of 10-12 people. It's a great situation to be in. VOKRA even stopped accepting applications because the list was getting enormously long (I was told it was in the hundreds).

As soon as my kittens were vaccinated, they were all scooped up by eager families. My two panthers were adopted together by a family whose father had the exact same first & last name as my brother. I was surprised that they were willing to adopt two panthers as most people prefer kittens with coloring. The family knew this fact and were perfectly happy to adopt black kittens as they are always the last to be chosen from a litter - rarely the first. Cannelloni and Ravioli are now Sesame and Mochi.

ADOPTED: Cannelloni & Ravioli
(May 6, 2021)

Two of my tuxedo kittens went to a retired couple who had been waiting pre-Covid for kittens. The husband is a retired doctor and the wife is a writer. They have all the time in the world to play and cuddle with these two. I get frequent updates by email with accompanying pictures, which I'm so grateful for. This is one of the pictures that the new adopters sent me. They're so big already!

ADOPTED: Penne & Lasagna
(April 29, 2021)

Baby girl Ziti was adopted out as a buddy kitten to a family that had a resident cat at home. The husband was set on Ziti as soon as he saw pictures of her, while the wife left it to whichever kitten choose her. Of course, with Ziti being so friendly and sweet, I wasn't surprised that they fell head over heels for her. Just look at that face! Ziti is now called Minou.

ADOPTED: Ziti (May 2, 2021)

We're just waiting for Mama Pasta to be spayed and then she'll be getting a new home as well.

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

WEANING

It's been 7 weeks since I've taken on the Pasta Batch and their spicy Momma.  The kittens are now 8 weeks old and I've gotten their biographies and profile photos uploaded to the database in preparation for their adoptions.

Mama Pasta took about a week to get her spice level from a ferocious Level 10 to a mild Level 1. She still spooks easily if you move too quickly towards her or make any sudden noise, but overall she's a very cuddly, attention seeking cat.

LEVEL 10

LEVEL 10

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 1

Her kittens have each developed their own unique personalities, with the two panthers being the most friendly and playful. I've found throughout my years of fostering that the black kittens are almost always the most loving, cuddly and sweet. The tuxedo kittens are SO SOFT. Their fur is like silk when you pet them. Lasagna is the most shy of the kittens, Penne the most vocal and Ziti the most willing to play with me.

Cannelloni

Lasagna

Penne

Ravioli

Ziti

Now that the kittens are approaching adoption age, I've been slowly weaning the kittens off of their mother's milk by only allowing 1 or 2 kittens with her at a time. They all get to stay with her throughout the night, but I'll be ensuring that they slowly get used to eating more solids and having their mother's milk as a treat. Therefore, I've made Mama Pasta a 'weaning shirt' out of an old tank top. She may look a bit silly, but it does what it's meant to do.

I've put in a request for their vaccinations. Once that's done, then it's just a waiting game to find adopters for these cutie pies and their Momma!

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

BATCH #23 - GIVE THEM SOME SPACE

While I was out and about, riding my new e-bike with hubby, I received a call from my foster coordinator that a mom and her 2-week old kittens (5 of them) were at Operations Centre and if I could go and pick them up today as VOKRA doesn't like to have unvaccinated kittens at Ops. 

I was told that Mom was a bit scared and hissy. No problems for me as I've dealt with my fair share of scared and hissy Mom cats and kittens. Give them a week or two and they'll be loving all the cuddles and kisses that I'm sure to be planting on them every minute of every hour of every day of the week/months that they will be with me.

Looks like these kittens will be long-haired majestic beauties!

***

Can see the fear in her eyes?

Let's see how long it takes to turn her into a cuddle bug.

BATCH #22 - ABSENT MINDED

I can't believe I've fostered a whole batch of kittens and TOTALLY forgot to post about them here. I'm a prolific vlogger on Instagram, but obviously totally absent minded when it comes to my blog. My apologies.

Batch #22 arrived on Sept. 25, 2020. A mom with her 5 kittens (all boys). At the suggestion of my sister, I named the kittens after the Backstreet Boys. I tried my best to get the kittens to match their namesakes.

What do you think? Did I do a good enough job?

AJ

Brian

Howie

Kevin

Nick

These kittens were all really sweet (but aren't all kittens?!?). The two in the 'Pink Nose Club' received a lot of comments about how truly pink their little noses were. So boopable!

Nick & Howie - The Pink Nose Club

I thought it was adorable when my little nephew asked me why AJ was so 'angry'. I had to explain that AJ wasn't angry ... that's just how his face looks. 

RBF - Cat Version

I had this batch longer than normal as they were going through diarrhea issues.  So, instead of them being adopted out at 10 - 11 weeks, they were with me for an additional 2 weeks. 

Nick, Brian and Kevin were adopted out as single kittens to families that already had cats at home, while Howie and AJ were adopted out together to a family with two small children. From the updates, these kittens are very much loved by their new families. 

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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