WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

I've never fostered a kitten with a known disability or birth defect before ... until now.

One of my foster kittens from this batch was born with defective hind legs. 

His front paws are fine, but as you can see from the above picture his hind legs should not be facing towards the sky.

When I observe Phoenix dragging himself across the floor to get back to his litter mates or Mom, it simply breaks my heart.

I don't know if his Mom senses that he has a defect, but there's been a couple of times now that I've found Phoenix outside of the box and crying all alone. There was another time when Mom moved all her kittens from one side of the bathroom to another and left poor Phoenix behind. Is she doing this on purpose? Is it preferential treatment? Either way it's so sad that it could make others, without a strong resolve, absolutely break down into tears.

Mom has not shown any harm towards Phoenix, but if she does I will return Phoenix back to the original foster for future care. As for his back legs, he's too young to get any type of corrective surgery. I'm also wondering if surgery can even be done to correct this kind of deformity or whether amputation will have to be the ultimate reality. Whatever way VOKRA decides to deal with this, I do hope that euthanasia is not ever considered. There are plenty of loving people out there that would take full on the care of a disabled kitty.

I named him Phoenix in the hopes that he will "Rise From the Ashes" to become a majestic, thriving creature. 

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

ANOTHER BATCH OF POLYDACTYL KITTENS

What are the chances of getting two different polydactyl batches in two years? Highly unlikely, but then again here we are.

I picked up this batch after their mother (a calico), gave birth to them on July 23rd. At two days old, these kittens are the youngest that I've ever fostered in my 11 years of fostering.

I initially had this batch named after nuts, but there was another batch of kittens in the VOKRA database already named after nuts. So, I had to settle with a mythical creatures themed batch. Here they are:

Momma is a Calico and her five babies are as follows:

PHOENIX - male, grey tabby

GRIFFIN - male, champagne tabby

DRAGON - TBD, tiger coloured tabby

PEGASUS - male, black & white tabby/tuxedo

MERMAID - female, calico

Hopefully, when these kittens grow a bit bigger, I'll be able to ascertain what sex Dragon is and also re-confirm the sexes of the others as stated on their intake sheets.

I've already clipped all of Mom's multiple toe nails and as much of the kittens nails as I could reach. With their toe beans being so small, and them being such squirmy worms, it was hard to get each and every nail.

Being polydactyl cats, they have so many extra digits to contend with but it's so adorable.

At two days old, they won't be available for adoption until the last week of September / first week of October. As I continue my travels on October 4th, I don't believe I'll be seeing this batch through to adoption. Until that time comes when I must hand this batch over to another foster, I'll cuddle and love them as much as I possibly can.

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association
https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

ALL THE COOKIES HAVE BEEN CONSUMED

It has been a very quick five weeks, but all of my foster kittens from my Cookies Batch have been adopted into four loving homes.

Adoption #1: Biscotti

ADOPTED!
Biscotti - July 3, 2024

Biscotti's new family had recently lost one of their VOKRA alumni kitties and knew that the remaining sibling needed company. With Biscotti's easy going nature, they fell in love almost immediately.

Adoption #2: Macaron & Shortbread

ADOPTED!
Macaron & Shortbread
July 3, 2024

Family #2 also had not only one, but two of their VOKRA alumni kitties pass away. All within a two week span, which was devastating for the family. One of the kitties was a senior cat, so it was not a big surprise but the second passing was a surprise and dealt an emotional blow to the family. They were initially only looking to get one kitty from my Cookies Batch, but after playing with this litter the family couldn't decide on which kitten to take between Macaron and Shortbread. The solution? Adopt them BOTH!

One of the boys in this family was celebrating a birthday, so VOKRA and the parents rushed to coordinate all the paperwork to get the adoption done on the day of the boy's birthday and surprise him with newly adopted kittens! They even blind folded him and brought him into the house that way. Needless to say, the family is beyond overjoyed at the addition of these two sweethearts.

The updates that the family has been sending me still show that the two kittens have their coloured collars on. I guess they want to make sure that they can still distinguish one kitten from the other!

Adoption #3: Coco Chip & Snickerdoodle

ADOPTED!
Coco Chip (L) & Snickerdoodle (R)
July 8, 2024

My sister has been on the adoption wait list since last year, waiting for me to get back from my travels to adopt kittens from a batch that I fostered. As soon as I told her that I had champagne coloured kittens, she knew that she was going to adopt a couple of kittens from this batch.

As my sister had been waiting on the wait list for so long, she was at the top of the list to chose from which kittens she wanted and her son immediately gravitated towards Snickerdoodle. They even kept Snickerdoodle's name! Coco Chip was my brother-in-law's choice and they did end up changing Coco Chip's name to 'Sesame'.

I've been told that the kittens are so quiet and only meow when they are hungry and when the kittens first see them in the morning. Other than that, the kittens are very quiet.

I love that I can see these two grow up as my sister and brother-in-law are always sending me updates!

Adoption #4: Madeleine aka Mady

 

ADOPTED!
Mady - July 18, 2024

Mady went through a viewing with a family that initially wanted to adopted her. The adopter had given her confirmation to the adoption team that she was going to add Mady to her household of two other cats. But after a series of requests for more photos of Mady, and then more videos of Mady and then more videos of Mady playing with her siblings, I finally told the potential adopter that she could see all the video and pictures that she wanted on my Instagram page @fostering_kittehs. The next day, the adopter suddenly decided to back out of the adoption. I don't know what she saw in those pictures and videos to make her change her mind, but obviously she saw something that did.

Oh well, onto the next adopter. It did take several days to get Mady back onto the database and find new potential adopters as the waitlist for this batch was cleared when the last adopter indicated that she would adopt Mady. So, four days later another couple was found and they adored how sweet (and tiny!) Mady was. She was the runt of my litter and definitely had a special place in my heart.

These adopters took a 45-minute bus ride and then walked 10 blocks down from the bus stop to view Mady (all in the high 20+ degree heat!). Once they confirmed that they were indeed adopting Mady, I offered to drive Mady to them instead of subjecting them and Mady to the travel time to and from my home to theirs.

Batch 29

My Cookies Batch have all been consumed. They were all so sweet and yummy! 

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

GIVE ME ALL THE COOKIES

While I was away on holidays in Europe, my Foster Coordinator emailed me to see if I was ready for some foster kittens. I was finishing up my last week of holidays when I received her message, so I told her that I'd let her know as soon as I stepped foot back home.

Much to my surprise, I had to actually wait (a whole week!) for my next batch of kittens. It was definitely worth the wait as the kittens that I was bestowed were a beautiful batch of 6 long furred babies whose mother had decided that she didn't want anything to do with them any longer.

I was told when I arrived at VOKRA Operations Centre (and also forewarned by my Foster Coordinator) that these kittens would require a lot of work and one-on-one time as they were spitting and hissing at everyone. I'm always up to the challenge of taming feral, hissing and spitting kittens.

After bringing them home, I determined (quite quickly in fact) that they were indeed NOT feral and pretty much stopped hissing and spitting at me by that evening. Only one kitten continues to hiss, but I think it's just his coping mechanism and that he doesn't really mean it.

As you can guess for the title, I've named these kittens after cookies. So, without further ado, here are my furry batch of cookies:

 

My youngest sister and her family have been on the VOKRA wait list since last year, after their ginger cat passed away. They've been waiting for me to return home and to get another batch of kittens. They wanted to adopt from my current batch as soon as they saw that the kittens were ginger coloured and were extremely fluffy and so, so cute!

My little nephew immediately bonded with Snickerdoodle and has been asking when he could take him home.

There is a process in which any family that wants to adopt from VOKRA needs to take before adopting kittens or cats. First and foremost, they must complete an adoption application. Once completed, the adopters will be paired with an adoption counsellor who will speak to the adopters about their home situation, what they are looking for in a kitten/cat and any other details the adopters wish to share. My sister has advised her counsellor that she wants to be on the list (if not at the top of the list) to adopt a couple of my foster kittens. Of course, her chances of adopting my kittens will totally depend on how long they have been waiting on the adoption list and whether people who have been on that list longer have specific requests to adopt ginger kittens.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them!

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association
https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

HEMINGWAY KITTENS (aka) POLYDACTYL KITTENS

Did you know that the great writer, Ernest Hemingway has a home in Key West, Florida (now the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum) that houses 40 - 50 polydactyl cats? Polydactyl cats are known to have extra digits on the front and back paws. I've been told that the record of most digits on a cat is 28.

This batch of kittens and their Mommy are all polytactyl cats, which means that they have an extra toe on at least two or more paws. And they really do look like they are wearing mittens!

I've never seen a polydactyl cat in real life, let alone foster six of them! And they are the sweetest kittens. So easy going and the two tabbies are very friendly. They are usually the first kittens to come out and greet me, besides Mommy.

I know these kittens are going to be snapped up as soon as they are available for adoption.

HEMINGWAY BATCH

Look at Whiskey Business's paws!

This batch will be vaccinated on Aug. 29 and turn 10 weeks old on Sept. 11, at which time they will start their viewings. I'm sure there will be a line up for these kittens. I wonder which one will be adopted first?

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association
https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

THE FLOWERS HAVE ALL BEEN PICKED

When I receive a batch of foster kittens, I study them and determine what their little quirks and personalities are and think to myself: "These ones will be adopted first" ... only to find out that those ones are adopted LAST or second to last.

That's what happened with this 'Flora' batch. The two chimera kittens, Rose and Tulip, were so unique looking that I thought FOR SURE they would be scooped up first. It wasn't that way at all. The first two kittens to be adopted were the ginger and tabby kittens, Lotus and Magnolia. They were adopted together to a family whose son instantly fell in love with Lotus and thought that Magnolia matched Lotus' energy level and decided to adopt the two together.

ADOPTED!
Magnolia & Lotus (July 17, 2023) 

The next kitten to be adopted was Azalea. She was adopted by a family who, in one fell swoop, adopted three kittens all at once from VOKRA. The family wanted each of their two daughters to have a kitten of their own and the third kitten was for Mom. They loved how cuddly Azalea was, so was picked to be a buddy kitten with a set of siblings from another VOKRA foster.

ADOPTED!
Azalea (July 7, 2023)

The 4th (or second last) kitten to be adopted was one of the chimera kittens, Rose. Rose has a very chill and relaxed nature, which is what the adopters wanted. The adopters had a very shy kitten at home and didn't want a new sibling to overwhelm their resident cat. During the viewing, it only took them 30 minutes to decide that Rose was the perfect fit for their family. They sent me a picture of Rose napping with one of her mommies on the couch. I LOVE receiving updates like this!

ADOPTED!
Rose (July 18, 2023)

One of my Instagram followers had an eye on adopting Mommy Poppy due to her loving and talk-a-tive nature. The adopter had to wait until Poppy was spayed first and then a 5-day waiting period for her stitches to heal before Poppy could be picked up and taken to her forever home.

ADOPTED!
Poppy (July 29, 2023)

My last foster kitten, Tulip had run the gamut of different viewings with potential adopters, but each viewing resulted in the adopter choosing another kitten to adopt. It got to a point where I had to leave on holidays and couldn't see Tulip to finding her furever home. She had to be transferred to another VOKRA foster as Tulip was still not adopted when my holidays came close.

Luckily though, I was advised that Tulip had eventually found her people and that she would be taken to her new home after her vaccination fully activated.

ADOPTED!
Tulip (Aug. 2023)

This batch probably saw the most drama with adoptions that didn't go through for reasons beyond the adopters' control. I am happy that Mommy and all her kittens have found loving homes and hope to see updates of them all as full grown cats in the future.

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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

BATCH #27 IS IN THE HOUSE

I received a message from my Foster Coordinator about a batch of kittens that needed to be moved from their current fostering situation due to that foster needing to go out of town.

I was sent the pictures of the batch of five 7-week old kittens and their Mom and I immediately said "YES"! Although, truth be told, I would have said 'yes' to any batch of kittens.

These kittens have already been given names of flowers, so they are known as the 'FLORA' batch. And within this batch, I have another ginger kitten to foster. As most of you know, ginger kittens are few and far between in my household. These kittens represent #100 - #104 in my foster repertoire and only the third ginger kitten that I have ever fostered.

Being only 7-weeks old, they are rambunctious and oh-so-playful. I am constantly kissing their cute little faces.

They are constantly crashing into the food dish and getting soaked from falling into or running over the water bowl. 

Mom Poppy is so affectionate. She likes to butt my head when I'm leaning down to clean up after them. She's also a talker too. She will have little conversations with you about her day and will ask you how your life is going. Her first night, she was constantly meowing. I wasn't sure if that's her nature or if she was just voicing her concern about being in a new place, but thankfully after night two, she was absolutely quiet. I learnt to play with them and then feed them right before bedtime to keep them quiet throughout the night.

Now, without further a due, here's the FLORA batch:

Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association

https://www.facebook.com/VOKRA

Adoption application:

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