Because of Leo & Adrienne

Our babies are getting so big, and because of the love of others we're blessed to have them. We were fortunate to meet Leo on the day we adopted Remi (formerly named Bozo - which may be a more accurate name). Leo and Adrienne were Remi's first parents. On 9/6 while going home, Leo heard the kittens cries. After 3 days of searching, he found Remi and her sister, both under 10 oz., dehydrated and unable to care for themselves. Leo and Adrienne's began their mission of love to bring these babies back to life. Hand feedings and lots of care resulted in them being perfect candidates for adoption. Remi's sister was adopted before we arrived at the Humane Society, and I'm sure is in a good home. Remi now has 3 sisters and a new Mommy and Daddy who are forever grateful to her first parents.

Remi is such a little tomboy. She loves playing with Roxy and then will fall asleep cuddling her. Remi is quicker and more agile. Roxy, more focused. Both are sweet and cuddly but Remi is the baby. She loves to be carried like a baby and falls asleep in your arms if you rub her head.

If you ever wondered if there are still good, wonderful, loving people left in this world, just ask me, I know the answer is YES!

Thank you Leo and Adrienne!

Bed Making 101

Step 1 - Remove kitten and smooth out bottom sheet.

Step 2 - Pull up top sheet - Remove 2 kittens

Step 3 - Take top sheet back off and remove 3 toys left in sheets.

Step 4 - Remove kittens and pull up top sheet

Step 5 - Smooth top sheet, remove kittens and toys which have all reappeared

Step 6 - Pull comforter up, remove kitten again

Step 7 - Wash and sanitize scratch on hand from kitten who wanted her toy back

Step 8 - Find the bandaids to cover wound

Step 9 - Remove toys and kittens from bed, smooth top sheet again

Step 10 - Throw toys into another room - quickly pull up comforter before kittens with toys return.

Step 11 - Remove kittens and toys from bed. Place pillows neatly on bed.

Step 12 - Throw toys again and smooth out comforter.

Step 13 - Realize that the bed is never going to look neat again, accept it, and make yourself a cup of coffee.

Mommy Went Out - Oh No!

Today was "Mommy's Day Out". She had a wonderful lunch with Remi & Roxy's beautiful Aunties (Linda, Debbie, & Patsy). Then she went and met Grandma and Grandpa at Home Depot for shopping. I left Honu in charge before I left - and while I'm sure she did her best, she must have had a tiring day watching the kids. Here's what I found upon returning home.... Gizmo on her pillows once again trying to pretend the rest of the family doesn't exist, Honu on the kitty condo looking very tired. Remi sleeping in the sink, and Roxy on the couch sleeping looking like a bear rug (see photo). Sounds fine, right, well, except that the rest of the house was covered with toilet paper. Apparently, Mommy forgot to close the bathroom door, and Remi & Roxy decided it was "project time". No wonder everyone was so tired. Sorry Honu.

Grandpa's Birthday

It's Grandpa's Birthday and as you can see, his gift was on the table so that I wouldn't forget it when we went out for brunch. Next thing I know, there was Remi clawing her way through the tissue paper and making herself comfortable in the gift bag. I told Grandpa that whatever is in the bag belongs to him (yes, Remi included). Grandpa took the bag, but last I checked, Remi was still here. I better go and call Grandpa and let him know he left part of his gift behind.

Play Time

There has to be at least 50 kitty toys in this house. We have scratch toys, cat nip toys, mice, birds, throw toys... you name it, we've bought it at one time or another. BUT, of all the toys, old and new, what's with the pink mouse? There's a brown mouse, a black mouse, a white mouse.... no, only the pink mouse will do. And what happens when you have 2 kittens and 1 toy they both want? You guessed it, kitten fight. Remi is quicker, but Roxy is stronger and more focused... she usually gets the pink mouse... then, she won't give it up. She carries it everywhere and growls if you get close to her. Daddy doesn't get it, but I kind of do.... they are girls, and it is pink, right? Here is Roxy and her favorite "the infamous pink mouse".

It's All About Honu

Today is all about Honu. She still is not feeling great, although she seems better than she was. She threw up again today, and is still really grouchy. Poor Remi and Roxy don't really understand why she has no patience with them. Today she was laying on the floor, irritated and tail wagging. Remi saw that tail wagging and just couldn't resist. Within a second she was on that tail. Within another second Honu was hissing and smacking her in the head. Oops, I tried to tell Remi to leave Honu alone. Tonight I decided to make Honu a treat so I baked her some fish and delivered it to her in the bedroom. She did take a couple of bites. Hopefully she'll be better soon, Remi & Roxy sure miss her!

Kitties are Starting to Feel Better

Remi and Roxy are starting to feel better. Play, play, play, fight, fight, fight, destroy, destroy, destroy. I can't keep up. Here they are taking a brief but much needed (for me) rest. Unfortunately, they decided to "rest" on the kitchen counter. I don't get it....

Giving Medicine to Cats - Not Fun

Ok, so I mentioned that both Remi and Roxy are taking medicine for their colds. Not too bad - they hate having the eye ointment but they get over it. Honu is a different story. Unfortunately Honu will not leave the house. Not in a carrier, not in your arms - you could practically have the front door open and try and push her out and she will fight you. On the rare occcasion that she has been forced to go into the carrier and go for a ride, it has been a problem - each and every time she has had an "accident" in the carrier. And it's really really bad - and she is completely traumatised. So, with her having a tummy ache and me not wanting to upset her further by a trip to the vet unless I absolutely have to, I went to the pet store and bought a homeopathic treatment for her tummy. It's drops that you can "easily" put in her mouth, and it is supposed to help. I think before they put "easily" on any advertisement relating to cats, they should have to test it on Honu - that should be the law. If it works on her, then it can be legal to put it on their label. Here's how it went... Honu was on the bed. I went to her, petted her, told her I loved her and that I had bought her some tummy medicine. Honu looked at me like I was an idiot. I then took Honu in my arms and tried to "easily give her some drops". Yeah, fat chance. By the time I was done, Honu was really mad and I had a big scratch on my leg and a small one on my arm. I'm off to get some body armor before the next dose is due.

A Trip to the Vet

Oh No! On Tuesday Roxy started sneezing. On Wednesday it continued and her eyes looked a little runny. I called the vet and they said bring her in at 3:30pm. By 11:00am, her eyes really started looking bad and she just wanted to lay around - not Roxy at all. Then Remi started to sneeze. I called the vet back and said I was bringing both of them.
Off to the vet we went - I must say, my little kitten girls were well behaved - well, up to the thermometer part which they didn't like at all. Everyone kept coming in the room to see them - they are so cute and just sat on my lap like little angels. I must say I was quite proud. They both have an infection - the doctor said it's not uncommon and perscribed antibiotics and eye ointment. I'm in charge of giving the antibiotics which is quite easy - place the liquid in a syringe, shoot it in their mouth, done. The eye ointment requires both Daddy and I and they are not happy. I just want my poor kitties to feel better.
And wait, it gets worse - now Honu is not feeling well - she started throwing up. The only one who seems just fine is the one I worry most about, our old lady kitty Gizmo, but luckily she seems fine.

Gizmo & Roxy - Cat & Kitten

Gizmo's heart has officially been melted. She will now let Roxy and Remi cuddle up with her - yes, she sometimes looks irritated - but hey, she is 20 years old - actually I think she enjoys them. Remi and Roxy will run around tearing up the house, and Gizmo sits quietly watching them, maybe reliving her own kitten days. I remember she was quite the naughty kitty herself.

Remi the Kitten - No Fear When It Comes to Food

As I mentioned before, as cute as Remi is, she isn't the brightest crayon in the box. She doesn't seem to know when to walk away and leave Honu alone - the result - several slaps in the head from Honu. After a few slaps, she'll learn and avoid Honu - EXCEPT when it comes to food - she has no fear. To keep everyone happy, we made 2 feeding areas, one for the kittens, one for the big cats - ok, so I guess that wasn't the brightest idea because Remi knows no boundries when it comes to food. She will push Roxy, Gizmo, and even Honu out of the way. Here is Remi and Honu at the "big cats" feeding area. Remi weighs about 2 pounds, Honu, about 25. Go figure.

Remi & Roxy - Love Kittens

Well, it's been a few days and Remi and Roxy are adjusting well. I'm not sure exactly what is happening, but even Honu is starting to mellow out with them. Roxy is determined she will make Honu love her. She waits for Honu to fall asleep, then slowly creeps closer and closer, finally laying right next to her. The first time Honu woke up to her being there, she had a meltdown, but she now just looks at her and leaves her alone.The photo above is Roxy slowing getting closer to Honu. Remi is working on Gizmo, and will find ways to get close and cuddle. Gizmo is mellow and usually is a good sport - she'll walk away if they irritate her too much and for some reason, all Gizmo has to do is to give them the "I'm not happy with you look" and they back off. Honu, on the other hand will slap them in the head if they irritate her. I was a little worried at first but then I realized she never uses her claws and she is not hitting them hard at all.... I guess she just needs to make sure they know she is in charge of this asylum.

Roxy & Remi - Trial and Error

Explore, explore, explore - that's what new kittens do. Good thing the house is already "kittenproofed". After a day of rest, Roxy is full of energy and Remi is trying to keep up. We can really see thier differences. Roxy is so much more mature - Remi - well, not so much - she hasn't quite figured out the litterbox thing - she had an accident on Daddy while he was reading the paper this morning - oh oh, Daddy was not happy. Roxy has figured out how to jump onto the dining room chairs, climb the back to get on the table, and then make it to the counter from there. Remi watches and tries very hard to copy. The humane society said they are both around 8 weeks old but I really think Remi is younger. Today was spent teaching Remi the litter box. I had never had a kitten that didn't get the litterbox thing right away, so I did some reseach - Here's how it goes... Place Remi in the litterbox.... Hold her paws and show her how to dig the litter, pray she gets it. Basically, that didn't work. I added another litter box so she has more options..... this is nuts. What finally taught her? She watched Roxy, then went right in and took care of business... bet Daddy is glad we got 2 now, huh?

Welcome Home Roxy & Remi

On October 22nd, after a trip to the humane society, we welcomed our new additions Remi & Roxy to our family. We knew we would need a kitten to fit in with our two older cats, Gizmo & Honu, so after looking at all of the older cats, we ended up in the kitten room. Remi was an easy choice. She got up on her potential Daddy's lap and fell asleep immediately.... and then didn't move - even when he did. She just readjusted, and went right back to sleep - can you say SOLD? Roxy was playful but sweet and cuddily and although we didn't plan on adding two (well Daddy hadn't planned on getting two), I convinced him that they needed company so they could play together instead of bothering the older cats.....it worked, and home we went.
Big Sisters, Gizmo & Honu we're not very happy with the new additions. Honu who is 5 hissed and growled - a lot! Gizmo who is 20, hissed a little and then went back to sleep, probably hoping it was just a bad dream - sorry Giz, they're here to stay.