KITTEN TAILS

My latest arrivals - three semi-feral kittens who lost their mama - have now been vet checked and pronounced healthy. They tested negative for leukemia, which was a big relief. Now I can begin to socialize them with other cats. I moved them from a cozy bathoom to the kitten play room but they don't know what to do in there. It's a larger area with very few places to hide. I want to help the orphaned kittens learn to interact with the other cats and with me. I hope they'll begin to trust that no one here is going to harm them.

Timmy, Annie, and Gracie seem to be fine with the other kittens, though I did hear a tiny bit of hissing at first. The hissing was from Elliot and Ziggy. Bailey lay in the floor close to one of the kittens and didn't flinch. I'll expose the kittens to each other a little bit each day and hope to eventually see them all playing together. The vet said she thought they'd come around and be good pets in time. They tolerated their exams very well and slept all the way home.

I now have some hope for these little ones. I'm not going to worry about getting them adopted. That will happen when the time is right. For now it will be enough for them to know they are loved and that someone cares. I hope they'll begin to trust me more each day.

Don't you just love Susan Winget's work? Above is the cover of her Advent Calendar. Had I known she had one, I might have ordered it. She's a very talented artist and I always notice the cats she includes in her pictures. She must be a cat lover too!