Adopted by a black kitten.

[alison]

When our last cat Velcro died we said that we would not get another cat because of how painful it is when they pass away. Although we have been tempted (until I saw the price ) to buy a cat in the petshop we have not sucumbed and have done quite well. Last week though a little black kitten between 6-9 months had been hanging round a couple of days.When we saw it eating bread put out for the birds and how skinny it was we melted a little and gave it some ham and tuna over the next day or so. Needless to say she has now wormed her way into our affections and has made herself at home. After the first week of feeding her I thought she was fattening too much round her belly that I wondered if she was pregnant. Oh dear, 5 weeks pregnant and 4 weeks to go so the vet says. So it looks like a little family will soon be living with us. It appears that once a cat has decided it lives here IT LIVES HERE. The vet did try encouraging us to get her spade now but I couldn't do that, to me it would still be killing animals so we will wait and see when she has had the kittens and get her done as soon as she finishes nursing.
We can't think of a name for her so at the moment she is called slinky malinki from the books by Linley Dodd. Lets hope she isn't as much trouble....

[alison]

I thought I had already posted about the kittens but not so it appears. 3 weeks ago last saturday slinky's waters broke on our bed and although she didn't know what was happening she was so good. As you know she was a stray cat and very thin, she had been eating us out of house and home since arriving and even though she was in labour she was still eating. It was so funny to see her as she came downstairs and started eating, then crying, eating and crying and eating and then crying out with each pain.
Eventually she found the only place we didn't want her to find to have the kittens, right under the childrens bunk beds. I am sure you can imagine what a childs bedroom gets like especially under the bed and this was a bedroom with 3 untidy children , with one sleeping on the floor. So there was no room anywhere to move yet she ran in straight under the bed and didn't come out. We had to get a torch to see how slinky was doing but she was brilliant. To say she is only about 9 months old herself she has been a great mum. She moved the kittens after about a week or so to just under the head of our bed on my side. They keep waking me up with their mewing in the night but they are lovely. She had 4 black kittens. Goodness knows how we are going to find homes for them, we are tempted to keep them all but will really have to think about that. So from having no cats for a year or so and not thinking of ever having any more we now have five.

[alison]

Some pics of the kittens. The last picture is mum, slinky malinki. She is adorable so I guess the kittens will all be too!

[alison]

The last of the kittens went to it's new home last night. We have kept one kitten and it's mummy slinki malinki. They have really grown so much and have been a joy to have here. Luckily we have found good homes and in a couple of weeks we will be having slinki made spade so no more problems after that. She is so quick at trying to get out which is the last thing we want as she could be caught any time and end up with another litter. She has been a perfect mum and now I am trying to keep her away from her little kitten so she can let her milk dry up, which will be quite hard as she has always fed them well.
I am still trying to think of a name for the kitten as now we know which one we have left we can hopefully put a name that suits him. It is funny because I had a dream where I chose it's name but when I woke up I had forgotten it. It might end up being a jasper or a bagpuss or even midnight. Any suggestions welcome but we have never called them a childs name.

[alison]

Slinki has now recovered from her operation. She managed to get out on the evening of the night before she was going in. What a panic I was in after keeping her in for the past 10 weeks she escapes at the 11th hour. Anyway all was well and she soon returned.
We have called the little one Jasper and he is into everything. I have to wear a mask at night as I have sleep apnoea and on occasion I have found him sitting on top of my mask in the night but one night as I put the mask on and turned it on the rush of air didn't seem the same and I soon found out the reason was because Jasper had grabbed hold of the long tube and managed to put a tiny hole in with either his claws or had bitten it with those very sharp teeth. The air was escaping out of it. Luckily we had some tape and taped it up so it is as good as new.
Yesterday I was sitting on the sofa and suddenly jasper who was sitting on the back of the sofa jumped straight on to my head and clasped his claws into my shoulders. It was such a shock because as he was sitting along the back wall I had forgotten he was there and I was leaning forward doing some crafting when he just launched himself.
He is so funny though. The other day He ran straight up the stairs and into the bathroom opposite, jumped up on to the toitet and promptly fell into the clean water as I hadn't had a chance to put the lid down. He is just so fast. He gives us such enjoyment. They are like whirlwinds when they both decide to play together.

[retropwr]

Phew that was close. I was working in your neck of the woods around the time you had the kittens and having lost our 14 year old cat in May to accute kidney failure I might have been tempted had I been reading these posts then.

I'm hoping to adopt from the local Cats Protection but will probably wait a couple more months.

[alison]

What a shame about your cat. They do become a part of the family and it is very sad when they pass away.
This is Jasper now at five months old. He is nearly as big as his mum. He is into everything and no matter how many times you tell him to not do it he continues to do things just as he pleases. He is a lot cuter than this pic shows and is very friendly except when he and slinky are chasing each other across the room and my furniture.

[retropwr]

I meant to post about our new family member ages ago. The original plan was to get an older cat from the local Cats Protection but at Easter, (yes Easter, I've been meaning to post since then) but my sister told me of a friend who was going to have to put their 1 year old kitten up for adoption as their young son had a really bad alergic reaction to her.

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[retropwr]

And here she is watching her favorite 'TV' program.

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[alison]

Oh Richard. She is beautiful.
I can't believe that Jasper is already a year old and he is an uncle as our female kitten has had a litter herself now of 5 kittens. Luckily they have all been given good homes.