I guess this would be the "J" litter?

But you will notice that they don't look all that much like kittens! They are about kitten sized (I should weigh them), but they are 4 week old puppies!

I was told that they are Aussie mix puppies... and if you look at the picture of the whole litter (11 of them!) I can buy that...But if you look at the two little girls they gave me, they sure look like little pitbull mixes...
They were desperate for foster homes for these guys... I really don't have the space, time, or energy to rear these pups until they are old enough for adoption, but they were really begging so I said I could take a pair for a week or so until a longer term foster home cold be found. They tried to talk me into 3 or 4 of them... but I thought 2 would be plenty! There are still more looking for foster homes though :(
They mostly sleep, eat, and make huge messes. I am trying to find out if it is OK to bathe 4 week old puppies because they are SO STINKY!!!! They really should be with their mother still, but there is no mom for whatever reason. They are eating gruel pretty well and are very bright and alert. They are such messy little buggers that I have resorted to lining the entire ex-pet with puppy training pads. Not the cheapest things, but I think will be important for my sanity this week!

Even though I am not keeping them the entire time, I still get to name them...

The "I" Litter is here!

The "I" litter kittens came home yesterday. They are about 6 weeks old and are all about 1.5 pounds. Names I am considering include Indigo, Isis, Ink, and Izzy. There are 2 males and a female... I'm open to more name suggestions!

These kittens were left in a box on the doorstep of the shelter a two nights ago. Poor babies! They seemed OK yesterday at the shelter until just before I was going to leave with them when the little girl started vomitting and at least one of them had diarrhea. I considered not taking them, but figured they had a better chance last night if I took them. So I took them home and worried endlessly... The female and one of the males were so listless. The other kitten seemed great though, and ate on his own. The female continued to vomit a few more times and was very withdrawn. I was having flashbacks to my very first set of kittens and was so worried that she wasn't going to make it through the night.

An hour or so before bed I decided to mix up some kitten milk replacer formula and more or less force feed the two weaker kittens using a syringe. Even though they are plenty old enough to be eating solid food, if they were just taken from them mother (who knows, since nobody bothered to officially surrender them and fill out a form) they may not have been ready for food. The vomit from the female was all undigested kibble... like she maybe gourged herself and made herself sick. With some effort, I got both kittens to eat a few cc's of formula and observed them for the next hour. They both kept it down and actually seemed a little perkier. Perhaps they were just low blood sugar or something? I gave them both more formula and crossed my fingers that they would make it through the night.

And they did, and seem sooooo much better today! The female is now eating on her own, not vomitting, and they are all starting to play. One of the males is not eating on his own, but I'm not sure if it is the same one from yesterday or not! I clipped the nails on the one I thought was eating yesterday, but not that one is not eating! So I don't know if I clipped the wrong one, or if they are taking turns. In anycase, the all seem much better today so hopefully we are through the critical hours!

The H kitties

The motley H crew... they are from three different litters, but were all about the same age so were sent to me as a group.

From left to right are Hansel, Harold, Holden, and Hosta.

Hal and Hosta went back for surgery and adoption first, followed a week later by the little boys, Harold and Holden. Holden had the dubious distinction of being incredibly food aggressive. I've never seen that in a kitten before, but he did seem to get a little better after a few weeks.

The other kitty of note was Hansel... he was a very hissy little guy when I got him, but I am pleased to say that by the time I returned him he was no longer hissing. Very satisfying!

G Litter - Eyes wide open!

Grace is doing great... getting more and more friendly and I think actually putting on some weight. She is still very skinny, but I feel like she is a little less so.

Garden (white female?), Gravy (light gray male?) and Grover (dark gray male?) have all doubled in weight since their arrival and are now tipping the scales at about a pound. I just can't believe how quickly they are growing! They will be 8 weeks and 2 pounds before I know it!They just get cuter and cuter! They still stick very close to their den, but they are using their legs more and are starting to interact with each other more and more. I estimate their age to be 3-4 weeks, so I will be starting to introduce the litterbox and food to them soon.

As a good mom, I shouldn't play favorites... but I do have four favorites. Grace is my favorite because she is being such a good mom and now comes running when she sees me (with food, albeit). Garden is my favorite because she is the most outgoing and brave of the babies. Gravy is my favorite because he is pretty much the cutest kitten I've ever seen. And last but not least, Grover is my favorite because he is such a fat and mellow little guy!

"G" is a grand new adventure!

The "G's" arrived yesterday... my first queen and kittens! The mom seemed a little sketched out at first, but it turns out that she is actually quite friendly and sociable. And better yet, she seems to be taking very good care of her babies!
There are three kittens... I was told they are about 2 weeks old, but given that none of them have opened their eyes yet, I think they are probably younger. Although they are all about 8 ounces which seems pretty big, so who knows?

I haven't attempted to figure out their genders yet, but here they are in no particular order....

The white one:
The dark gray:
And the light gray (with the dark gray and with some imagination, the white on the far left):They haven't left the crate yet, although the mom will leave them from time to time. They basically sleep, nurse, and wiggle around.

I am looking forward to watching them go through all the developmental stages over the next 8 weeks! Then the lot of them will be altered and put up for adoption.

Oh, and for names... I think I am going with Grace for the mom (she seems like a Grace, and I have always liked the name). For the babies, I am considering Gravy, Greta, Grover, and Garden. Name assignments are pending gender assignments and better suggestions from everyone :)

"F" is for Fiyero

Fiyero was picked up as a stray with a horribly injured tail... I assisted with his tail amputation surgery and then offered to take him home while he healed.After 3 weeks of healing, the big mellow tailless guy was ready to go out for adoption... no update yet, but I suspect he will have no trouble finding a new home!

"E" is for Elise

Elise came next... she was also a young kitten needing to gain some weight to be eligible for surgery and adoption.Elise was adopted the day she went up for adoption!