2 rescue kittens. Cant wait

[kay]

Aww Penny, s/he is so cute, i love his/her little white socks lol

[mamfa]

OMG, how sweet is your new baby??? Just imagine, another one too!!!! Youre so lucky. I adore them as kittens but will just have to make do with your pics so please email some when you get them both home. I have to be sensible otherwise I would be overrun!!! Ive got 2 oldies, 1 is around 10, he was a stray and another who is 8, she was a rescue kitten I saved at 10 weeks old. Theyre my babies (and surrogate kids coz I'm not maternal, he hel!!) and I spoil them rotten. Last year, I did voluntary work at the local RSPCA, I only lasted 2 weeks coz I knew if I stayed there any longer, I would just take them all home!!! I used to go in, feed them, brush them, play with the kittens and try to make them all more human friendly, especially if they had been badly treated. I remember a beautiful cream Siamese in there called Ruben. I desperately wanted to adopt him but he wasnt good with other cats, and much as I wanted him, I had to think of my 2. Apparently his owners were 2 'yuppie' types and they split up and neither wanted him!!! Hello!! A Siamese!!! The poor little thing used to just hide under the feeding counter in his RSPCA 'cell'. He was sooo cute, with his long elegant face, bless. I know Siamese can be really bad tempered but I hope he found a loving, happy home.
So well done Penny, and good luck, and dont forget some piccies when poss too, ... :-)
Love
Sam.....xxxxx

[kay]

Sam, you sound just like me! My brother says im like the mad cat lady off of the Simpsons lol. I love cats. i could never work anywhere like the RSPCA, id brin them all home lol

[janee]

Wow Penny you must be so excited !! What a little cutie ! I too have a big black and white called Cookie who weighs a stone! He's not fat though just a broozer. I think it's something to do with the black and white thing because I know a lot of people who had them and they all say they grew into big 'uns !! I rescued Cookie when he was 3 - he's 13 now and still as spritely as ever (except when he's been asleep for "ages" and his little legs look a little stiff !! (big legs actually!)
Something to think about is that some cats have lactose intolerance - Cookie has - so he either vomits within seconds of eating any dairy or if it manages to pass through he gets terrible diahorrea. His previous owner hadn't bothered to find out why he kept pooing and throwing up all the time - poor thing - but I worked it out and he's fine now. He has such a good nature with his pet humans but my word he's a broozer! Must be his size - he's sure had some fights !! One day I thought I could hear children screaming down the lane but on further investigation I found him literally rolling down the lane holding some white cat in a full body lock !! I managed to break it up (much to his annoyance !) and both sculked away leaving balls of blood stained black and white fur stuck to the bushes in the lane !! In a funny sort of parental way I felt quite proud of him ! (although ensuing vets fees because he got infections from his war wounds were a pain!)
I would definately recommend pet insurance (we never bothered - wish I had) and getting them ID chipped.
Also buy a book from the pet shop - that's what I did at found it very useful for things like when to let them out, litter training etc.
Look forward to seeing more piccies Cheers Janee xx Will look out a photo of said devil ....

[Bronnie]

Hi Janee
This really made me
Please post a pic of Cookie as he sounds such a characterful big boy!!
I love cats too and over the years I've owned or known the following bouncer big uns!
Felix Mustapha - big black and white tom and entire!
Pork Pie- big, black, mean and moody
Ollie- massive black and white boy. Lives next door to my mom and spits and hisses at humans. Would take anyone and anything on.
Shebbyshanks - dark brown and white. Nice personality but the biggest cat I have ever seen and never buried his massive do-dos.
Luv Bxxx

[janee]

Hi Bronnie - glad it made you laugh! I do tend to waffle on at times about anything and everything!! I love those names! Much better for broozers than Cookie! (His previous owner named him after the Cookie Monster). I have to get hubby to help me convert some of my pics to JPEG format then I'll post some pics of the darling boy - Cheers Janee x

[penny]

thanks all, we went to see them yesterday and they are gorgeous, the other is reverse colours(mostly white but black tummy and socks) girls have called them toffee and snuggles. We are visiting again next week then collect them when we get back from france (15th aug)

yes janee i have bought a book but the book said once they have had immunisations at 10 weeks they can go out, however lady from cats protection league said i cant let them out til 6 months as they are too little?? would love your views on this. plus she said she only feeds them dried food but i thought they should have both? and she has asked for a voluntary contribution on collection? ahhhhhhh what should i give dont want to be mean but dont want to pay over odds? she has also massive shocked me by telling me they do not sleep through they wake for feeding every 3 hours is this usual??

thanks to all experts on cats much appreciated and sure more questions on way. (sorry to sindy as she is taking back burner at mo!!)

[kay]

When our cats had had their immunisations we let them out, only in the garden at first and we stayed with them while they were out there. When we wanted them to come back we got a tub filled with cat treats and shook it loudly so that the cat would come in, as soon as they did they got a treat. They soon learned not to stray too far and that when they came home they got food lol. You may also want to get them mirco chipped before they go out just in case they do wander off. At night we left kitten milk and dried food down for them, they never woke us. as soon as they know its there they will get it when they want it. When they were old enough we gave them little amounts of wet meat so that there stomach's got used to it (be warned it may go straight through them at first!) Once they were able to handle the wet meat we just put it down for them and they ate it when they wanted it. The whiskas website send out free kitten packs if your interested registration.mars.com/oods/WhiskasCarePack.aspx

[janee]

Hi Penny - can't help you with the kitten things like soft food and waking in the night as I've never reared kittens but I think Kay talks a lot of sense. I'm paranoid about Cookie going out even now but I am soppy over my cats! Partly because one of my childhood cats got run over outside our house and another old girl died under a bush several houses away and we couldn't find her for days.
All cats no matter what age need supervision when venturing out for the first time in a new home as they can get lost. Also there is the risk of bumping into broozers like my Cookie - who'd probably eat little kittens for breakfast! If it was me I'd make a judgement on their individual personalities - if they seem bold then maybe do what Kay says, but if they are nervy then wait til they're older.
As for the "voluntary" donation - why not take some cat food and blankets? Perhaps this would be more useful than money? Sorry I can't be more useful - oh yes and I've always given Cooks both dry and meat feed but again not sure when it's ok to give meat to kitties. The other thing I thought about is cleaning their teeth. Some advice says that cats who aren't getting their food via killing stuff don't get adequate teeth cleaning (from knawing the bones and sinews and stuff) so maybe you could try getting them used to having their teeth cleaned! Cooks was too old but I did try, but he has lost a lot of his teeth over the years and the most upsetting was his bottom fang which I cried about!! I'm stupid I know but to me part of a cats looks is the fangs! It might save you vets bills in the future too.
Hope to have helped Cheers Janee xx

[mamfa]

Hi Penny,
Just wanted to give you some more advice. Have loads of cats over years inc kittens from birth (you should have seen me crying over the mother giving birth, anyway thats another story,lol). I have let them out before they are 6mths old but as others have said, stay with them. Another tip is to only let them out when they are hungry, and keep the food nearby, biscuits etc, so they can hear the food rattling, that will distract them from exploring too much at first. Just a note on dried food too (this is my own opinion though after talking to vets over the years), I had a grubby old tom who I adored, 20 odd years ago, and he used to eat nothing but Munchies (or whatever dried biscuits), despite putting various types of other food down for him. He passed away of kidney failure as the food dehydrates them over the years, was told this by my vet at the time. Not sure if this still applies with the emergence of dried foods like Iams etc but I never feed mine just dried food alone, as you cant force a cat to drink (or do anything else for that matter!!!) just to keep thier fluid levels up. As I've said, this is just my opinion, but it may be worth considering or checking in more depth with your own vet... Cant wait for some piccies of them.... :-) lots of love, Sam....xxxx

[penny]

thankyou so much everyone for all your excellent advice i have wrote it all down so i have it too hand! They are now here(yeah) we came home from france a day early as the weather had been awful and ferrys were being cancelled. we set off the day before just in case it took longer to get home. Thank goodness we did, it took 14 hours!!! \The ferry we managed to get on was delayed then we had to circle at dover until we could dock as ports had been shut and there were 5 ferrys before us. It was a choopy crossing and poppy and ophelia were being sick everywhere!!(nightmare) we picked up the kittens on thurs 14th and for 2 days they hid behind sofa until kids had gone to bed then came out for food. ahhhh. they are now a bit braver and stay around when kids are here. threy know where they can run to for shelter. i will take a piccy in morning as battery flat. so glad to be back(saved some spends so gonna have a browse on ebay) x