Kitty Cornered

07/31/2023

You'd think there was only one kitten here based on the photos. After Moondust's trip to the vet after sleeping for a jillion hours and not eating, Moonshadow has been kinda low energy, although nothing stops her from eating (she's a chowhound! I bet I could teach her tricks, she's so food motivated). So Moondust has a ton of energy (kinda annoying actually) while Shadow has been sleeping a lot. Bella came out from under the bed at 9:18 AM this morning (A RECORD!) to look down the hall after Steve and the kittens left. I spent much of the night awake worrying about how bloody their first encounter will be. Moondust had a scare when encountering Bella a bit closer than usual and went and hid in the studio. I went and found her and brought her back and she spent a lot of time sitting up real tall trying to see Bella coming and going from under the bed all night. I really want this adjustment period to be over!

07/21/2023

We've had Fleur fostering here for 6 weeks. She's been renamed Bella Swan because she only comes out at night, like a vampire. I've posted a lot of nighttime Blink videos of her activity on my personal IG. Here's a link to a recent one. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cu1LHbMxz8x/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Yesterday we adopted a kitten as an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) for her, although Bella isn't appreciating it yet (!) We are fostering another kitten who was found with her (they were rescued from the 1200 block of Daisy Ave). They're probably litter mates but look nothing alike. Here's a video of them this morning, just being kittens!

Our new kitten I named Esa Bae (ESA and bae) but the shelter name of Moon Lilly gave us ideas for the other one to be called Moonbeam, but then I thought of Moondust because of her color (they were calling her Sunflower but that's all wrong!) Steve wants to call Esa Bae Moonshadow. I told him we can call her that if we foster flunked on and adopted Moondust. 😉

We found out there is a Working Cat program, so potentially Bella could go to a winery, brewery, or ranch and be a working cat. There are predators in ranch or farm situations, but I really don't know if Bella can ever be a pet. The purpose of the kitten is so she has a role model to show her that humans are ok.

06/15/2023

Night 6! Fleur came out of her room (formerly known as The Studio) early, around 6:40pm, while we were both outside. She was headed to the litter box. The bedroom door was inadvertently left open, so when she heard me open the screen door she dashed into the bedroom and hid under the bed. We know this because we again couldn't find her until we looked there. Then we went back and checked the cameras and knew when she came out. She left the bedroom about 15 minutes after Steve went to bed and while I was still in the living room.

We left the bedroom door open about 6 inches so she could examine us from a safe distance, or at least hear us at night. It really added a level of challenge for her, as you can see she kept approaching the door area but kept at a safe distance except for one other time she may have been inside the bedroom for a few minutes. She also spent a lot more time exploring the bathroom.

For Night 7 (tonight) we found her under the bed again, and we don't know when she went in there because she didn't trip the cameras. She's becoming a daytime Ghost Cat now! I'll be leaving the bedroom door open wide so she can come in and out to explore more easily while we're asleep. Stay tuned!

06/14/2023

Night 5! The stalking begins at :45, and the fun at 3:15. It's all over for the furry little interloper by 6:00. Good job, Fleur! Evidently, Imp was a slouch, haha.

06/13/2023

Hiding under the coats at the back of the studio.

06/13/2023

Night 4! She didn't catch the mouse yet. We think it was taunting her from the other side of the gate which is why she kept going to the gate (for you, the bottom of the frame).

So, for Night 5 we've set up a 2nd camera pointed the other way. Let's find out what's really going on.

At the moment she's hiding under the laundry hampers. Less than 15 minutes after our going into the bedroom she was headed for the litter box - then she heard us murmuring quietly and she dashed underneath the platform the hampers sit on. I was watching on the 2nd camera in live mode.

She's just so scared.

06/12/2023

We welcomed a new foster cat on Thursday afternoon.

Our first 72 hours with Fleur have been interesting, with the last 48 hours a bit like living with a ghost. Couldn't find her anywhere. So we moved our Blink camera used for hummingbird watching in the kitchen window to the hallway. So we were able to prove there is a cat in the building. And figure out at least what room she's hiding in.

This video is from Night 3 overnight Sat-Sun. Wait for the last 60 seconds to see what lengths we've gone to in order to lure her out of her hiding spot on Night 4 - without success yet but it's only midnight. Most of her activity has been between 2 and 5 AM. I was really surprised she didn't go for it. I'd only gone down the hallway about 30 seconds before!

06/11/2023

Our first 48 hours with Fleur have been a bit like living with a ghost. Can't find her anywhere. So we moved our Blink camera used for hummingbird watching in the kitchen window to the hallway. So we were able to prove there is a cat in the building. And figure out what at least what room she's hiding in.

06/11/2023

Our first 48 hours with Fleur. It's a bit like living with a ghost. Can't find her anywhere.

06/09/2023

We're welcoming another foster cat, a black panther named Fleur Delacour, we hope she'll bloom here. Robin and Black Phoebe went to the adoption center on Monday.

Fleur has been in a cage at the shelter since OCTOBER due to illness, then missing the window to be returned to her colony.

Anything could happen. We're starting off a little differently this time. I am going to try to reserve judgment and have a positive outlook.

06/05/2023

To adopt Black Phoebe and Robin, please contact Long Beach Animal Care Services at 562.570.PETS (7387)

06/04/2023

Our first fostering experience in a less than ideal home setup. When we raised a litter of kittens in 2010 we owned our own home and were able to control where the kittens had access to, with a dedicated bathroom and office right next to the laundry room so it was very easy to clean up the mess. Here it's been more difficult. I guess we were also a bit naive about how a cat thst had been under stress for an extended period of time would behave when finally freed from confinement. But with time we were able to figure out a way to adapt. Not sure I'll leave Phoebe out all night, th. I guess it depends on if she actually uses a litter box or not today. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

06/04/2023

This week in fostering!

06/02/2023

Robin's newest playtime activity is trying to take me for a walk. She wants to drag me down to the hallway and then play amongst all the kibble she's spilled on the floor. It ends up being more like a tug-of-war actually like you would play with a dog. She's actually quite strong.

05/29/2023

It's a hard knock life! These cats aren't used to soft things so are always either just laying on the hard floor or some other hard surface.

Also, 2nd encounter with the vacuum. Robin hasn't shown any fear, but also doesn't I lay with it either (which is good).

05/28/2023

05/28/2023

Robin's first encounter with the robovac, Puckus Giganticus.

05/28/2023

Meet Robin and Phoebe, kitties for adoption (we're the foster home)

With the passing of our personal cat Imp at age 17 last weekend, we became available to foster for LBACS. We went down and said we can foster two! Give us the ones most desperate to be out of the shelter environment.

So, this is Robin and Phoebe! Robin is all black with a hint of cocoa. She's named after Kermit the Frog's 🐸 nephew Robin - because her almost silent meow sounds like a little frog croaking. Phoebe, a tuxedo cat, is named after the Black Phoebe bird (google a pic). Although Robin is named after a frog, robins are also birds, and what birds are there that also look like they're wearing tuxedos? The Black Phoebe! (You were thinking penguin of course - I got you!)

Their story is that they were rescued from a home that had 14 cats. The owner had passed away and LBACS was called in because there were so many cats living in hoarder conditions. These were the last two left at the shelter. They've been there since March 29th. So sad!!!!

Robin is about 5 months old, while Phoebe is estimated to be about 10 years old. They are a bonded pair that need to be adopted together ❤️. They're comforting eachother during the transition, and they play so nicely together! And they sleep together, too.

They have an appt to be spayed on Wednesday, June 1st, and they'll be recuperating for a bit after that. But if you're interested in this lovely pair, please contact Long Beach Animal Care Services and ask for (Robin) and (Phoebe).

They're continuing to blossom in a home environment and we hope to help them find their furever home!

Here are some photos. She's quite curious, and not scared at all! You should have seen her running up and down the hallway for the first time! She came from a tiny home with nowhere to run or play. When she first arrived she played for 4 hours! She's having a derp moment in one of these pics. She is cuddly and purrs really loudly. Phoebe loves catnip and chasing the wand. We're still getting to know her. They've had a traumatic experience.

LBACS can provide more information. 562.570.PETS

05/26/2023

Progress. Day 1

05/26/2023

Kitty Cornered is back! With the passing of our last personal feline Imp last weekend, from a long life of 17 years and 3 years living with renal failure, the "KC Lounge" has reopened in Long Beach, California. Imp wasn't friendly to other cats so we couldn't foster while she was with us.

We signed up as volunteers for Long Beach Animal Care Services and met with the foster coordinator, Anne, to discuss the cats with the most urgent need of being out of a shelter environment. After telling us about several who'd been there for months, she remembered that the shelter had rescued 14 cats from a hoarder situation with terrible living conditions, and there were still 2 left. They're being kept together as a bonded pair. All of them were older cats, except with this pair one of them is a teenager

We also are a huge supporter of rescuing black cats because they have the highest euthanasia rate. So that's what we were asking to do - not that we we're planning to foster fail 😀

So this black teenager, who we're calling Robin for now (the little sounds she makes sound like a little frog, and Robin was Kermit the Frog's nephew - but this is a girl Robin!), she's opened up nicely. They lived in a tiny house with no space and she has discovered running and sliding on hard floors. It's quite hilarious. I'm a little concerned about her labored breathing and her meow is almost silent, like there might be a respiratory issue. I've reached out to the foster coordinator to discuss my concerns. And she needs her nails trimmed big time!

The other, a black and white female aged about 10 years, is extremely scared. She didn't come out of the crate until about 11:45pm, and has been hiding under furniture ever since. We are placing food near her and she is eating. Unfortunately she's using the floor for a toilet. I sure hope that changes. NOT A FAN. They think her name was something like Gizzy, but we'll let her show us who she is and come up with something. Maybe she'll just be Cat, like in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Both cats need to be spayed, which is scheduled for next Wednesday. Which is a good thing since we'd never be able to get her out from under the loveseat right now.