Welcome to Kitten Season 2016

Green Day is going on now in Maplewood's Memorial Park. The kittens are set up near the library, in the shade of a big tree. They're awfully cute.


OK everyone. Lots of admirers but so far none of the 5 are adopted. I'll take more pictures because they are more beautiful than the quick pics.

Everyone tolerated lots of little fingers anxious to pet. Considering that it was warm and at times crowded around us, only the little black one and I got crabby.


I haven't posted for a while but the news is good. Great, actually. Both Ishi and Alicia went to new families - in SO and Maplewood, respectively.  What happy, playful kittens!  

Juliet couldn't be any friendlier. She is a daytime snuggler. When you sit in a chair, she's there, crawling on to your lap. Your chest is also a favorite spot.  She would be a great addition to a family with a kid or a few, and also a great companion to people without children. 

Juliet will be spayed next Monday, so if you hear of anybody looking, please remember Juliet, a most excellent kitten!


Here's Iolaus. He's one of the ones whose eyes were giving me a lot of trouble when he was little but he's come through with flying colors.

Iolaus is night time snuggler.  Under the covers, purring, happy, kind of snuggler. Wouldn't you love to have his friendly face greet you when you come home from a hard day in the mines?  

Iolaus has been neutered.  He's ready for his next chapter.


Callisto!  She's sister to Iolaus. This amazingly soft, fluffy all-black kitten promises good luck or at least hours of entertainment.  Although Callisto's eye problems were not nearly as severe as her brother, the problems in her early days left her with a slightly cloudy eye. Pretty sure she can see through it so if you're having a bad hair day, stand off center and she probably won't notice.

Callisto will be spayed July 18 and then ready to go to a new place. Your place?

Each of these three came to me as tiny days-old kittens who needed 'round-the-clock care.  They are dee-light-ful.


While I've had Juliet, Iloaus, and Callisto in my care, a number of other kittens have passed through. Remembering all of them is a jumble. At the moment, besides the three posted above, I have Samson, a beautiful but still shy long haired black kitten with a grey ruff. What a looker!  

Also, I have these three 6-week old kittens (a calico - Mary, dilute calico - Marie, and their tux brother - Murray) who REFUSE to eat solid food. So, bottle feeding it is. They should be embarrassed to be bottle fed at this age. They don't get nearly as much socialization as the others because for the past few weeks I've kept them isolated due to ringworm.  Still, they're all happy to see me in the AM and are very friendly even though they know I'm going to poke at them, bathe them and put stinky anti-fungal medicine on them.


I'm very happy to report the last kitten from the Gang of Five, some of whom I began fostering in April, was adopted Saturday. He was the one who, as a tiny kitten, suffered for weeks with dual eye infections where I was sure he wouldn't come out unscathed. But he did, and he was the a terrific little guy, very playful and the most affectionate of the bunch. Here's a shot of him taken Friday,so you can see what a handsome, friendly companion he's become.


You might think I could rest easy with the Saturday adoption but here are three more in the wings. Two girls and a boy, none related. All scheduled for surgery this week and then ready to find permanent homes.

The rescue, run from a private home in a town other than SO/Ma, was recently cited for having more than five animals (the limit in her town) so now she's working hard to get her numbers down or be assessed fines and have other headaches. Sad, because without more fosters she will be forced to significantly reduce her rescue work. Anyone who is even remotely involved in saving animals knows all the shelters and all the rescues are full at this moment. I see pleas for help daily. The rescue has four adults for whom she needs to find a safe haven or a foster for one or more. The clock is ticking, loudly. I'm afraid it won't end well for them so if anyone reading this is able to open his/her home to help, please message me.


Perhaps you can share photos of the adults who need quick placement.


LOL love kitten play. Love how the tail is an object of amusement !


A Facebook plea for bottle-feeders to help a batch of nine kittens found sealed up in a box outside a store scored me these two last Monday. Thankfully, I didn't need to take all nine! They're from Liberty Humane in Jersey City; I will have them for another two weeks and then they should be able to eat on their own back at Liberty.

In addition to the three I posted above and these two posted here, I have four more being adorable on my third floor with their mom. Their mom is the beautiful long haired calico from Maplewood whom I posted earlier in this thread. They were born at my friend's house during Fourth of July week but when her home renovation project started a few weeks ago, they came to me. Probably in another two weeks they'll be ready for surgery and for permanent homes. I have to move them to my dining room tonight because I'm expecting visitors from overseas Wednesday and I need to prepare the space.

So yeah, kittens, kittens everywhere! I hope to be kitten-free by Halloween and then put a lid on "Kitten Season."


At Morganna's suggestion, here are the four adult cats who need to be out because the rescue was cited. If you can foster, we will take the cats to adoption days until we find them homes. This is Sabrina. She gave birth to four kittens in April. She is a very friendly, congenial, pretty calico.


It's been awhile since I last posted but that doesn't mean I'm done with kittens. They've been coming in pretty steadily. In fact, I just took in four within the last week; all motherless kittens who need to be bottle fed. Throughout the summer and fall, I also fostered a parade of adults (and found a great family from MOL who fostered another) all of whom found homes.

The cat pictured below is my latest charge. Posting her here because if you know of someone who is looking for an EXQUISITE pet, this is the girl they'd want. Amelia was born outdoors in June of 2015, was TNR-ed as part of a colony but is so friendly and affectionate that we decided to look for a better situation for her. I've had her about three weeks and she is crazy affectionate. Jumps on the bed looking for you to pet her; she's persistent with head butts all the while purring up a storm. She settles down after about 15 mins and will sleep with you the whole night. A really great cat. She looks big in the photo but is considered to be a Maine Coon mix so a lot of what you see is her long hair. Loves to be combed. Spayed, parasite-free, tested, UTD with shots.


Ten months and hundreds of cats and kittens later, I can pretty much say Kitten Season 2016 is officially over for me. My last three foster kittens went back to the rescue this morning . They're pictured here, all healthy boys who came to me at a few days old. They came with the names May, June and July, which were not fitting for boy cats at all, so they became Maynard, Junior and Julio.

My most bittersweet moment happened yesterday when the adoption was finalized for my foster, Andy (also pictured). Andy was a scrawny little guy with a raggedy tail, hence his name (Raggedy) Andy. He had a watery eye and gave everybody in the house ringworm; it was heartbreaking when his test for Feline Leukemia came back positive. We vowed to give him the best life ever and since he couldn't interact with other cats we took him with us everywhere. Back and forth to work, driving to our weekend place, shopping, sleeping on our bed, Andy was there. I was pretty sure Andy would remain with us but he got his Christmas miracle. A young teacher living in W. Orange was looking to adopt a special needs kitten. Andy charmed her on Tuesday and she welcomed him home yesterday.

After an exhausting ten months, it's nice to end on a high note.


This is the best end-of-the-year news so far! Thanks BigBen for all your wonderful work!



bigben_again said:

Ten months and hundreds of cats and kittens later, I can pretty much say Kitten Season 2016 is officially over for me. My last three foster kittens went back to the rescue this morning . They're pictured here, all healthy boys who came to me at a few days old. They came with the names May, June and July, which were not fitting for boy cats at all, so they became Maynard, Junior and Julio.

My most bittersweet moment happened yesterday when the adoption was finalized for my foster, Andy (also pictured). Andy was a scrawny little guy with a raggedy tail, hence his name (Raggedy) Andy. He had a watery eye and gave everybody in the house ringworm; it was heartbreaking when his test for Feline Leukemia came back positive. We vowed to give him the best life ever and since he couldn't interact with other cats we took him with us everywhere. Back and forth to work, driving to our weekend place, shopping, sleeping on our bed, Andy was there. I was pretty sure Andy would remain with us but he got his Christmas miracle. A young teacher living in W. Orange was looking to adopt a special needs kitten. Andy charmed her on Tuesday and she welcomed him home yesterday.

After an exhausting ten months, it's nice to end on a high note.

This was one of your busiest kitten years and you did an amazing job. Now please take a well deserved rest! And most of all Happy New Year again!


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