Dr. Voynick's Pet Stop

I just called and left a message with Dr. Brian Voynick who runs a program on NJ Chennel 12 called "Pet Stop." I wanted to see if he might do a segment on Feline Leukemia and feature the kittens during his segment. So, I called his practice, which is located in Randolph, NJ and left a message for him.

I just wanted to take a moment and rave about the staff. I spoke to the nicest gentleman on the phone, named Rick, who was very kind, very professional, very thorough, and very very helpful. I wanted to pass along this info to local readers who may be looking for a veterinarian in the 973 area code, slightly west of where I am. I liked the website, and I was very happy with the support staff. I haven't spoken to Dr. Voynick yet, but I am impressed so far.

Check out Dr. Voynick in Randolph!
http://www.myvetonline.com/website/americananimalhospital/layout.jsp?userId=453

Response from the local paper

:(

"I am so sorry but the issue was so full that many things were cut. We still have your listing and will try to get it into the September 15th issue. "

I just wish they had told me. I waited for so long with excitement, only for nothing. Well, in any case, I did respond and politely implored they run it in the next issue, offered new photos that are up-to-date, and thanked them for responding.

I'm not giving up yet! It reminded me, I have a vet to call about a local tv program; I was hoping they might feature the kittens in one of their segments.

Veterinary Scale Seller--How Nice!

So I purchased a scale for my vet online yesterday. Included in my shipping instructions section, I wrote a little note explaining what the scale would be for and just saying thank you to the seller for making it affordable for me to make this donation to my vet's office.

I got a call this morning from the proprietor of the shop, who was willing to take a profit loss to sell me a scale that is better suited to my vet's office. So I paid the same amount for a slightly different scale that has the auto-dampening feature (so the cat can move on the scale and they can still get a readout).

I was so touched that she called me, I just wanted to pass her information along to you all. If anyone needs a scale of varying sorts, I encourage you to visit her store online. The kittens and I have been very lucky, and very blessed with the kindness and generosity of strangers.

It is all appreciated! With something bad, comes something good.

So, here is the link to the store:
http://stores.ebay.com/Just-Go-Nuts-Incorporated-1999

Thanks!

Veterinary scale

Second try at this post. I have been doing a little bit of shopping around, and I can get a veterinary/pediatric digital scale for my local veterinarian off of eBay for about $90 with shipping, so I just took the plunge and ordered it. The manual bath scale process of weighing the kittens showed me that this tool is just necessary. The office is small, but I am sure they will find a place for it and I for one will be much happier if they have the tool they need to get the job done. They couldn't weigh the k ittens when they were smaller because they didn't have a scale that would read their weight. With this scale, no other kitten will be in their position. Comes with a lifetime guarantee. I hope it's a good gift for them, they have been really good to us in terms of discounts and effort, if not in facilities. I am glad to help them out.

Yay! I can't wait for it to arrive!

Deworm is good

So yeah, the deworm was a good call. I am going to call the vet in the morning and ask for a second course since the case seemed so severe and since this is already the second course of deworm--I want to do it right this time and make sure we get it ALL since parasites are so extremely bad for these guys.

So, note to self, call the vet in the AM.

New pictures of the kittens

They are not so kittenish anymore.

Local Paper Disappointment

So I worked to get the kittens listed in my local paper. The paper serves my local area and delivers to everyone in the city by mail twice a month, no subscription required. I thought this would be a great way to get the kittens some exposure. So I generated copy after speaking with the lead editor, who agreed to run a courtesy listing (meaning for free) and include photos. I sat and worked with the photos, and it's been weeks while I wait for the edition that should have included them, because I had just missed the deadline for the previous edition. Notice I said "should have."

My copy arrived in the mail today and of course, the first thing I do is look for my kittens' pictures. Hm. I don't...see...any pictures. Let me look a little more closely and see if maybe they omitted the photos.

No.

There's no listing. No photos. I worked so hard, spoke to the lead editor and got approval, then spoke to someone else to confirm, and then waited for weeks...for...nothing. Not even a message telling me that they had decided not to include the listing.

So I sent a nice letter of inquiry to the editor and hope to hear back tomorrow. But today, tonight, I am feeling very disappointed and dejected, and a little discouraged.

How Nice!

Well we made it to the veterinarian yesterday afternoon. The guys have grown enough that they don't fit in one carrier anymore, so I piled them into three (one had a strap, thank goodness, since I only have two hands!) with the kidlet on my back and trooped over to the vet's office.

All healthy as horses, according to the good doc so he vaccinated them (no rabies yet, not old enough), weighed them (between 4 and 5 pounds, which reminds me that I wanted to look online for a cat scale for their office, they don't seem to have one--he used a regular scale, picked up a cat and subtracted his weight from the total weight to calculate their weight!) So I got the deworm and administered it at home and everyone was really pissed of at me, but hale and whole. No adverse reactions!

So today's big adventure was to see the potential adopter who lives about 30 minutes away. She's really nice, designs shoes and clothing as far as I can tell (Pumas! My favorite!) So...looks like two kitties have homes come September!

I have to choose which kittens to send and we are waiting for after labor day for her travel schedule to simmer down for work, and then my son's birthday will be spent in FL so we will be out of town 10-18th; kittens are scheduled for final booster and rabies vaccine on the 20th at which point, they will go to their new home! In the meantime, I continue to search for homes for the remaining three.

Which kittens will go? Well, Salsa is out of contention because he is male. So I went today to let her meet the four females. I got to see her place, hear a bit about her lifestyle, and then meet her existing brood of cats. I got to see how she interacted with my guys and the personalities of her gals.

So, here's what I am thinking: she and Zest really hit it off. She also really hit it off with Growler. However, Growler and Zest together don't make a terrific pair. In the habitat they tend not to socialize--yes, my kittens have cliques, believe it or not. So, Salsa Chili and Growler tend to hang, with Chili and Growler closer to each other than to Salsa. Zest and Dijon tend to hang out together.

Zest is not a particularly confident kitten, though she is getting better, and neither is Growler--I think the ideal placement would involve one confident kitten paired with a less confident kitten. So either Zest or Growler but not both together. Chili and the potential adopter didn't really hit it off--Chili was actually pretty stressed by the activities of the last two days, so this was not the best introduction. Given the initial poor impression, I don't think I would want to home Chili here.

So, since I would pair the otherwise confident Chili with Growler, it looks like it won't be Growler. But, Dijon took off to explore and I think given some time would be out chasing toys and doing her usual ricochet routine. She likes being pet, enjoys the company of other cats, and is also pretty independent so I think she would be a good choice. Plus she and Zest seem to have a closer bond than with other kittens, so it looks like Dijon and Zest are the pair I am going to send.

Hopefully, I can get these guys into rotation in the house a little more to help them gain a bit of confidence about being in new situations. I wish socializing wasn't so complicated for them. That is the one real frustration I have--I just don't get the same face-time with these guys because of the quarantine. I have to figure out a better division of space, a fairer distribution of cat space, since they are going to be here for a while, it seems. I have to think about how to work that.

All in all, a good kitten day.

lunasmom

Last one for the night--Zest likes the dogs

I have tried getting the kittens into greater rotation in my household so yesterday I took each kitten for a petting session in my living room, with my resident cat locked in the bedroom. I let my dogs out of their crates one by one to meet the kittens. Zest was the first kitten up and I must say that not only was she extremely tolerant and brave, she seemed to really enjoy the company and attention of my two brutes. Who would have thought.

Then the dogs had to go for a walk so they didn't get to see anymore kittens. It turned into a rain emergency so all kittens went back to the habitat while I helped my boys out, soaked to the skin (my son like a little ice brick).

Will definitely try this experiment again. The way to Zest's heart...through her doggy brethren?

Missed vet appointment today

Ever have one of those days where nothing really goes quite right?

My son kept us all night crying for unknown cause. When I awoke this morning (for good) I felt shaky and a little sick from exhaustion. The day was spent wrangling him into various activities. We missed our Gymboree class when he tricked me into thinking he would sleep only to pop up a few minutes later when it was too late to go. By the time he really took his nap, I was ready for a sit-down.

Well, not too long into that sit-down, I get a call. From the animal hospital. Wondering where the brood and I are.

I am mortified and frustrated with myself. I cannot believe I missed my appointment. So, appointment is rescheduled for Friday at 3pm and I am NOT missing it this time. It's great because lunasdad will be out of the state in VA so I will have 5 kittens and one fidgety 11 month old to schlepp to the tiniest office I have ever been in. This week needs to end, ugh.

lunasmom

Meeting potential adopter on Saturday

5pm. Wish us luck!

Clay Litter is Scary

There were grey streaks on the outside of the tub and toilet, grey footprints on the counter and tile, even grey streaks and footprints on the cabinet face. Clay dust is everywhere.

What's worse than finding it all over the room on every surface is finding a fine coat of it on kitten fur. The increase in the number of litter boxes has increased the amount of litter in the room and with that amount of space, the litter dust has nowhere to diffuse.

I am horrified. Now I remember why I ultimately switched Wynnie to Feline Pine, but this just drives it home with a stake. An all-tile environment makes the clay dust readily apparent. It simply cannot be ignored.

So the first thing I did was contact the manfuacturers of Feline Pine. I let them know the situation and asked if there was anything they could do discount-wise. I received a very nice phone call in return. Here's the scoop--there's not much they can do. They have a frequent buyer's program (buy ten 20lbs get one free that sort of thing). The "deal" they have for rescues/shelters is really sort of a bulk type arrangements where they order by pallet for a marginal discount, but they claim their markup isn't very large so the discount not so grand.

I was really impressed with their customer service, but the litter is a little expensive. So I am going to go to the store tomorrow and do a price comparison on dust-free litter. I also am not a fan of clumping litter, so I doubt it will take me long, I haven't many products from which to choose, unfortunately.

I will keep you all aprised of the litter situation in the kitten habitat.

lunasmom

Some interest and some thoughts

So, the newspaper ad is in the hands of the publisher, so that will be out soon. I also re-listed the kittens on craigslist and got a response--a woman in Montclair has expressed interest, so I will see how that goes. In the meantime, I am getting frustrated. Why is my veterinarian's hours so crazy? I just called again to try and get a prescription for dewormer and set up the vaccination dates, but they aren't open again until 6pm. So weird. Anyway, kittens are doing well but one of them definitely has worms so I have to get that dewormer. I wish I had one of those big cages--I was thinking if I had one, then maybe I could keep them with me in the office while I work, at least for a few hours per day and just lock Wynnie out of the office. Then they aren't so isolated all day long. I wonder where I find one and if I could find a large enough one for them. Or even just bring the two shy ones in here so they are getting more socialization during the day. I will look into it.

Adoptive home fell through for Zest

So she's back on the available list.

damn.

Well, I wrote to my local tv station to see if they would give the kittens a spot. I don't know how they will respond, but I am trying to exhaust every avenue while they are at their prime adoptable age. The longer I have them, the more they grow and while they are turning into wonderful companion cats I am acutely aware that they won't be kittens forever and finding them homes after the kitten age ends makes it that much tougher.

I also don't have an indefinite amount of time to house these guys--having 8 animals in a 2 bedroom apartment will become prohibitive as they grow and it's not fair to them not to give them a family or some space.

I am aching to find them homes--they will make someone AWESOME pets, if only I can find potential adopters willing to look past their FeLV status.

I need a whole lot of luck right now.

lunasmom

The kittens are on Catster!

Salsa
Chili
Dijon
Growler
Zest

http://www.catster.com/pet_page.php?i=57004&j=t
http://www.catster.com/pet_page.php?i=57013&j=t
http://www.catster.com/pet_page.php?i=57014&j=t
http://www.catster.com/pet_page.php?i=57018&j=t
http://www.catster.com/pet_page.php?i=57021&j=t

Chili, Salsa, Dijon, and Growler are Still Looking for HOMES!

Kittens and puppies

I just spent some time cleaning the kitten habitat and since the kittens were in their carriers while I worked, they were crying. As usual, this perked up the ears of my dogs, Sol and Luna, who snuffled at the door trying to figure out what was going on. So today, I introduced them to the kittens up close and personal (Luna has been playing tag through the door with some of the kittens--one sticks a paw under the door, Luna tags it with her nose, the paw retracts).

Growler tried to attack Luna from inside her carrier. Luna backed off immediately, probably remembering her younger days of harassing my cat Wynnie and getting a good nasty swat. Salsa was in love with Luna and she happily gave him a few licks. I think if I had let him he would have followed her around all day soliciting kisses. Chili was as usual pretty chill about the dogs. Zest hissed and scared Sol, he didn't want to look at her no matter what I did. The only one who didn't get to meet the dogs up close was Dijon and that's because the dogs ran away, the big babies.

The kittens are getting big and they are sooooooo soft. I could sit and pet them all day. I called the vet today to schedule vaccinations, but they are off this weekend. I also really wanted to get them dewormed again, but it will all have to wait for Monday.

US Airways has no cargo flights to Austin, but according to the Cargo reservations clerk, just about all the other major airlines do. So I will call Delta on Monday to find out what their restrictions and policies are and find out about purchasing a ticket for Zest. I have to get her health certificate 10 days ahead of when she travels and I figure I will have everyone vaccinated at the same time.

Little Zest, you have so far to travel! I wish I could go with you, but tickets are too expensive. Be brave little traveler, your forever home is just over that cloud!

lunasmom