FFXI NMs

In the past 5 years, I've been a part of the rescue team for 112 kittens, but very few who needed bottles.  As a full time educator, for most of the year I can only take in kittens weaning off the bottle that only need 1-2 bottles a day. Last summer I had the wonderful opportunity to take in the Fire Pit, some of the youngest kittens I've received.  Not only did I delight in giving them bottles, my mom came over nearly every morning to give them their first bottle while I cleaned up their kennels... weaning kittens are VERY MESSY!  The FIre Pit was almost fully weaned when my mom passed away unexpectedly, so I treasure the memories of her joy in their bottle feeding frenzies.  

When a foster friend, Paula, reached out to ask me if I'd take in a nursing mom with 5 babies, I leapt at the opportunity.  An opportunity to take in 2.5 week old babies, but let someone else do the heavy lifting? YES PLEASE.  

If you have an eagle eye, you may notice 6 kittens.  You're not wrong! Shortly after I agreed to take in these babies when Paula went on vacation, she received another tiny kitten, just 3 days younger than momma's crew.  This little baby came from Stockton with a sister who passed away almost immediately.  Though TINY, the baby was LOUD and mama could hear her screaming from the other room.  Due to concerns with the unknown, they planned on keeping the kitten separate for a quarantine period, but sometimes the benefits of combining litters outweigh the risks- and with this single kitten not thriving and mama's concern over the crying baby, Paula decided to see if mama would accept her.  And mama did!!  

Over the next week, Paula waffled on whether to keep the baby with the mama and transfer all 6 to me, or to give her to a more experienced bottle baby foster.  Though the little one was spunky and would fight for her place at the milk bar, she was not gaining weight on her own and needed to be tube fed frequently.  I have watched several videos, attended a training, and have always been willing to tube feed, but I didn't have any hands on experience.  I wanted that baby for selfish reasons, but I also knew I'd feel terrible if she didn't make it due to my lack of experience and my long work hours, so I let Paula and Jennifer (the other foster) know I was willing to learn anything but would accept their decision.  Paula weighed her and tube fed her constantly.  In the end, as I was scheduled to receive them on a Thursday night and had an online conference I could attend from home the following day, Paula and Jennifer agreed to bring me the baby.  If she wasn't able to make it through the work day hours without needing to be tube fed, I'd pass her off to Jennifer at the end of the weekend.  

Mama surprised me by settling in without a hitch.  She watched me like a hawk, but accepted me handling her kittens without a complaint.  The baby would SCREAM every time I picked her up to weigh her, which I did constantly.  But that was nothing compared to the full volume wails of despair when I tube fed her.  Luckily, Paula explained that if they can cry, it means you're not in the lungs, so I spent the entire time telling myself that every blood curdling yodel was a good thing and not the siren of impending doom that the baby claimed it to be.  Momma hovered over us, but never interfered. When I was done torturing the baby kitten and myself, I'd hand her back to a grateful mama and she almost always began to comfort nurse.  That good momma also never complained when she was taking a kitten break, laying on the cool floor away from the warm wiggling pack of kitten bodies, and I used the opportunity to bring out the baby for a battle free nursing moment- away from the horde of bigger siblings. 

This very good mama and her kitten horde were the cause of much interest from my resident house cats.  Our former residents, the voids, tore down our cheap paper shades.  We are using our tax refund to install shutters, but they're still being made, hopefully to be installed at the end of the month.  We set up a barrier to keep our housecats out while letting cool air in, but Katsu was determined to get in and managed to climb over.  Mama didn't mind her much- she'd hiss and growl, but let Katsu come in and do her Katsu thing- stroll on the cat wheel or just lounge around.  Gizmo got in once, and mama also let her in- Gizmo mostly just wanted me.  Pesto and others peered in the cracks, but never put effort into entering.  Things were going just fine until one day Mochi jumped in.  Mochi is my diva- a very floofy and... we'll just call her bodily gifted.  And when she hoisted herself over the barrier (it was just the lower half of the wall at the time) she landed with a very resounding thump that mama interpreted as the start of an enemy evasion.  She ran Mochi off swiftly and then told every other cat to stay away from her babies.  Eventually, they all go the point and mostly gave up trying.  

For the first several days, only the baby stood out as an individual.  The others were a furry blob of kittens in a variety pack of colors, but no distinct personalities.  They nursed, they slept. They nursed, they slept.  Not much variation in their days as they steadily grew while I focused on the baby.  

We went to my cousin's house for a dungeons and dragons session and took the baby and all her accessories along to weigh and feed her during the exploration and battle.  She used her +100 charisma to charm the whole party.

But when they started opening their eyes and being able to sit upright, we started to notice personalities.  Starting with the brown tabby who used her open eyes to stare at us soulfully from the nursing box, begging for release. She adored being picked up and held, but I adored looking at her cute face peering over the edge! I made a prediction she'd be the first one to escape and I was not wrong. It took her about 3 days of intense focus and mini attempts before she discovered how to use the towel ramp I built to escape.  Once she figured it out, there was no containing her. She popped out repeatedly to chase down any human and climb up to cuddle.  

The next personalities made themselves known mostly during weighing time.  Two were fiesty screamers!! The mini mama and the male twin with the wider white streak on the back of the neck would scream whenever they were picked up or moved.  No pictures of the screams, unfortunately, as I was usually holding them and not my phone at those times. 

My fluffy fat cow was the next to stand out by not standing at all.  While the other babies were desperate to explore their surroundings, he laid in one spot, waiting for the walking milk bar to return to him.  

3pppppppppppp0p--JDDDDDDDDDDD (THAT'S FROM THE BABY)

The little girl twin stood out by not standing out.  She is laid back and very go with the flow- playing when the others wanted to play, cuddling when it was time for a nap, nursing when it was time to nurse.  She was the most well balanced of the crew.  

A little over a week after getting Momma and the 6 babies, I was still flummoxed about names.  I tried out several themes, but none of them seemed to fit.  Sarah, my partner in data entry told me I had to name them before clinic and I know it is easier to do data entry when they are named so I made an effort, but nothing worked.  

Two of my good friends, Keri & Jess, decided to start fostering this year but wanted to start with "growers".  Our rescue sorts kittens into 3 main groups- bottles are the newborns that need to be bottle fed, starting at every few hours  They don't take up much space, but require LOTS of time.  Weaners are transitioning from the bottle to food. It's a fun, but VERY messy stage and can be a little overwhelming even to experienced fosters.  They are still learning to use the litter box and often swim in their food before they learn how to eat it.  They're also starting to explore and begin taking up a lot more room. Growers are kittens eating solid food.  They tend to be very active in this stage, but pretty easy to raise.  They were on the list for quite some time, waiting. We were intaking kittens rapidly, but mostly newborns.  I told them to come by clinic anyway, to pick up supplies so they would be ready when they got the call for kittens.  Turns out, one of our bottle baby/weaner fosters, Jennifer, was ready to start transferring some of her kittens to grower homes.  She thought they'd be weaned before clinic, but kittens love to thwart the best laid plans.

Keri and Jess were startled to be handed two kittens, along with bottles and a crash course in giving a bottle.  They were willing, but I sensed a rising panic.  I asked them several times if they were sure they wanted to take this on, and they said yes, but I worried that they wouldn't be comfortable. They are quite a drive away from most of the rescue and I knew they were eager to take fosters home, so I didn't want to send them home empty handed, but I worried they'd have a bad experience and decide fostering wasn't right for them.

At the end of the clinic, another foster brought in two fat grower kittens- very relaxed f;luffy girls.  They mentioned they'd be taking a break from fostering because their family dog was very ill, so I suggested that she pass her kittens to Keri & Jess, and we'd find another home for the weaner kittens. The family took their kittens home to discuss it with the rest of the family ,but did decide later that night that it was the best choice.  Meanwhile, I had reached out to Keri & Jess with the idea and they were very grateful and willing to trade their weaners for growers.  So, my husband and I drove to Natomas (about 30minutes in one direction) to pick up the grower girls, then drove them out to Folsom (another 30-40 minutes in another direction) to trade kittens.

During this chaos, I reached out to the foster home coordinator to let them know we needed to find another home for the two weaner boys, but agreed I could keep them until a new home could be found.  Their former foster was included in the conversation, and though she was out of town, she also offered to take the boys back until they were fully weaned and could be passed to a grower home.  

But until that time, once I got home, I had to set the boys up, so I made them a mini home in my kitten room.  

These guys came to me with names from their first foster mom.  Huey, the scrungly white kitten was part of a matching set- his brothers are Dewey & Louie.  Beau was a slightly older singleton that was put in with Huey's litter.  Dewey & Louie were staying with the original foster, Jennifer.  Jennifer doesn't mind giving up her sleep to hordes of bottle babies, but likes to pass most of them off to grower homes when they start being more active and demanding.  Her household pets don't care to share the house with roaming, troublesome kitten packs.  She just keeps a few to raise all the way to adoption.  Beau and Huey were bigger and more ready to be separated, so they made their long, complicated journey to my home.  

Huey is the white one on the left in both pictures. 

In the few hours Keri & Jess had the boys, they gave them both a bottle and a bath. So I got two fat, clean fuzzballs.  I set them up with a kitten mush made of kibble, formula, and canned food.  Within seconds, Huey stopped being a clean fuzzball.  

It was pretty much this precise minute that my husband walked in, took one look at Huey, and said "THAT is TANK... he's an absolute unit."  And my heart wobbled and fell completely into his tiny paws and massive belly.  Seth refused to call him anything but Tank, and I was smitten with this kitten.

I also had to redesign our enclosure in the first 30 minutes because this stinker managed to maneuver his massive belly through the bars of the gate to escape. I tried blocking off the bottom portion of the bars, but he just climbed over the barriers to try to escape again.  Finally, I used wires and clips to attach plastic panels inside the gates.  

I had the weekend to see if I could get these weaners to the point where they could go through the whole day without needing a bottle.  Beau was easy... he simply never needed a bottle from me and gobbled up anything I put in front of him. He gobbled up everything I put in front of anyone. He had a tiny head and a very rotund belly.  But Tank really loved his bottle.  Still, he also really loved to rub his belly directly into a pile of kitten mush while some of it managed to use the more traditional mouth to belly route, so I started watering down his bottle and finding the right formula to kibble to wet food ratio to get him to eat.  I also decided to use premie onesies and cat surgery suits to protect his fur from his food, as he did NOT like the bathing process.  To be specific, he didn't mind being washed.  But he definitely felt that being separated from his sibling and humans by being in the drying box was NOT OK.

I was also watching to make sure they didn't try to nurse on momma, who already had 6 hungry babies to feed.  Momma was very disturbed by the intruders in her room.  She growled and hissed at the babies through their plastic panels.  Her babies were curious about the newcomers, but momma tried to keep them separated.  Momma was also becoming obsessed with my husband's armpit.  Whenever he entered the room, she'd ditch whatever she was doing to be with him and started chasing him when he left.  I took the opportunity to put the newbies into her pile of kittens she she was out of the room, with the hope that the smell would mix and she'd be more accepting of the two new kittens. It worked beautifully.  The other kittens didn't seem to notice the interlopers.  And momma snuck back in when I was distracted and went into her nursing box without noticing them either.  She happily hursed her kittens and groomed Broxa.  For about 36 hours, she'd still growl at them if they were off on their own, but if they were with her own crew, she accepted them.  Eventually, she figured they were hers too, even though they never nursed on her.  

And so, I trounced the plans to just keep them until a new home could be found.  Not only did I decide to keep them, Tank helped them find a theme that fit them.  Seth and I met playing Final Fantasy XI, an online role playing game known as "FFXI".  He was an elf, mostly playing damage dealers. I was a tarutaru- a short, adorable character and I specialized in support roles (healers, bards).  But "tanks" in that game are characters designed to make the monsters mad and take all the damage- I'd heal the tank and Seth would sneak in behind the monster and slice it to pieces. We always needed a balanced party of tanks, damage, and support roles to complete events and level up.  

In that game, some of the monsters are called "Notorious Monsters" or "NMs".  These NMs are highly sought after as they drop some of the best equipment. The NMs also had different jobs... so Tank was officially named Genbu.  

Genbu is Adamantoises, or turtle class.  Genbu the NM used "Invincible" and basically sat there for some time while we beat against his shell.  Genbu the kitten used up all his character points in charisma and saved nothing for intelligence. He is known to fall over for no reason while sitting or walking, then roll around on his back like an overturned turtle, unable to get back on his feet.  Genbu may not know his name was Genbu, because we mostly called him Tank.

Tank was unofficially named for a few days, when we weren't sure we'd be able to keep him. Though, I'm pretty sure even if I had to come home at lunch to bottle him there was no way I'd have given him up... but in the first days when we debated if he should stay, go back to his original foster, or go to a new foster, the idea of using his name and the ffxi theme first expanded to naming the baby Tunga.  Tunga is a flea NM.  Though not the cutest NM, Tunga was one I remembered better than others.  He could be ANYWHERE and was hard to see as he was often hiding in the crowd.  Tunga the kitten, though small, was very active and always in the middle of the action.  

Next we named the twins, Byakko (the boy) and Kirata (the girl), after Tiger NMs.  One of the tiger attacks is a paralyzing roar.  Byakko is always yelling!  He meows almost every time he's picked up. He meows when he goes potty. He meows when he is eating.  Kirata has a lovely meow, though she doesn't use it as often as her brother.  

We renamed Beau next, and he became Broxa.  Broxa is a colibri/bird type. In FFXI, there are foods that our characters can eat that give us different bonuses.  These colibri birds are known to steal the food we eat!!  Broxa is nearly always first to the food bowl.  When we were doing mush, he would attempt to climb up and start eating while I was still mixing it.  If I'm hand feeding a kitten (many of momma's kittens had to be hand fed to convince them to try food) he'd stick his head in to show them how it was done by stealing the food. He's always up for a treat. We tried several different types of food to get the nursing kittens interested- Broxa gobbled them all up with equal enthusiasm.  

Melo Melo was next.  This gorgeous fluff was the laziest kitten I have ever met for the first few weeks.  When the rest of his siblings started to explore, he'd be left in the nursing box, waiting for mom.  He rarely ever moved!  Melo Melo the NM spends more than half the battle just sitting inside his shell, drawing all his squishy parts in, and refuses to move.  Melo Melo the kitten is also ... mellow. Though he has become quite the explorer and is obsessed with my kitten wheel, he is pretty melty if you pick him up.  

Ketea (pronounced "keh-duh") was both the easiest and hardest kitten to name.  Her personality was very distinct, but it's been over 10 years since I played ffxi and my memory of NMs was pretty hazy.  But when we finally remembered this NM existed, we knew immediately the name was perfect.  Most NMs are either aggressive, meaning they will attack you immediately, or they're spawned, meaning you have to have specific items to force them into existence, and then they almost always attack you immediately.  But Ketea the NM floats around like a sky dolphin, and if you catch her interest, she'll just follow you around for a bit.  Ketea the kitten follows you everywhere.  If I'm walking, she's almost always chasing me down, hopping on my ankles. If I sit down, she'll climb up to sit on my shoulders.  She tries to follow me if I leave the kitten room and will sometimes cry until I come back.  If I'm not holding her, she will often give me this look of incredulity, wondering how I can resist.  Spoiler alert- I just can't. I pick her up a lot!

Finally, we debated on the name for the mini momma look alike.  I wanted to name him after a yagudo because I think their names are impressive, and I really wanted to use the one that drops the Monster Signa- one of the best early weapons for my main job: Bard.  But Hoo Mjuu the Torrent just didn't really roll off my tongue the right way for this handsome boy. I considered Zhuu Buxu the SIlent, for the irony, because this kitten competes for the title of loudest kitten with his brother Byakko.  But Mee Deggi the Punisher is also one of the most sought after NMs for Ninjas, Samurais, and Monks- and this name seemed to fit.  Mee Deggi is a bit of an instigator.  He likes to convince his siblings to wrestle by gnawing on their heads or nibbling on their tails whether they want to play or not.  Luckily. they almost always do want to play.   

Pretty Momma became Mama Kirin.  Kirin summons other NMs to battle with her, including Genbu and Byakko.  Mostly we call her "Mama", but I try to remember she's more than just a mom.  She's a wonderful, affectionate cat that will soon get fixed so she doesn't have to spend her whole life taking care of babies.  

Mama and the babies filled my facebook feed.  They're a really fun crew- social and playful.  They help me with all my chores, so my 5 minute tasks take at least 20.  I find them all so entertaining.  Melo Melo and Tunga became obsessed with the cat wheel, and also the plug behind the cat wheel.  I had to get plug protectors to keep their playtime from being a shocking experience.  Ketea decided that Genbu and Broxa had the right idea and started digging into food with enthusiasm.  Byakko and Kirata found a box on the cat wall and decided it was theirs. They were almost always in it after play time for their zoomie recharging sessions. Tank learned to eat without having to be in a full body bib.  Broxa and Tunga held daily contests to prove who had the best belly spots- they're almost always belly up.  Mee Deggi steadfastly refused to eat any food, no matter how enticing his siblings made it look, spitting everything out on the floor before running to mom.  

One morning I got a half joking inquiry from my Aunty, who lives in Virginia.  She has lived a catless life for almost a decade when their super spoiled Kui Chan passed away.  My mom occasionally tried to talk them into adopting one of our fosters and I always promoted this idea, but it never happened.  She expressed interest but also indicated that she couldn't or shouldn't get a kitten since she traveled so much.  I replied that traveling with pets was becoming much more common and I could work on harness training some! So my harness and my kitten neck sling (really, a hamster hammock) were uncovered and training began. Starting with Melo Melo on a quick vaccination appointment for my mom's 4 cats.  I had to cinch the harness up with a rubber band to fit him, but he didn't mind looking slightly ridiculous and completely adorable.  Vet techs came from the back when they heard about the tiny floof in their waiting room.  Melo Melo did not particularly like the drive, but he enjoyed the attention and then passed out happily at the vet. 

Next we too Tank and Broxa to our d&d session.  This was both to make sure they got their meals on time (Genbu was still sometimes taking bottles) and to make sure they wouldn't try to nurse on mama. Well, those were the excuses I made, but really, I just love being with them.  My cousin and her family also enjoyed their company while we battled monsters and explored dungeons.  Their dog also did remarkably well with the intruders. 

Next up was Tiny Tunga who brought on huge loads of drama! We went to Target and Home Depot.  She screamed almost the entire ride and walk to/from the stores.  But she did settle down and even fall asleep in her sling when inside. I think she hates the sun!

And then Tank took grandpa to the mall to visit the Daiso and have lunch.  He also wasn't terribly fond of the car, though no where near as dramatic as his sister.  But he seemed more than content being admired at the mall, where we ran into my brother and sister in law.  When he got worn out from all the adoration, he fell asleep and rode around in his kitten sling while we finished our shopping. 

Since moving into our new house, I've been trying to finally let go of some of the things I haven't used in the last 2 moves. We've held garage sales at my parent's house.  They live on the corner of a very busy street, very close to a large flea market. We've become known by local garage sale enthusiasts.  We had a long break in sales after mom died, and when we had one after several months without one, several repeat customers inquired about the delay, noting they often drive by and check.  Two of them even gave me their numbers to text them when we have future sales.  

The rescue gets a lot of donations of pet related items, particularly when our public has pets that cross the rainbow bridge.  We use a lot of it, but sometimes we would get items that we couldn't use or just didn't catch the interest of fosters and were never taken.  As one of the main supply locations for the foster, I store most of these donation items and take them out/put them away every 3 weeks when fosters bring their kittens to clinic- so I was very aware of what items I had been setting out and packing up for over a year when I asked the rescue board if I could take the excess to one of my garage sales and set up an IBR section.  With their approval, I also reached out to the other volunteers and my facebook feed to solicit any other donations to sell in the IBR area.  We got more support than I expected, and were able to fill up several tables under a pop-up tent that we covered in IBR banners and signs.  I also set up a portable kennel and brought my kittens and asked other fosters to bring kittens.  It was a success!! Many of the garage sale customers fell in love with the kittens there and donated extra money.  We also posted the address for the sale on our facebook page and some of our public followers said they would have donated items to sell if they had known.  

The last few sales have been personal ones, focusing on clearing out my parent's house. But I finally felt ready to host another sale to benefit IBR, this time giving the public a chance to donate items as well.  Between my family (always our biggest supporters) and the public, we extended the IBR section to two pop-up tents!!  And of course, I took Mama and the NMs.  They were a HUGE hit!!  One of my former fosters brought his family- Raff, now known as Count, had a fun time cruising around the sale in a little cat stroller.  I tried to give most of the kittens some time greeting our guests, but Tank/Nohea and Melo Melo definitely got the most time. since most of the others were very wiggly.  

Between outings, I also use costumes to help with harness training.  My favorites are wings made for bearded dragons.  I have several dragon pair, but recently got these cute rainbow ones.  Tank and Melo Melo were the most content wearing wings.  I think Tank took about an hour before he realized he was wearing them. He's my favorite (really, don't tell the others!) but he's not very bright.  Melo Melo just accepted they were part of his life and went on with his day.  

During this time, my aunty became more serious about adopting not just "a kitten", but falling in love with Tank.  At first, she was also interested in Tunga, but when she discovered Tank's twin brothers, she started playing with the idea of adopting Tank and one of the twins.  Meanwhile, my posts about Melo Melo in his harness at the vet piqued the interest of a firefighter looking specifically for an adventure kitten.  So I decided to take him back out.  The first day we took grandpa to the pharmacy for a vaccination.  He screamed in the car but passed out at the pharmacy. On the way home grandpa spied a farmer's market and asked to stop.  I'm quite sure Melo Melo hated the sun and the heat.  He was very grateful for the vendor with the dog water dish, which he happily lapped up.  We didn't stay long, but he did OK in the shade and yowled in the sun.  I wasn't sure if he had an adventure kitten status in his future, but decided to try again the next day when I was walking with some friends.  This time, I took him in a ventilated backpack carrier.  I wore him on my belly side so he could see where we were going and he fairly happily watched the world go by until he fell asleep.  He woke up when we stopped at a Starbucks patio.  Since we were in the shade, he sat with me happily before falling asleep in my arms.  

My aunty's hunger to adopt a kitten was gently nourished until the half baked idea was a full course idea.  This gentle nourishing came in the frequent and excessive amounts of pictures and videos of Tank that I sent, along with cheerful encouragement at every sign of weakness.  Aunty told me I was "so bad" but also sent a request for pictures if I took too long to send them.  

The whim turned into a notion, which morphed into an idea, which became something of a reality when they told me they had renamed him Noheaokalani, or heavenly beauty/handsome one from heaven in Hawaiian.  We also reached out to Nohea's brothers' foster, explaining their interest in adopting a twin.  I offered to take them on, but she was attached to them and initially planned on keeping them until they were ready for adoption.  However, as we monitored their growth and reached out for information from the surgery team, we realized adoption would be pushed out father than either of us anticipated.  She asked me if I was interesting in taking the brothers when she went camping.  YES! At the time I'm writing this, I'll get them in about 8 days, and I can't wait. She brought them to clinic and I fell in love all over again!

The longer I had this litter, the sweeter they became. The less time they spent nursing on momma, the more they've decided that I am worthy of their love and attention.  At any time I'm in the kitten room, I'm generally covered in kitten affection, which fills my heart with joy.  Unfortunately this also comes with kitten claws, which fills my body with scratches.  Worth it.  In the past week, they've started jumping over the barrier if I leave the room, so I've given them access to the entire upstairs.  They tend to come back when they're done exploring, as they're all fully socialized and love their snuggle time. 

This past weekend, I also watched 3 formerly spicy (feral) kittens, Hissy, Missy, and Sissy.  These 3 sisters were dropped off the night before our kitten wellness clinic and spent the 3 day holiday weekend here.  Neither Mama Kirin or the sisters were very pleased at first.  The girls spent most of the first night trying to huddle in their crates. But my kittens were curious and friendly, waddling up to say hello.  Broxa ignored all the hissing and growling he got as a reception to his advances and curled up next to them for a nap with his new friends. The other kittens followed his lead, so as a group, my NM litter ignored all their protests and basically insisted that the spicy litter accept them.... and so they did.  By the end of the weekend, all 11 kittens would play or sleep together.    

My little NMs have been one of the easiest litters, despite having come together in a series of complex situations that combined 4 litters into one mega unit.  It's now one week until June 5th, when Tank/Nohea's brothers will join the group.  Based on the personalities of my 8 and the incoming twins, I expect absolutely no issue with them joining. 

 (This blog was semi-written as a single blog post, but it's taken me over a week to write it, lol).   

In a stroke of luck, the brother's also got their surgery today due to some other cancellations. And I got an offer this morning to take Tank/Nohea in for his neuter in just 2 days!! This is almost 3 weeks ahead of schedule, which gives my Aunty more flexibility in making her travel plans.  It should be perfect, as they were expecting to get their grandkids at the end of the month, and now they'll be able to get the babies settled in before the grandkids arrive.  

7/24/24 update

This summer has completely gotten away from me. All my "free time" has disappeared and I have felt busier each day than during the school year. As my husband likes to remind me, I do it to myself.  Multiple home reorganization projects, many still pending in various stages of completion, a record number of foster kittens in a variety of litters, and making huge strides in cleaning out my parent's house plus an unexpected change in tenants that has resulted in a lot of extra priority errands and chores but will end up being a huge boon to us, to our new tenant, and to the rescue. 
Anyway, here's what I can remember of this litter.

First, I asked my brother for support in getting Nohea to his adoption appointment.  The vet was located approximately 1 mile from Brad's gym, which is about 1 mile from my gym- all of which are across town from my work and home.   My husband and I had taken a lot of time off work recently for other vet appointments and appointments for my father.  I go to the gym from 6-7am, then head into work, but the surgery drop off wasn't until 8:30am, which is when students are arriving on campus.  My brother coaches until 8am then had a break until 9am, giving him just enough time to drop off Nohea and get back to set up for his class.  His help enabled Seth and I to limit the time we have to miss work, which increased when we took on dad's care last year. What I didn't anticipate was that my arrival with Nohea would completely derail the workout for some of his athletes.  They typically lift or hold a lot more than 2.5 lbs, but Nohea felt no shame about interrupting their scheduled exercises.  

Knowing he was going to be traveling across country, I stepped up his travel training.  Nohea ran all sorts of errands with me and tried on several types of kitten harnesses.  Even the smallest XS harness I could find was too big!!  But the training was pretty much excessive, as Nohea accepted everything with ease... even sleeping his way through some of his harness fittings.  

Then his brothers arrived.  Dewey (green collar) adapted almost immediately, exploring the room and choosing (almost always) to nap on my head, face, or chest.  Louie (purple collar) was much more cautious and hid for almost 2 days.  Mama Kirin wasn't pleased with the interlopers and hissed at them, though the other little monsters were thrilled for even more play and cuddle mates.  But after a few days to acclimate, Louie realized he was in a safe place and Kirin accepted that she was now caring for 10 kittens (though she never nursed 4 of them).  

We had only a few days to work on travel training all 3.  We took a short trip out to find a kitten sized harness, but they barely fit into the backpack carrier.  We switched to the stroller, which worked out really well.  Dewey began standing out as a cry baby.  He was always wailing for attention or comfort and nearly always wanted to be held or entertained.  Louie took longer to warm up to people, but was more of a love bug once trust was established.  I told my aunty that she might as well just plan on adopting all 3, as she'd never be able to pick.  But they bought their tickets and said that United limited the # of pets that can be on each air craft, and further limited the # that could be in first class to only 2 kittens.  She insisted she could only take 2.  They drove straight to the mall after landing, as they'd promised their grandson he could do the big Pokemon Go Community Day before they knew they'd be traveling that day.  I packed up the babies and met them at the mall, along with most of the family.  

Louie, being more of a shy kitten, had a harder time at the mall than his outgoing brothers. Nohea, of course, used to the travel, activity, and being held constantly, was perfectly content with anyone and everyone.  He seemed to enjoy the adoration from other mall-goers who wanted to fawn over him, though I found out later that my uncle was not happy with all the people petting them with their questionably clean hands.  Dewey also settled in fairly easily and spent most of the trip sleeping on my aunty.  I felt sure she'd pick him as her second kitten, and poor Louie would be left behind just because he's a little more cautious.  Sure enough, the next day when they came to meet the kittens at my home, they already had a tentative name for Dewey: Kahu, or guardian/protector/caretaker.  But meeting in a home where he felt safe and comfortable, surrounded by his kitten siblings, Louie was better able to show off his lovable nature. and then they just couldn't pick.  My aunty asked me if I would be willing to fly home in coach so they could take the 3rd, and I immediately agreed.  While she called United to buy a ticket, I began making arrangements so that the kitten clinic scheduled at my house that weekend could still happen even if I was out of town. But the very helpful United agent said that since the family had 3 first class seats, they could definitely book another pet ticket for all 3 kittens to travel with them in first class.  And so, Louie became Kamehameha. It was fitting as he was the one that was almost left behind and they were officially adopted on Kamehameha day! My family stayed at a pet friendly hotel, but asked me to keep the kittens at my house until they were flying home, just to make things easier for everyone.  But we made several visits to the hotel (Home 2 Suites by Hilton, Roseville) where their staff fell in love with them and donated a large supply of linens to the rescue.  

Meanwhile, Melo Melo was getting a headstart on becoming an adventure kitten.  The mesh barrier that prevented kittens from squeezing through the bannister and falling from the loft to the bottom of the stairs worked perfectly, until Melo Melo discovered he could just climb up the mesh and fall from the added height of the banister himself.  Luckily for me, I didn't see it happen and only heard about it from my husband. Luckily for him, he survived with no recognizable damage.  But this resulted in a week long project to custom build clear vinyl barriers to keep this fellow from getting to places he didn't belong.   His new parents were able to see all the pictures I put in my FFXI NM photo album and saw how much he loves to climb, run on his kitten wheel, swing in hammocks and other dangling furniture, and wear crochet hats and began making him new hats and looking for all the right kinds of toys for him. 

I was very happy to get an update from them- MeloMelo loves his adoption blanket and is already beginning his adventure life.  

Shortly before my relatives arrived from Virginia, Mama Kirin and her 5 babies plus Broxa were fixed (they didn't have enough appointments and Tiny Tunga was barely at 2lbs anyway).  I was going to send them all to Petsmart together, but the adoption team was concerned about Kirin attacking volunteers if these strangers were going in and handling her kittens.  Kirin is definitely a protective and attentive mom.  The day of her spay surgery, we were advised to keep her kittens away from her so that they couldn't nurse on her.  We recently installed a 6ft pet gate in the kitten room, and so we set her up in the rest of the house and locked her kittens in the kitten room. But when Kirin came to check on her kittens, they saw her and cried for her attention.   She sailed over that 6ft gate because nothing was going to keep her from her babies if they called her.  

Despite that, I was fairly confident that she would never harm a volunteer.  Even when I was a stranger, she was watchful, but never aggressive with me as long as she could see I was treating her babies with care and love.  Of course, the added stimulation of being in Petsmart, with all the noises and smells, could have made her more wary. However, instead of agreeing to put them in separate kennels, I suggested sending only Kirin to petsmart and holding her kittens back until she found a home.  I felt that being separated, but being able to hear/smell her kittens would only aggravate Mama and the babies.  Both fortunately and unfortunately, Mama Kirin did not get adopted that weekend.  Although adoption is the end goal, it turned out that Mama Kirin was not quite ready to stop being a mom and continued to lactate, resulting in swelling and milk fever.  The weekday cleaner contacted us and we brought her home immediately to start antibiotics and to see if her kittens would still nurse on her to get that milk out. Though mostly weaned and eating kibble, most of the kittens were happy to comfort nurse on mom at least a little.  Byakko, the big baby, was thrilled and wanted to nurse on her a lot. The rescue also indicated that, if she wasn't ready to stop being a mom, she might do well with 3 week old orphan kittens- so we arranged new kittens to arrive (see 626 Ohana blog). 

Kirin recovered quickly and was very happy to be back with her babies.  

But it was also time for her babies to start leaving the nest.  Kirata and Byakko got a little sick, and Tunga was fixed a week after the others, so Mee Deggi, Broxa, and Ketea were the first to head to Petsmart.  Mee Deggi and Ketea found a home quickly, but Broxa had to stay at Petsmart by himself.  He wasn't doing well, so I picked him up on Wednesday so he could spend the 4th of July in a familiar environment.  Then he went back to Petsmart with Kirata, Byakko, and Tunga. 
I was watching the system for updates and was excited to see that Broxa was adopted, then got a call from the adoption team that Broxa had been processed as adopted by accident when they were trying to adopt out another kitten.  My heart dropped, but then found out it was Byakko that found a home.  They needed my help to process the return paperwork and I was on the phone with them, fixing the paperwork when the family returned to sign the correct paperwork.  I asked if my little cry baby had cried, and they said he cried so much in the car on the way home that they were going to adopt Kirata too!!  While my heart was sad for Broxa, I was thrilled for 2 kittens to find a loving home. 
But, I was contacted that week for a Tuesday meet and greet for Broxa.  This family spoke limited English, but their smiles were easy to translate. 
Tunga was then alone all week and passed over the following weekend. I was shocked! Given her tiny size and adorable face, I really expected her to be snatched up quickly. She was just a perfect, pint sized kitten.  One day, during a visit with some kids, she was snatched up and swaddled in a blanket mid-play session.  This good girl didn't fight it; she just curled up and took a nap.  LOOK AT THIS FACE! LOOK AT THOSE PAWS! I didn't understand how she had been overlooked.

I watched the transactions closely on Sunday and sent my husband to pick her up (I was in the middle of yet more projects) when the adoptions closed down for the evening and she was left behind.  By chance, one of the families that adopted one of my previous kittens, Riff (now known as Oscar) was at Petsmart resisting the urge to adopt another kitten.  Tunga was listless and depressed, by herself.  But when Seth went in and called to her, she immediately perked up and was happy to see him.  

I'm convinced that she did nothing but sleep at Petsmart, because Tunga played for approximately 12 hours straight when she got home.  She nearly ran her kitten wheel off the tracks.  She was so happy to be home, though she was really not happy with the "replacement kittens" I had acquired while she was gone.  Pudge the Fish, however, decided to be aggressively friendly and she relented to his perpetual good cheer and accepted them into her circle.  

But, good things come to those who wait... both for kittens and families.  A family that has been watching for the "just right" kitten for YEARS reached out to meet Tunga.  We took a trip back to Petsmart for the meet and greet, which was a complete success.  But her new mom, just returning from a trip and getting Tunga as a surprise for her 22nd birthday, wanted a chance to set up a good space so Tunga could transition easily into her new home.  I was thrilled to bring Tunga back home and we all agreed it would be easier for Tunga to be picked up directly from my home.  I got to spend some time with her new family and the extended family they brought with them for the meet- all wonderful people who were very delighted in their new furbaby, now named Trixie.  

Which leaves only Mama Kirin, whose journey will be continued as she is now raising more kittens from an additional THREE litters!!  Check out the 626 Ohana and the Uvie blogs (which I will write right now!)