We Got Legs!

Ok, little legs, and they are still wobbly, but we can get back to mommy on our own, thank you very much! Take a look...

I haven't run the loud sucky machine since our little family took up residence and the carpet sweeper doesn't quite get all the bits'n'pieces. Oh well, better than a freaked out family, I suppose!

Mommy is still her shy self, but her eyes aren't quite as wide any more - a good sign, I hope. She's still not objecting to me being with her babies and I'm hoping that means some level of trust. After yesterday's whopping gains, weight growth was erratic today. Our Big Girl only gained .1 oz, while Big Boy gained .3, putting them neck to neck at 11.2 oz. Little Boy and Little Girl, each gained .5 oz, making them 10.8 and 9.6, respectively.

Little Boy stands... errr... lays, on guard.

Obligatory kitten pile shot.

Mama keeping a watchful eye.

Little Boy: Oh, puhleeeze! Cut it out with the flash box already, lady!! You're frightening the wimmin folk! Little Girl: Nuhh uh! It's not me squawking. Mama: Just who are you calling wimmin folk, young man?

And Sandy sent us this shot of a contented, snoozing Lilo, to let us know she's doing just fine! She and her fursis, Allegra, recently moved, along with mom Sandy, and are now enjoying life with Grandma Betty for company, too!

And last, but not least, there's still time to get in on the fun of "Name Those Babies!" and do some good for the MD SPCA! Thank you, again, to everyone who has pitched in to help!

Bits and Pieces

Sue Reminds Us to Vote for Purrfect Pals Every Day

The link (& why you should do this every day) are in our right sidebar. Just go! Click on cute Myron!! It's free and you don't have to register. Until April 18th!! Purrfect Paws is running neck'n'neck for top shelter in her area and could be the recipient of many resources. Let's help!

Amy Does It Again

Mark your calendars, good folk! Our friend Amy is going to considerably lighten up Tax Day by letting us have some fun and do some good! Check out her comment-a-thon:


We'll try to remember to remind you that day... but you know us, so mark those calendars!! :-)

Sandy Reports In on Miss Lilo

Just a quicky: "Lilo is good. She snuggles all the time. She plays a game with snall box - flicks it and bats at it. She has been good. She has another funny thing she does. After poohing in litter box, she then runs back & forth thru the apartment for a few minutes. I don t know whay that s about! I'll keep you posted."

RIP Drewey

I know a lot of our gentle readers follow the IBKC. In fact many of you came to know us because of Laurie. Our thoughts and prayers are with her and Craig and Charlene. Drewey had a wonderful, long life and encouraged us all to embrace our inner crankiness! (Drew had many disciples on that score!) She will be missed!

Miss Lilo has a forever home!

Our sweet Miss Lilo has a forever home!!  Yay!

Meet Sandy, Lilo's new forever mom!  Sandy knows me from church and when she decided it was time to open her heart and home to a furkid (her first, ever!!) we are very glad she came to Space Paws!!

Sandy came over a few days ago and had a meet and greet.  I wish I'd had the flashy box going that day... there would have been some good snaps of the two of them checking each other out, nose to nose!

So Sandy went home to get her apartment ready, do some reading on the care and lovin' of kittehs, and today she came to make Lilo hers forever.

Since Sandy had nothing, we met at PetSmart to get a few "necessaries."  While we stuck to the necessary list (pretty much), I somehow have a feeling Lilo is going to be one very spoiled young lady!  Now none of us spoil our furkids so I can't imagine where Sandy is getting this from.  ;-)

For me, this is just terrific, 'cause I'm going to get to visit and will bring you pics... and Sandy promised to send updates, too!

I'm going to take the last couple of days of my vacation to get some things done so I may not post again until Monday.  It's been great being able to keep up with blog friends these past days, 'cause we all know how it goes when we're in work mode!!  See you in a couple of days, folks!  And thanks soooo much for the layout suggestions.  Please, feel free to still comment and let me know what works and what doesn't!

5 out of 6 kittehs prefer...

...my bed. At night. With me in it.

Only Miss Bitty is absent from the bed. She, of course, prefers high wire sleeping these days. It's possible she was there at some point. The far bottom corner of the bed is her usual spot and it was unoccupied.

What makes this pic special is the proximity of Miss Lilo to Peggy Sue. :-) This is part of a breakthrough for her that's been developing over the last couple of weeks. So, when I woke last night, hemmed in by kittehs, I very slowly and carefully contorted myself out of bed to try to capture the historic moment - thank heaven for the slats on the headboard to use as grab bars. I used the cell... if I went for the camera, I knew the moment would be over.

And, yes, I escaped through the 2' of space at the top of the bed. I was sandwiched in the channel between Annie, Peggy Sue and Lilo. (Yeah, they managed to nudge me partially out from under my extra blanket.) As the joke goes, sorry guys, king size is the largest bed they sell. We all know it wouldn't make any difference if there was a larger size, though, our furkids would still plaster right up against us! :-)

More amazing, I slowly and carefully contorted myself back into bed and everyone stayed put. Why do we do this? What is the psychology of not wanting to disturb the kittehs? Is it deeply buried desire for a body as flexible as theirs and we see this as an opportunity to practice?

Anyway, back to the breakthrough... up until a few of days ago, Lilo insisted on claiming an entire side of me at night. Sometimes Win would move in to the bottom on that side during the night, but we never started out that way. Then, one day, Winnie plunked herself on the same side right at the beginning of bedtime, although a foot or so away, and ignored the hisses that followed. Surprisingly, Lilo did not get up and leave or move in and run the usurper off. The next day Peggy Sue followed suit in boldness, again at a distance, but on the same side, and got no adverse reaction. Last night, 6" away. Yay!

(Sorry all these pics are cell, but that's the way it's been lately... camera way out of grabbing range.)

I'm very proud of our little grey diva. Lilo has clearly turned a corner and warmed up, not only the residents, but to me, too. Oh, she's been a lap sitter and bed sleeper since day one, but she never burrowed in so trustingly before. You can just feel the difference.

And she's sharing space much more freely now. Here's a pic of Lilo sharing the chair with Winnie. I tried to get one of Peggy Sue and her sharing my lap but, I have to shoot blind and my aim was way off that day... got only the tips of ears.

The construction is coming along. I'm soooo excited. I know it'll be a couple of months, but watching the demo systematically proceed, and the utilities go in, has been great. Gary says the pocket doors will go up first (yes, the French doors will be moving... more on that later) so you'll be able to see some progress. In the meantime, you can see that the living room is in constant disarray. Oh, well, it's worth it!

Wordless Wednesday

I could just eat you up sweetheart...

I was working from home and indulged in some popcorn. I set the bowl aside on the empty chair beside me. When I turned around, there was Lilo, fast asleep. How do our kittehs wind up in such odd positions? LOL!

Our gang liked the snow storm, too.

Here's a set of pics of the Space Paws gang taken during and after our recent Snowmaggedon, as it's come to be called. The kittehs really do seem to have gotten used to me being around all day and I've got to say I'm going to miss being around them... even if I am actually looking forward to going back to work. Cabin fever sets in quickly, I'm afraid.

So, if you hadn't heard by now... 44.3" in 5 days in Baltimore. 49.9" within 8 days. 79.9" this winter (previous record, 62.5" in 2003). As you can see, some of the mounds are taller than a minivan! And they're calling for more snow on Monday. I don't care if it's only supposed to be a couple of inches... enough already!!


Miss Winnie, the intrepid, crowded the door almost every time I went out. Figuring she wouldn't go far, I let her explore. She had a nice long tour of the porch on this evening. And yes, the snow fell as deep as the porch. Have I mentioned I'm heartily sick of snow?


Here's the Bitty, doing her cute thing... all floofy toes and tummy and tail and adorable little tongue. She was a love bug that morning.


And that afternoon, she just looked lovely in the setting sun.

Miss Lilo deigned to pose for us, too. The whir of the flashy box coming on usually seems to be her cue to exit. ;-) After a brief bit of hissiness on Friday, things are going quite well between her and the residents. Most close passes don't even merit a warning growl now. Yay! And she has become quite the lap sitter. This seems to have inspired more interest in said perch among the General Population. I'm loving the competition for lap, personally!

When she's not looking for a lap, Peggy Sue usually settles down on the Hubble throw. I snagged a pet session with her on video this week, so that will be coming to you soon.

And a great pic of Grey going after Bitty. Yes, this is still going on! It's an almost daily event and the outcome is never different. She gains the high ground and he won't go above the middle step (one step higher than the one he's on here). This time he has an audience in Lilo, too. When he gave up the chase and decided to get down, he realized he was trapped between the girls. You could almost see him trying to figure a way out. Nobody gave ground for quite a while!

Integration update & Snow makes Kayla and Zimmer quite happy!

Ahhh... it was too good to last. ;-) Lilo's been hissing and growling a bit when other kittehs come too close for her comfort, but actually the vocalizations are still less than other new adult fosters when they first meet the General Population. No altercations just polite distance at this point.

Update on Kayla and Zimmer

Well, Ali's kittehs have been in 7th heaven with all this snow - their bean has been home for 6 days straight! They've gotten quite used to having their resident pet machine at their beck and call. Enjoy it guys, it'll probably not happen again for quite a while! Here are some pics from mom, Ali:

Why, yes, I DO own the place.

We love the cat tree!

The purrfect bureaucat.

I know the mice are in here...

Catnip bliss.

A true Washingtonian... wears his tags 24/7.

Jasper & Kona pics and a Lilo update

So, for the folks near here... had enough snow yet??? Here are the pics Doc Phyllis kindly sent us last week to help keep you warm and snugly! (I just love that little tongue action in pic 3!) I can only imagine that Phyllis, Jasper and Kona are snuggled up themselves today!

The doc reports "... the smudge on his nose is when he enthusiastically sniffed my bike chain. There hasn't been a repeat performance..."

Miss Lilo Update

We've had two break ins to the quarantine suite in the last three days... Bitty and Winnie both got in when I didn't see and stayed, for extended periods, with no confrontations... soooo Lilo's been sprung! About three hours ago, I left the quarantine zone and didn't shut the door behind me. She's been out and about, toured the whole house and has met all of the residents. There haven't been growls or hisses so far. Got to admit I'm kind of amazed!

Well, it wasn't entirely accurate to say "no growls," just none that count. When Lilo was exploring the bathroom, Peggy Sue settled down at the door to watch. Lilo wanted to leave, got within 6 inches or so, and issued a low growl. Peggy Sue just got up and sashayed off and that was that.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Miss Lilo goes to the vet

Hi everybody!! Thanks again (so much!) for your patience! As promised, we captured Miss Lilo's first trek to meet Doc Andrew for our first post after hiatus. I'll be catching up over the next week or so... it's amazing... get a couple of days behind and spend a week catching up! ;-)

Lilo's last mom was elderly and the last records her beansis, Cheryl, found were quite old, so Lilo got the whole shebang. Just for good measure, she was tested for everything under the sun, too. All negative!! Yay!!

You may recall that little Lilo (make that not so little... she weighed in at 12 lbs, 7oz) is not fond of the carrier. She's still not fond of the carrier and expressed her disapproval all the way up the road.

Lilo was, however, good as gold about being loaded in, unloaded and, best yet, she cooperated, without protest with every procedure!! I'm so proud of her!

Amazing vet tech, Chris, getting Miss Lilo out of the carrier.

After exploring, Lilo contemplates the higher regions of the room.

And contemplates them some more.

And then, swoosh, she was there. Has to make you wonder if she remembered what goes on up there!!

In moments she'd settled in, queen of all she surveyed.

What's this?? Sharp, pointy objects on the other table? This can not bode well!

But Doc Andrew was gentle and checked our girl from stem to stern.

And pronounced her hale and hearty! Yay!

Adjusting slowly

Hi guys... a quick'n'dirty entry. This is basically my update to Cheryl on Lilo today. Things should be back to normal at work next week and I'll start visiting again... I miss you all! I will be glad when the W-2s'n'all are out!

Lilo actually greeted me with a headbutt to my hand today. And then she leaned into a nice session of ear and chin rubs. Of course after I petted her for a while, she remembered she's miffed and gave a low growl, hissed and stalked away... LOL! (I have seen this before, many times... it always cracks me up. Kind of a delayed, "Hey, wait a minute, I'm mad at you!") Not to worry... a little progress each day and it'll be lovin' time before you know it.

Lilo chowed down today after just picking yesterday. She's eating the dry food but ignoring the wet. (Thank you to Lilo's beansis, Cheryl, for the water tower - it's working out well and it's nice she has something familiar.)

On the other side of the house, I'm getting the impression the longer term residents are none too pleased about my divided attention, but they'll get over it, too. They always do - it's just the first week or so and then everybody settles down. Maintaining the irritation long term takes too much energy, I think!

Lilo has arrived!

Sorry about the crummy pic... my camera is in the trunk of my car, it's raining and I'm lazy. Made due with the cell. :-) Yes, that is the chair in the den on which you usually see Winnie or Percy. It's all Lilo's during her quarantine... LOL!

Short on time, so here's what I wrote to Cheryl tonight...

Just wanted to let you know Lilo is doing fine. I have a crate in the den (2' x 3') and she stayed there for an hour, just to get her used to where her litter pan, food and water would be.* I let her out after an hour and she explored the "suite" (den & guest bedroom). She sat on the chair next to me all evening while I worked.

She was a tad anxious at first, and still doesn't like me to pet her back, but she's allowing head rubs. I didn't try to play with her... figured she deserved a nice quiet evening. I haven't seen her use the litter pan, but that's not unusual for a cat in a new environment. They tend to hold it for quite some time.

She'll spend the night in the crate and hopefully I'll see evidence she actually used the litter pan. Once I see she has used the pan, she can roam freely in the "suite" from then on. I generally don't like crating critters, but the crate is a confined, safe place and does come in handy when introducing kittehs to new digs, when they are recovering from operations, etc.

I'll keep you posted.

*Oh, in case you were wondering , her food and water get moved out of the crate once she's able to roam the suite freely. Only the litter pan stays in the crate... easy clean up for me and it's ready in case somebody needs to be incarcerated ... errr... uuhhhh... confined for a while for some reason!

I'll have an update on Aggie (new name Kayla) tomorrow, too!

Wordless Wednesday

Lilo in Action

Hi! Lilo again! My sister bean comes and spends time with me... one of my favorite things is the fishing pole so she decided to take a video of us playing. She's new at this video stuff and so am I but we thought it would help you to get to know me better!

Lilo's Story, Part II

Hi! I'm Lilo. The Space Paw's lady said I could tell you a little about myself.

Where should I start? I'm two years old (Ok, going on three, but a lady is entitled to shade her age a bit!). I'm a responsible lady cat and won't be bringing any more kittens into the world... we have 'nuff to go around and then some already!

I just loved being with my mom. She had the warmest lap and we'd sit and talk and talk and talk, right here on this couch! I miss her. *sigh* But I want her to get the care she needs, too, so I'm being brave. Did I mention I also liked cuddling with her in bed at night?? (So warm and soft!! I like warm and soft!). So if a mature bean would like a warm and snuggly kitteh, I'm your gal! I'm very independent and I'll let you know when I want to be with you... but that's a LOT 'cause I LOVE beans!

My first family had little beans, so it would be OK if a family would like me to come play with them, too! Playing is the best! I really like the fishing pole. The stringy thingy is another one of my favorites, but I'm not high maintenance. A paper bag will keep me busy for hours and hours.

Ok, then. That's all for now! See you tomorrow... sister Cheryl is sending some videos!
Lilo

Lilo's Story, Part I

Yesterday, STScI staff member Tom asked if the lovely Miss Lilo could join up as the newest Space Paws cadet. Of course we said, "Of course!"

Tom and Cheryl are looking after Lilo for now. Lilo's mom (who is also Cheryl's mom) had to enter assisted living recently. Sadly, the facility does not allow residents to bring their furiends with them.* Mom and Lilo miss each other very much and Mom will feel a lot better when she knows Lilo has a loving furever home.

Cheryl told us some of their story:

Lilo came to live with my mom two years ago. A year prior we had a cat who was 16 that passed away. She was everything to my mom. Lilo's original owners had to move quickly to a rental and could not take their dog Mylo or Lilo. The owner's mother was a client of my sister and knew my mom was living alone. We thought we'd give Lilo a try. It took a few months, but the two became best buds! Lilo constantly followed my mom around, jumping up in her lap when she would sit down and curling up next to her in bed. I know they miss each other.

Lilo [is living] at my mom's condo with daily visits from the family and a pet sitter. She has plenty of food and always fresh water. We know she misses my mom and needs a loving family.

Cheryl's sis did try to integrate Lilo into her household of three cats, but introductions weren't going well. Tom and Cheryl are full up with three kittehs of their own so Lilo is back at the condo she knows and loves for now.

Cheryl and I will be talking in the next couple of days, and we'll see what options we have to find Lilo a great home. Cheryl has promised to get more pics and maybe a video or two. Tomorrow, some more pics and I'll share more about Lilo, too!

* An Aside on Elder Care and Pets

My aunt was lucky enough to be in an assisted living facility that encouraged pets (Brightview, Perry Hall, MD - they even had a "house beagle!"), but there just aren't enough enlightened elder care facilities around. Independent living facilities are much more likely to allow pets than assisted living.

Often options are limited when someone enters, or a family must place a loved one in, assisted living. Location, care specialty and finances can dictate what options are open so, please, no criticism of families whose loved ones enter facilities that do not allow pets! Even though senior care managers are waking up to the benefits of the special bond between the elderly and their furry companions, too many have not yet gotten the message.

(Nope, this isn't a pic of my aunt, I can't find one right now with a pet, but the "look" in the photo reminds me of her!)

So guys, this is another area in which we animal (and people) lovers can make a difference!! Be a voice encouraging elder care facilities to recognize the therapeutic value of pets in assisted living situations.

We can all advocate! You can be low key, simply giving articles, like this one from US News & World Report, to the managers and the staff of facilities that don't allow animals when we visit our friends and family who are in residence. Surf the web for more ammo! If you're bolder, you might say a few words about the effects of separation on both your loved one and their pets, and encourage the management to contact administrators of facilities in your area that do allow animals, to learn about their experiences. And, if you are lucky enough to be visiting a facility allowing pets, be sure to express your support!

Can you imagine the impact if every family, who faced this kind of difficult situation, simply gave every care giver they encountered an article? The message would be loud and clear!!