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It is always good to have an emergency plan in place for both you and your pets in case you are left without power, or need to evacuate your home. It is hurricane season for Hampton VA right now and we at The Cat Corner want to help you make sure your furry family members stay safe! Here are some tips to help you plan ahead:
We are so excited to announce that The Cat Corner has been awarded a Petco grant! This is going to make a huge difference in our efforts to save lives and to also make our shelter cats lives easier. Please read the Press Release below: Cat Corner friends, do you remember Cheese, the beautiful calico we posed about a few months ago? She has been adopted! Now named Cali, she is settling in so well and even had time to write us a little update. These are all her words, however any human names have been removed. I want to bring you up to date on my new home. My new owners love my affectionate nature (or so they tell me) and I like it very much in their house. I can tell they’re used to having cats around so I feel comfortable.
Mikey & Michael (or M&M) are two beautiful, almost 2yr old brothers. We gave them a second chance to find a forever home and hope that someone will see they love they have left to give!
 I received a call late at night in April from our foster coordinator. 3 young kittens were in immediate need of an experienced foster. They were in very poor condition. Skinny, emaciated, weak to the point of being unable to hold themselves up. They would need around the clock care if they were going to make it through the night. The volunteer who currently had them had to work overnight and she recognized the urgency of the situation and had prompted our foster coordinator to reach out. I was planning to take a little break from fostering, my husband and I were preparing for a move and we both had busy work schedules. But how could I say no to these little lives? As luck would have it, I was off work the next few days so I agreed to take them in.
Well my fellow cat Corner-ians,
It is the time I dread....time to say goodbye. The Cat Corner is an awesome organization and instead of keeping kittens to just 8 weeks (VA law says kittens have to be 7 weeks before being adopted and fixed) as most organizations I've fostered for; Cat Corner doesn't allow kittens up for adoption until around 12 weeks. The extra time is really good to make sure the kittens are a little heavier when being fixed which diminishes adverse effects of anesthesia. Also, the extra time is helpful to allow the kittens to fully become independent away from their Mother and siblings. There are key development traits that occur in 8-12 weeks especially with socialization and keeping the kittens with buddies and siblings is a great idea to make sure they realize biting during play hurts and they shouldn't do it to others, as well as what is appropriate play and sleep times. That is not to say that kittens adopted out at 8 weeks do not learn those things, but its up to the adopter to focus on those things not the organization helping them. With siblings and a Mom or a Foster Momma, there is a ton less work because they learn through play and it is much easier than with a single kitten (another reason adopting kittens in pairs is a great idea aka less work). It's that time again loyal Cat Corner-ians
Time for your weekly family update! Week 7 has brought a lot of change to the kittens and for Momma Easter. The kittens are closing the gap on 2lbs and Momma Easter went to the another home. Whenever you have kittens with a Mother Cat the Mom really takes the reigns in terms of rearing the kittens. Often humans don't need to intervene unless illness or injury comes to play. We get to play casual observers to nature; however, human need to get involved when health and potential futures are at stake. Hi Cat-Cornerians,
Well Monday marked the six week mark in the lives of our little family! I'm happy to report a relatively uneventful week for the kittens. At six weeks old they are all really starting to develop and show off their personalities. They also have hit a mark where they have all of their teeth. Once kittens have all their teeth they are more inclined to have dry food. They can certainly have it before six weeks but they may find it takes a long time to chew and not be as interested. Now since they have all their teeth it is easier to chew and more satisfying. Welcome Back Cat Corner-ians,
It is week five and everyone is at least a pound now!!! These chubby fluff balls loves to run and prance and jump and play and wrestle and love love love to pull the cuffs of my pants. Any time I come into the foster room all the kittens run around my feet and pull at the cuffs of my pants with their teeth until I sit or lay on the floor so they can play with their favorite toy...the ME jungle gym. In terms of weaning it's going really well!! At first they just wanted to make messes. They didn't have much interest in food beyond playing. Then I realized hmm maybe they didn't like the taste as much so we switched flavors and BAM kittens eating! Even though on paper they may have had a "rough" beginning I keep forgetting that these babies are SPOILED!!! They were born in a shelter so a safe warm place, they've never known cold or hunger like many others animals we unfortunately encounter at the shelter. They even have had a healthy mom every day from their beginning so when it came to moving from the milk bar to wet food it better be darn yummy or it's not worth their time! After the flavor switch slowly like dominoes one by one they became interested. Hello Cat Corner-ians, The Easter Candy Kittens are now a month old!! Also little Cadbury's Eye looks AMAZING! Take a peak below After a month of growing and learning, it's finally time to take the next step of being independent kittens! Unfortunately it is my LEAST favorite thing in terms of fostering. Kittening can be a messy ordeal and for someone who likes things clean this always can be a bit of a shock, but nothing is as messy as teaching kittens to eat real food!
Cadbury is fine to taste the food if I make him...but will ignore it if on his own.
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