Tales from a kitten foster mom...the resident cat....

Lugo is our resident cat. We got him a year ago at an animal shelter and he lives with us all the time. Cats can be very territorial, but Lugo has been quite tolerant of Onion and BBQ, watching them from a distance but mostly just ignoring them. The SPCA asks us to keep the foster kittens separate from the resident cat and we have not had any trouble with this until the day the kittens got vaccinated.


Part of my responsibility as a foster parent is to make sure the kittens get vaccinated on time and I had my appointments all lined up. I braved the rain and took the kittens in, looking forward to seeing their weight on a good scale. Onion weighed .83 grams and BBQ weighed .97 grams. BBQ weighed enough to stay for adoption, but they like to keep the kittens together as long as possible, so he will stay with us until Onion weight is up more. Both kittens have gained well and are healthy, but Onion needs to get closer to a kilo before he can be adopted.
Returning home after the vaccination, I spent a little extra time with the kittens, keeping an eye on them and comforting them like I would a child after a shot. Resident cat Lugo kept an eye on me from a distance. The day got busy after that and the kittens were doing well, so I did the things I needed to accomplish that day.
In the middle of the night, I noticed Lugo was not sleeping in his normal spot at the foot of my bed. I went to look for him and found him sleeping outside the kittens room. He was there in the morning as well. Lugo continued to act a little strange, fussing and meowing a little more than usual. It seemed like our resident cat just needed a little more attention, so we spent more time with him, sitting close, petting and playing with him, then brought out some new toys for Lugo to bat around.
Resident cat Lugo recovered and has gone back to ignoring the foster kittens and sleeps at the foot of our bed again. Over the long weekend we had a lot of visitors, all of them enjoyed Onion and BBQ at this fun stage. A couple expressed interest in adopting one or the other and that would be possible when the kittens are big enough and the paperwork is done for the SPCA.
San Francisco is a city that loves animals. At the laundromat today I met a dog adopted after the fall out from hurricane Katrina. This dog is now being trained by the SFSPCA to help special needs children. The dog that was rescued now serves to help children. Something just feels right about.

I can’t wait to see what happens with Onion and BBQ.
-Brenda



And of course -- gratuitous photos of the kittens!

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