fallonkendra
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2015
I'm Back!
Well, things have been a little busy with us this summer, and I decided I needed a break from the disboards. I would log in, then realize how far behind I was on reading everyone's trip reports, and I was feeling bad about it, so I just stopped coming on altogether... But, I'm feeling better about it now, and I'll be trying to catch up on a few reports slowly over the next few months 
So, life updates first:
Luke's finger is healing well since his surgery. He still has a few stitches left (almost a month later), but the incision is looking much better! The surgeon/physiotherapist believe he will get back to about 90% movement with his finger, and he's already back to about 60%.
Work has been really busy. We've been on a reduced hours shift for almost 2 years now (I work 32 hours one week, then 40 the next for an average of 36 per week (and I get every Saturday and Sunday off, as well as every other Friday). The past few weeks, I've worked a minimum of 48 hours - which I know isn't a ton in the grand scheme of things, I've worked 80+ hour weeks in the past, but it's been a huge adjustment after how slow it's been for the past little while. This has also affected my Disboards time haha, I used to check in here during my lunch break, but lately I've only been taking 10-15 minutes to eat before getting back to work again. I've always really liked my job though, so I haven't been minding the extra work (or the increased paychecks!)
Another reason I haven't had much time to come on here is because of cats - The same day Luke broke his finger, our neighbour texted us to say that they saw a litter of kittens emerge from under the deck across the street from our house. We have two cats of our own, so I went over with a can of food, and sure enough, there was a momma kitty with 4 little fluffballs.
This picture is a bit blurry, they were all feral and had never met humans before, so this was as close as I could get before they would run and hide under the deck again.
I kept feeding them 2-3 times per day, slowly gaining their trust (and keeping their little bellies full - and most importantly - momma kitty's belly full so she could continue nursing the little ones).
The little one guy was by far the bravest, he was the first one I was able to touch <3
One day I went over, and I only saw three kittens, there was no sign of the second little orange guy
We still have no idea what happened to him, or where he went. Poor little guy
The day of Luke's surgery, we got home and our garage door opener wouldn't work, so we just decided to park on the street in front of our house (something we never do). As soon as we got out of the car, a group of the neighbourhood kids ran over to us, almost in tears because the homeowners where the kittens were living had sprayed under their deck with a hose, and then boarded up the spots where they were climbing under. The kittens and their mom were scattered, and the kids were so upset - but knew I had been kind of looking after them (along with our neighbour who had originally spotted them). So, I got Luke inside since he was still pretty out of it from the medication from his surgery, and I went into action trying to find the kitties. Another neighbour works for a furnace cleaning company, so he grabbed his infared camera and was able to stick it into one of the gaps under the deck, so we could make sure there were no babies still stuck under there (there wasn't). The mother cat was extremely tame by this point, so I found her a few doors down and was able to pick her up and put her into the kennel we owned for our little dog, where I already had a plate of food waiting for her. I was also able to easily find the orange one who trusted me, and I placed him in the kennel as well.
They weren't super thrilled about being caged up, but I moved them to my basement, where I quickly built a little cage in one corner using boxes/totes/etc, and gave them a litter box, fresh water and a plate of food. Another neighbour who was helping us out said she would foster the little orange one, and she had a friend who was actually searching for an orange kitten. So later that evening we handed him over to her, and he went to his furever home the next day <3 .
The next day another neighbour went out and purchased a live trap to see if we could catch the remaining two kittens. Within a few hours, they had the little grey one, and they moved her into our basement to be with her mom as well.
Momma cat was very much enjoying her time inside, she loved toys and as soon as we went down to check on her she would purr and rub up against us. There's also an old couch in our basement, so she was often found sleeping on that.
It took until the next day before we were able to catch the third, and final kitten. This one is a little firecracker.
The two kittens were very happy to see each other, and they became extremely good at escaping from their box cage and finding new places to hide in our basement....
The father cat is a mean looking Tom-Cat who lives in our neighbourhood, we've been seeing him around for about a year now. He's actually let me pet him a few times, he's not a meanie at all!
There's some pretty nice weeds growing in my garden these days haha...
So, at the beginning of August we found ourselves with three extra cats living in our basement, with no idea of what to do with them. We reached out to a few rescue groups in the city, but everyone was completely full. After a week or so, our neighbours (the ones who actually spotted the cats first, and bought the live trap), decided they wanted to try introducing the Momma Cat to their family (2 little girls and another female cat). So, momma cat moved next door, is now called Oatmeal and has already been fixed so no more babies for her <3 .They love her, she has such a great home now.
Luke and I decided we would become a three cat, two dog, five degu household (I know, we might be crazy haha). I've told Luke for years that our next cat would be a grey one, so the grey tabby moved upstairs to join our family. She has been named Loki (I know, it's a boy's name, but trickster kitty suits her). She was terrified of everything at first, but she's already come so far and has become so confident!
Yep, those are our kitchen utensils... little brat made sure we had a full dishwasher that night haha
Our wiener dog, Jax, immediately decided that Loki was his new best friend, and he must become her protector
Loki was actually pouncing all over my keyboard while I was trying to type this, and somehow managed to hit post... @Raeven I think you might have hit like on this post while it was mid-sentence haha
Both dogs love the new kitten, and our other two cats are tolerating her. There's been no fights yet, so that's always a positive!
The other little kitten is still living in our basement, we haven't even been able to touch it yet to see if its a boy or a girl. We've been calling it "her", but she's still pretty feral and hisses at us if we get too close. Luke and I take turns going down and just sitting on the basement floor moving cat toys around, trying to coax her out but still no luck We've named her Hissyface, and have no idea what we're going to do with her...
So, life updates first:
Luke's finger is healing well since his surgery. He still has a few stitches left (almost a month later), but the incision is looking much better! The surgeon/physiotherapist believe he will get back to about 90% movement with his finger, and he's already back to about 60%.
Work has been really busy. We've been on a reduced hours shift for almost 2 years now (I work 32 hours one week, then 40 the next for an average of 36 per week (and I get every Saturday and Sunday off, as well as every other Friday). The past few weeks, I've worked a minimum of 48 hours - which I know isn't a ton in the grand scheme of things, I've worked 80+ hour weeks in the past, but it's been a huge adjustment after how slow it's been for the past little while. This has also affected my Disboards time haha, I used to check in here during my lunch break, but lately I've only been taking 10-15 minutes to eat before getting back to work again. I've always really liked my job though, so I haven't been minding the extra work (or the increased paychecks!)
Another reason I haven't had much time to come on here is because of cats - The same day Luke broke his finger, our neighbour texted us to say that they saw a litter of kittens emerge from under the deck across the street from our house. We have two cats of our own, so I went over with a can of food, and sure enough, there was a momma kitty with 4 little fluffballs.
This picture is a bit blurry, they were all feral and had never met humans before, so this was as close as I could get before they would run and hide under the deck again.
I kept feeding them 2-3 times per day, slowly gaining their trust (and keeping their little bellies full - and most importantly - momma kitty's belly full so she could continue nursing the little ones).
The little one guy was by far the bravest, he was the first one I was able to touch <3
One day I went over, and I only saw three kittens, there was no sign of the second little orange guy
We still have no idea what happened to him, or where he went. Poor little guy The day of Luke's surgery, we got home and our garage door opener wouldn't work, so we just decided to park on the street in front of our house (something we never do). As soon as we got out of the car, a group of the neighbourhood kids ran over to us, almost in tears because the homeowners where the kittens were living had sprayed under their deck with a hose, and then boarded up the spots where they were climbing under. The kittens and their mom were scattered, and the kids were so upset - but knew I had been kind of looking after them (along with our neighbour who had originally spotted them). So, I got Luke inside since he was still pretty out of it from the medication from his surgery, and I went into action trying to find the kitties. Another neighbour works for a furnace cleaning company, so he grabbed his infared camera and was able to stick it into one of the gaps under the deck, so we could make sure there were no babies still stuck under there (there wasn't). The mother cat was extremely tame by this point, so I found her a few doors down and was able to pick her up and put her into the kennel we owned for our little dog, where I already had a plate of food waiting for her. I was also able to easily find the orange one who trusted me, and I placed him in the kennel as well.
They weren't super thrilled about being caged up, but I moved them to my basement, where I quickly built a little cage in one corner using boxes/totes/etc, and gave them a litter box, fresh water and a plate of food. Another neighbour who was helping us out said she would foster the little orange one, and she had a friend who was actually searching for an orange kitten. So later that evening we handed him over to her, and he went to his furever home the next day <3 .
The next day another neighbour went out and purchased a live trap to see if we could catch the remaining two kittens. Within a few hours, they had the little grey one, and they moved her into our basement to be with her mom as well.
Momma cat was very much enjoying her time inside, she loved toys and as soon as we went down to check on her she would purr and rub up against us. There's also an old couch in our basement, so she was often found sleeping on that.
It took until the next day before we were able to catch the third, and final kitten. This one is a little firecracker.
The two kittens were very happy to see each other, and they became extremely good at escaping from their box cage and finding new places to hide in our basement....
The father cat is a mean looking Tom-Cat who lives in our neighbourhood, we've been seeing him around for about a year now. He's actually let me pet him a few times, he's not a meanie at all!
There's some pretty nice weeds growing in my garden these days haha...
So, at the beginning of August we found ourselves with three extra cats living in our basement, with no idea of what to do with them. We reached out to a few rescue groups in the city, but everyone was completely full. After a week or so, our neighbours (the ones who actually spotted the cats first, and bought the live trap), decided they wanted to try introducing the Momma Cat to their family (2 little girls and another female cat). So, momma cat moved next door, is now called Oatmeal and has already been fixed so no more babies for her <3 .They love her, she has such a great home now.
Luke and I decided we would become a three cat, two dog, five degu household (I know, we might be crazy haha). I've told Luke for years that our next cat would be a grey one, so the grey tabby moved upstairs to join our family. She has been named Loki (I know, it's a boy's name, but trickster kitty suits her). She was terrified of everything at first, but she's already come so far and has become so confident!
Yep, those are our kitchen utensils... little brat made sure we had a full dishwasher that night haha
Our wiener dog, Jax, immediately decided that Loki was his new best friend, and he must become her protector
Loki was actually pouncing all over my keyboard while I was trying to type this, and somehow managed to hit post... @Raeven I think you might have hit like on this post while it was mid-sentence haha
Both dogs love the new kitten, and our other two cats are tolerating her. There's been no fights yet, so that's always a positive!
The other little kitten is still living in our basement, we haven't even been able to touch it yet to see if its a boy or a girl. We've been calling it "her", but she's still pretty feral and hisses at us if we get too close. Luke and I take turns going down and just sitting on the basement floor moving cat toys around, trying to coax her out but still no luck
We've named her Hissyface, and have no idea what we're going to do with her...
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And everything went so well! Just gotta break the news to everyone now.
