X is for . . . X-tra!

Just like with Heartless last year, there really isn't a single X-related thing in Veiled Rose that I can write a blog post on. So X is, until further notice, becoming my wild card slot, and I will blog about whatever I wish to!

Last year, that meant writing a post about my foster kittens. So, hey! Why not make that a tradition too? Prepare to meet 2012's batch of rescue kitties . . . thus far . . .

For those of you new to my blog, I'll let you know that my husband and I do feral cat rescue and spay/neuter. Feral cats are wild animals that have had no domestication whatsoever. Most of them cannot be tamed. But if you catch them as kittens, it is possible to domesticate them . . . if you devote several hours of each day to their taming!

So, on to the 2012 batch. First, let me introduce you to Mo.

Yes, I heard your sudden squeal at the cuteness.

This little guy was very quiet and solemn when I first caught him. Other than a few pitiful "Merrrowls" to prove his Siamese heritage, he just sat in a lump for several days, unwilling either to fight or flee. This actually made his taming process easier since he didn't resist me. Within three days, I had him purring in my lap, and Mo proved to be just the sweetest, most thoughtful little kitty!

His sister, however, was MUCH harder to work with! Meet Muppet:

Don't let that image of furry sweetness fool you! When I first caught Muppet, it was like having a tiny, terrified tigress on my hands! She weighed scarcely more than a pound, but she was ready to FIGHT FOR HER LIFE! I had to wear heavy-duty gloves when handling her. She also proved remarkably adept at leaping and ended up spending a couple of days behind the light fixture above the bathroom sink, tucked away where I could not reach her (without losing a hand, that is). Long after I had Mo purring in my lap, I was wondering if I would ever make a break-through with his sister!

I did.

Snarling Tiger?

They say that the more terrified and wild a kitten is when you first catch it, the more thorough the breakthrough is when it happens. Well, it's true! Muppet turned into an absolute LOVE BUG, always wanting to be in my lap, purring and kneading the air with her sweet little paws.

Rescue babies!

Mo and Muppet have both gone to their new homes now. Mo went to a friend of ours who has renamed him "Stig," and Muppet went to a young lady I found through a cat-rescue organization. She has been renamed "Cairo" in honor of her Cleopatra eye-liner, and is a very happy snuggle bug. Hoorah for success stories!

After catching those two, I decided to pursue catching all the adult wild cats in the neighborhood and getting them spayed and neutered so that we wouldn't continue having this kitten problem. So I made an appointment at the vet, set my trap, caught a wild, snarling adult cat:

Actually, I caught this girl.

It was a fluffy female, one that I recognized. When I caught the litter of kittens last year, there was one that I never successfully trapped. The one girl in the litter. The one girl who was now . . . oh yes . . . hugely pregnant!

Turns out, along with being pregnant, she was also totally tame and loving. Which surprised me! Kitties that grow up in the wild practically never turn out tame. But this sweetie was the exception to the rule.

So, since she was tame, we decided to foster her and give her a safe place to have her kittens. Well, at least, I thought we would foster her! Instead, Rohan came home from work, she hopped in his lap, started purring, and he said, "Can we keep her?"

Yeah. Miss Magrat (Rohan named her) is now a permanent member of the Rooglewood menagerie. And she had her kittens last week!

Four kittens! Two black, two white.

Yes, we will be overwhelmed with felines for a little while. Say a prayer that the perfect homes will come around for all these bitties! In the meanwhile, we are enjoying our first newborn kitten experience. If you'd like to read more about it, you can check out Minerva's Blog . . . Minerva, being a cat, has a unique perspective on all the doings of this household.

Would you like to see last year's rescues in their new homes?

Mya and Max

Mr. Mycroft

And Monster! The one we kept.

Who is now 15 lbs and growing!

All right, sorry to any of you out there who aren't cat people! I'll be back to literary topics next week.