the date is set

and it's Monday when my skunks are going back to the shelter, I'm going to drop them in there before heading off to work.

It was back in early June when I was first asked to take the skunks home. When I went to collect them they were in seperate pairs in the isolation unit and they were really crummy. If I remember right Daisy and Dave were together and I held Daisy and she fitted in the palm of my hand. Sissy and Hits were also together and Hits ran straight up to me and started climbing on me (he still does this now!) and Sissy was trying to eat some fish and not doing a very good job of it. When I took them home they were eating just coley fish which I was having to warm up in the microwave several times a day.

It was quickly apparent that Sissy really wasn't very well, she was constantly dehydrated and everytime she ate her tummy ballooned. She was also very very thin. I had to start getting them to the shelter in the morning and then getting them back home in the evening so that they woulc have round the clock care. It was a nightmare, the shelter isn't even on my way to work! She spent a lot of time sleeping next to the waterbowl. Dave was also very poorly and sometimes wouldn't even get out of his bed when I went in their room. Thankfully with a lot of time and support they began to do better and get strong and start playing.

Since then they have continued to thrive, Daisy and Dave getting more fluffy, Sissy getting more cuddly and Hits pretty much being the same crazy and lovely boy only bigger.

We've come a long way in two months and to foster kittens this old for two months is quite unusual, as they were about seven weeks old when I got them; so I guess they are about three and half months old now.

I also just want to mention their mum, who sadly died. Although I didn't foster her, I did see her rushed through the shelter on the day she passed away and I just want to remember her too because she brought the skunks into the world and did a great job with them too. Apparently Daisy kitten looks just like her, so thanks skunks' mum.

Just pictures today

Not much to update on the kittens today. They are enjoying making a racket and charging round their room. I decided it was time to dig out my good camera and get some good shots of them in as much natural light as I could. Hope you enjoy.

Spotlight on.... Ellie, Ed and Kitty

These three I fostered in 2005, three single kittens which went to live together in their new home. I picked up Ed (black male) and Ellie (tabby girl) from another foster carer who'd looked after them up to about four weeks. Ed's mum died and Ellie was found in a shed and they were paired up. I was then given a single kitten Kitty (tabby and white girl) and these three just hit it off.At the time I lived in a different much smaller house and back then I only had three cats so I let the kittens have the run of the house except for shutting them in a room overnight and when i wasn't there. So this meant they just ran wild pretty much in my house so this would have been taken in a rare moment of calm. And here's some pictures of their cuteness.

The fabulous four are still here

Well my fabulous four are still with me for another week. The shelter has luckily got some good local media coverage this week, couldn't embed the video for some reason, so I hope their rehoming is picking up. I don't mind another week with my skunks though. I just can 't believe how far they have come. When I got them Sissy and Dave were taking turns at having very upset tummies and refusing to eat, Daisy would only eat one type of catfood and at one point all Dave would eat was turkey ham. Thankfully Hits has been a star throughout and he's still a lovely affectionate little pea. I can hear them charging round their room every night and then singing in the morning for their breakfast!

Wood Green currently have a moggy midwife appeal to get more fosterers so I'm wishing them lots of luck with it. To any prospect fosterers the comment I get the most is "I'd never be able to give them back". But obviously you do otherwise I'd have over 100 fully grown cats in my house. Admittedly my first foster kittens did include my cat Tink but she's is truely lovely (picture is of her). The thing is by the time they reach the age when they are ready to go, they are climbing up your legs, using your jeans as a scratching post and trying to escape. And besides when they go off to a new home you have space to help some more.

the fabulous four

Well I've not had much of a chance to update on these kittens. I've been very fortunate that despite Dave and Sissy initially being very poorly, they've really perked up and are doing so much better. They are now wayyyyyy too big for my spare bedroom, also known as the kitten room! So this weekend, as long as there's space, they will be heading back to Wood Green where they'll be off for the next stage of their lives.

But I've got some pictures to share! Haven't they grown?!

A new litter arrives

Last week I got some new kittens from Wood Green. These four have been very poorly and remind me a lot of a litter had last year, where they'd been so poorly that they'd lost loads of weight and kept trying to die. Thankfully the litter last year, Bert, Ellie and Maureen made it through and off to new homes. This is Ellie eating a duckSo my new kittens' story is that their mum was struggling to feed them so I took the kittens on foster and their mum stayed at the shelter. Sadly after not even a week of having them their mum had a fit and died. They don't know the cause of death so I have implemented a barrier nurse system where my husband and I are washing our hands and changing our socks a lot!!!

So anyway, introductions! This dear thing is Daisy, she's exceptionally sweet and loves a cuddle.

This is Dave, he did come with a fancy name but I can't remember it so I've been calling him Dave, he looks like a Dave. He's just the sweetest pea ever. He's been quite quiet so I think he's been feeling a bit poorly but hopefully we're getting there.















This little cheeky chappy is Hans. Heaffectionate and has taken to jumping on my shoulders and giving me a new hairstyle, he's been very creative and so far we're had the Rachel from FRIENDS look and the just been pulled through a hedge backwards, the latter is more popular!















Poor old Sissy doesn't look well here at all, and in her defence she has been really poorly. She's taken to sleeping next to the water bowl so I've had to install a bed right next to it. She's just very thin and has a constant upset tummy but I am hopeful, I've had kittens like her before and I hope she'll pull through.

Spotlight on....Claude and Maggie

I fostered Claude in 2006 and she really tested all the experiences I had as a fosterer. She came from North London from a charity I helped there sometimes. A petrified feral who was also heavily pregnant. She just needed somewhere to be to have her kittens. I could never touch Claude or get close to her but I did my best to reassure her and be there for her.

She went into labour late one Saturday night and by the morning it was obvious something was wrong as she'd not had any kittens. I took her to an emergency vet where my worst fears were confirmed. As she was only a kitten herself (five months old) her body wasn't ready to have kittens and they'd got stuck trying to come out. Sadly three kittens were still born but a fourth lived. I named the kitten Maggie and she struggled through for two weeks before passing away quietly.

I feel like I owe it to Maggie to write about her, she's the kitten that has affected me more than no other that I've fostered. Most kittens I am lucky and they pull through but it wasn't meant to be for her and I still blame myself now.

Claude was spayed and returned to her feral colony. I always take comfort it that Claude won't have to go through it all again and also if she'd not been in my care, she would have probably died herself.