Mother of 4 (for awhile!)

On Monday Donna from the shelter called me to talk about Orientation on Saturday. Not sure if you heard in the news, but they found a dead bat in the dog running area and it tested positive for rabies (common in bats). The health department has put most of the dogs on quarantine to make sure nothing was transmitted. Unfortunately to get to the main cat room, you have to walk through a corner of the dog area. So, according to the Health Dept, the cat room is off limits to volunteers. This will be for about three months. Because of this whole thing they're cancelling the dog part of the orientation, but there are other cat areas to volunteer in, so we're still doing the cat part. Donna needed to talk to me about the changes and new rules. As the conversation was finishing up, she said 'hey, want four kittens to foster? We don't have any room for them and Town Lake (the pound) said they're out of room too and would have to put them down.' Uh, ok! I picked them up Monday evening. They're about five weeks old, and just need another three weeks or so to get big enough to get fixed and adopted (need to weigh 2 pounds). It's two girls and two boys.



They loaned me a cage to keep them in. I really have to work on socialization. They are so hissy. At first on Monday and Tuesday anytime I reached my hand in they would all hiss at me. Tonight I was able to reach in a few times to pet them and they didn't hiss, so we're slowly making progress. I wouldn't call them 'friendly' yet, though. They keep massing in the far corner. I'm a little concerned with the black and white cause he won't eat in front of me. I've walked in a couple times and seen him eating, but all the other kittens will eat in front of me, so I know they're getting food. I'm especially trying to get the calico pictured in the back to eat a lot cause she's the runt. I moved my little tv from my bedroom into their room and left it on all day today. I thought leaving the tv on with sound would help them get used to noises. It seems to have worked, cause they were a lot better tonight with getting scared at sudden noises and movement.

Now the big decision is what to name them. Once adopted, the new owners usually change their names, so the names I will give them are more of a marketing tool to get them attention and make people want to visit with them. What I mean is the names have to be cute and eye-catching. I was thinking about Jam and Jelly for the two orange tabbies. My boss suggested Hazelnut for the calico. But, I can't come up with anything for the black and white. I don't want to do Oreo cause that's been done so much. Any suggestions for any or all? Let me know.