Friday, June 3, 2011

A Little Clarification

Hey, Everybody...

Things were awfully busy in the comment section this morning and there was much chit-chat about the possibility of us making one of the Dearborns a permanent resident in the home.

Just to let you all know we have no intentions adopting any of these kittens, or any other kittens or cats anytime soon.

The two main reasons are:

1. It works the way we have it. Why rock the boat? Charlene is open to the parade of kittens coming through our house, but I know that she's a special case and most cats wouldn't be as receptive. If we changed the dynamic, and brought in another cat, fostering might not work for us anymore, and I'm not willing to risk that.

2. We have plenty of cats. We have Charlene, and most of the time we have four, five or six kittens. That's a lot of poop to scoop. That's a lot of mouths to feed. It's a lot of work, and litter and food for so many does get expensive. Honestly, I don't want to increase the work load or cat care budget.

Now that we're all clear, let's end this discussion and move onto more important things. Like kitten names.

I'll be back shortly.

Thanks for understanding.

xo Laurie

23 comments:

  1. Awww, but we wanna dream big!!

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  2. Thanks for the straight word, Laurie...now let's get busy having fun with the Dearborn kittens and Ms. Bean!

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  3. No, thank you for having the patience to explain this time and time again. I know the wonderful folks in the IBKC community mean well, but it must be a bit frustrating to see those posts after you've made where you stand abundantly clear.

    You have a great thing going on, and hopefully that will be respected.

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  4. Well said! You and Charlene do an awesome job of helping alot of kittens make the move from homeless into loving homes. Keep up the great work!

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  5. I predict two months before someone brings it up again.

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  6. Kitten naming is very important and deserves full focus, without any distractions!

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  7. Yes! The work you do is very hard, very time-consuming, and very expensive. And while we're all kitty lovers who want to scoop and keep each little love-muffin we see, it's really crucial to think of the long-term commitment of adoption from all angles. Also, as readers, most of us don't have the time, space, patience or emotional temperament to do the hard work that Laurie does. Kitten fostering certainly has it's rewards, but it's HARD work, and can get very emotional. For this reason, I think it's especially important for us, as readers, to be supportive of Laurie & Craig, Charlene, and their whole house. They all do a lot of work, so let's leave them some emotional privacy, huh?

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  8. I totally get it. What I think happens is that people are new quite often. I didn't know until a few litters ago. As much as I love IBKC, I don't read every post & happen upon the well-crafted answer above. To nip this in the bud, you might consider putting it FAQs. Now that I just typed that I realize I didn't look. If there's a version of this 'why no more cats' - it makes total sense - then I apologize.

    Cheers.

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  9. How true!

    I cannot imagine how much maintenance all those little mouths require - know that FIFO principles are in force.... (First In, First Out)

    I envision a coal-delivery method for your cat litter stock. Does it get poured down a chute into a gigantic dispenser every couple weeks or so?

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  10. OK, I went to FAQ. Terrific list but it's down the list & not very prominent. You might want to put closer to the top. Just a thought.

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  11. Wow - that was a great clarification! I knew that you weren't ready for another kitty, but now it's very clear that there very likely won't be another one unless you (CC forbid) stop fostering. Maybe some of us folks who've been on the blog for awhile can bookmark this and link to this when the newer folks beg you to adopt an itty bitty - I think I will do just that!

    Thanks for all you, Craig and Charlene do -- especially for the itty bitties who need your tender loving care while they prepare for their forever families, and for those of us who so much enjoy the wonderful photos and stories of the itty bitties. You touch more lives (furry and hooman) than you can possibly know!

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  12. Laurie, you're VERY smart to hold the line! I fostered a lot and had a hard time parting with some of them. Consequently, I could no longer trust myself to foster and decided to focus on giving a good home to my several kitties. And as you say -- it can be a LOT of work and expense. Still, I wouldn't trade any of them for the world. :)
    xoPatti

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  13. Yes please - onto other topics! Names please .... ooooo I can't wait.

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  14. Charlene is definitely one in a million and so are you and Craig. Thank you from the bottom of our feline-loving hearts for what the three of you do to help the Itty Bitty Kitties to whom you give so much time and love. We understand.

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  15. I don't know how anyone can argue the logic with point #1. Does anyone here want to risk losing tIBKC?

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  16. I wonder if it's just that those who haven't fostered or volunteered with a shelter before can't imagine having a house full of adorable kittens and not keeping 1 or 5 or a billion ^_^;; (Thank goodness you're so awesome at giving them tons of love and then sending them on their way since otherwise poor Charlene would run out of spit to clean them all with)

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  17. Thanks for understanding, and thank you too for the kind words.

    You all are the best.

    xoxo

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  18. Don't woory ~ we totally get what you do. You nurture the little itty-bitties until they are ready for a forever home ~ and that is a wonderful thing to do. Thanks!

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  19. Of course we all know it won't be us or Laurie that decides if an Itty Bitty hits the jackpot and stays forever in Kitty Paradise.
    Chareleen will make it obvious who She wants to stop, and no one would begrudge Her that choice

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  20. Laurie you are amazing and wonderful.

    I know some of us want to see a kitten grow up with miss bean, but you are doing the right thing to focus on fostering.

    I am sure someone will bring it up again tomorrow, but it's not hardheadedness, it's just wishful thinking on our part so i hope you can forgive folks for forgetting about the serious aspects of IBKC headquarters.

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  21. Laurie you do incredible work with these kittens and it must be frustrating to hear people saying over and over which ones you should keep. It must be heart wrenching enough as it is to give them up. But you get to share their lives for a bit and watch them move into lovely families. And you have a lovely family of your own. All of your fans out here support you 100%.

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  22. I totally understand, Laurie. I would love to get another cat and/or foster too, but my 2 girls are seniors and I don't want to upset them. "Why rock the boat", indeed.

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