Imogene and Marcel Bartlett!

Imogene Barlett had one of the most unusual coats I've ever seen. As a kitten, she was a lovely pale peachy-orange color with smokey gray patches on her shoulders and back.  I was so happy to receive this sweet photo of her all grown up from her mom, Mara, so you could all see her beautiful coloring now. It looks as though it's darkened over the years, but still just as interesting and gorgeous.



 Of course brother Marcel is pretty gorgeous too!

 

Thanks for sharing your big kitties with us, Mara! They are as beautiful as ever!

How Did You Do?

OK, friends, here are the answers to our second IBKC Alumni quiz.  Tell me, how did you do?


# 1 is Alvie Pettibone.



 

# 2 and 3 are Arthur and Benny Musselman







# 4 is Clive Loudermilk



# 5 and 6 are Ambrose and Louise Anderson-Erickson



 

# 7 is Imogene Bartlett






# 8 is Beezus Medley





#9 is Marcel Bartlett




#10 is Linus Medley





#11 is Ralphie Loudermilk





#12 is Oliver  "All-Over" Furman





Thanks to all the parents of our former IBKs for sending in the pics!  It's so great seeing everyone grown up and looking so good!

And thanks to all for playing along!

A Pair of Bartletts!

Today we're saying hello a pair of Bartletts - Marcell and Imogene (now Maddie).

 Here's handsome Marcel on adoption day.

 

And here's Miss Maddie - so gorgeous with those smokey streaks and smudges.

 
 And here they are today!

 



Here's what Mara, their mama, has to say...

 They’re still doing great and pretty crazy, cuddly, mischievous, naughty, snuggly, feisty, and lovable as ever! Most of the photos are of them being super cute while snuggling with each other or Lola, because that seems to be their favorite thing to do. Plus it’s a bit hard to snap photos of them in their crazy play mode. They wrestle a lot and even though Marcel seems about twice Maddie’s size, she can hold her own against him, except when he lays on her. 

In the evenings Maddie is very insistent on laying on one of us although she doesn’t really enjoy being held. She a bit more sensitive and it has to be on her terms. Marcel on the other hand loves to be held, hugged, patted, and have his tummy rubbed all day long! He’s a big baby while Maddie is a bit more independent. 

 Within the past year, Lola has really got into crafts with yarn, but we now have to hide it all up high since we’ve come home many times to yarn strewn about from room to room, under and around furniture, over the baby gate to their room and hidden under the bed. I also have to hide our feather dusters since they’ve killed a few. 

 They still love to carry very large objects around to play with and flip in the air like little acrobats with the tiniest of toys or random objects. We love our precious Bartletts and so happy to share our home and hearts with them!









Thank you Mara for sharing this update! Please give those sweet kitties some love from all of us!




Stay tuned, friends.  We've got more to come today!

It Doesn't Get Much Cuter Than This

Mara, mom to Imogene and Marcel Bartlett, just sent me this absolutely adorable picture of the kitties cuddling with her daughter, Lola.




Isn't that just about the cutest sight you've ever seen?

Egads! What a precious little trio.

I always wondered if  Imogene's coat would  change.  If you recall, she was buffy-orange, but had a few stray smokey patches.  I thought they might fade as she grew up, but it looks like they still remain, and have maybe even spread a little bit.


Mara and family adore their kittens and say they get sweeter by the day.

I believe it.

If you weren't following the IBKC when Marcel and Imogene were with us,  please click HERE and read their adoption tale.

Goodbye to the First Pair of Bartletts

Waaaaaaaay back before Christmas, Mara, now mama to Imogene and Marcel Bartlett, sent me an email. She found out about my blog from our mutual friend Jennifer, aka Opal's mom, and was in search of a pair of kittens. You all remember Opal, right? If not, click HERE and read this post.

Anyway, Mara's daughter Lola, just happens to be Opal's best friend.

Mara wanted a girl-kitten and a boy-kitten, so naturally, being the only girl, Imogene was a shoe-in. Mara just needed to decide on the perfect boy to accompany her. After a meet and greet and some contemplation, it was decided that Marcel was the one.

She went home and told Lola all about their soon-to-be kittens and little Lola literally jumped for joy.

The original plan was to have their kittens to them shortly after Christmas, but thanks to a little upper respiratory issue bouncing between the kittens, it was delayed a spell. Their awaiting family was quite patient and understanding and willing to wait for these fabulous kittens to be 100% before adopting them.

They came by on Christmas Day so Lola and her dad Jeff could meet the babies. As you can see, Lola was quite smitten with them from the start. The kittens were so good, and seemed quite comfortable in her arms.





After their visit, Mara shared this with me...

She (Lola) has been telling everyone about her visit with the kittens and very excited to bring them home. She has now named Marcel, “Marcel Cutie-Gray, because he is sooooo cute and he’s gray,” she says. And Imogene is Imogene Maddie Bartlett, because she decided months ago that her girl kitty would have Maddie in her name.

Pretty sweet, huh?

So... we waited for a round of antibiotics to work their magic, and then all the Bartletts went in for surgery, and were officially available for adoption yesterday.

Yesterday Mara and family came, and off went Marcel and Imogene.


I got an email already this morning from Mara. It sounds like everyone is doing really great and they've even had their first introduction to Lucy, the family dog.

She also sent a few a pictures of the kitties looking all comfortable in their new home. (see below)

Here's what she had to say...

Hi Laurie,
The kitties are loving their new digs! They stayed in our spare bedroom last night and immediately made themselves at home. When we let them out of their carrier, Imogene was very cuddly with Lola and purring instantly while she held her on the bed for a while. We had the door open at first with the baby gate across and they weren't too freaked out by Lucy but did retreat to play under the bed for a while after they saw her.

I trekked out to Petsmart and got them some more toys, scratcher refills, treats, & one of those cool curvy lounger scratcher things like the one in your living room. They're spoiled already and feeling right at home!

We gave them some quiet time alone to explore the room & relax. Before we went to sleep, I checked in one them and they were lounging on the pillows on the bed together, had eaten some food and pooped in the litter box. But you were right--Kitten poop is stinky STINKY;)

Thanks again for giving them such a great start and for taking such good care of them! We are very excited to have them in our family now.

Here's a few pics and will have more to come. There's a few more of Lola with the kitties on my phone, but the network is down I guess so I'll send those later.

Have a fabulous day!

Mara



We're so happy this special pair found such a loving family. Thanks Mara, Jeff, and Lola for opening up your home to them. I know they will bring you so much joy. It's what they do best.

Here's one last photo of all the Bartletts together, taken shortly before we said goodbye to Imogene and Marcel. What a splendid little litter. How lucky we were to spend time with them.

Almost Time...

Marcel and Imogene Bartlett will be leaving us this evening, so we are savoring these last few hours with them. We'll miss them, but it's time for them to go. They're getting big. Especially Marcel whose getting SO long and wide too. Imogene has delicate features, and her body, though sleek, is quite muscular. She looks half his size, but weighs just a couple ounces less.

Don't they make the loveliest pair?



Here you can see a bit of Imogene's smokey patches. Everyone who's ever met her has said they've never seen a cat with coloring like hers. And "everyone" includes some folks that have seen a WHOLE lot of cats in their day.




I'll tell you all about their family tomorrow. I think you'll be pleased when you learn where they are going.

Tune in tomorrow, friends.

Cold Snaps Make For Cuddly Kittens

Man, oh man we've had some frigid temps around here. The nice thing about the cold is that it encourages cuddling.

Just take a look at this snuggly little pair...

Do Tell, Marcel

It seems the boy has something on his mind. Care to share?

PS..
I know some of the pics from previous posts have disappeared. I'm working on fixing it now.

Meet Marcel

This handsome little man is Marcel. He's the biggest of the bunch, and easily outweighs his siblings by half a pound.

The kittens are probably around 8 weeks old, and weight-wise, Marcel is closest to normal.

He's a rowdy little boy who likes to play hard. He'll gladly challenge anyone (or all three at once) to a wrestling match. He's fearless.

The best thing about Marcel is that you can scoop him up anytime, and he's happy to receive a little love. No matter what he's doing, mid-match, post-pounce, whenever, he'll take a break to purr for you. He's a sweetie-pie.

And so dashing too, oui?