An Update on the Fishkin Twins!

Pictured above are Sidney and Mose Fishkin on their adoption day.

We were so happy when Tiffany, Bill, and Vivian adopted the precious Fishking twins -- we knew they would offer a wonderful life to these kittens. About a week after they left our nest, Mose gave them a scare with a health crisis.  We felt so bad they had to go through something like this out of the gates but were so grateful that Mose was in their capable hands. Thankfully they caught it early, acted fast, and got him healthy.

Here's the story and an update from Tiffany.

Shortly after we adopted the brothers, Mose fell ill and was diagnosed with pneumonia. We faithfully gave him nebulizer and shower-steam treatments, and he put up with them well, sometimes even purring through the steam. Meanwhile, Sidney would swat the nebulizer tube and had a deep distrust of the shower. He wanted to liberate his brother from the humans and their torturous contraption. I started calling Sidney "The Scrapper" because he was having none of it. He was very feisty. My daughter disputes this account, but until my dying day I will swear that I determined to win Sidney over with The Love Treatment, and it worked. Within a week of serious cuddles and babying, his personality shifted, and the scrapper was tamed.

Mose was another story. Although he has always been really quick to purr, he is not a huge fan of cuddles--unless the cuddles are on his terms, or Vivian is the cuddler. She is his primary attachment, and he'll let her hold him like a baby. Most of the time, though, he is pursuing the YOLO lifestyle. While cats may have nine lives, Mose prefers to live as though he only has one. Each day we play outside with the boys for about an hour--they love to chase a cork attached to a stick by a long piece of twine--and we know it's time to bring them in when Mose a) climbs a tree, b) gets onto the roof, or c) leaps the fence in a single bound. Meanwhile, Sidney is chilling in a sunray. Poor Sid. He's like the kid in class who is kept from recess because some other kid was acting up.

Most of the time, though, the brothers like to hang out with each other and with us. They have several spurts of energy a day, and during those times anything can happen. Last night, Mose pulled a spider plant off of the mantle. At other times, they both climb under the covers and sleep against our legs. They're really friendly with guests--not at all skittish. In fact, they love to jump on people's heads and bite their hair. At 8 months old, Sidney has gotten really big, and Mose is smaller and slimmer. I think that Sid looks like a Shakespearean actor--someone who only plays the kings. Mose has superfine features and the softest fur ever. When you look at Mose in the sunlight and from the back forward, you can see that he has brown and black stripes, whereas Sidney is pretty much solid black. Both are excellent at leaping, running, and stalking.

We love these two dears. They were just what we needed.

I'm attaching a few photos!

1. Mose on left, Sidney on right

2. Sidney in Vivian's lap

3. Mose and Sidney forming a word bubble

4. Sidney on left, Mose on right.

5. Mose

Thank you for sharing your stories and sweet photos with us today, Tiffany!   You guys are the best and we apprecate your devotion to your kitties so much.

More updates to come today -- so do stay tuned!

Final Fishkin Photos!

This is is, friends. The very last of the Fishkin photos.  We sure are missing these two cuties around here, but so happy that they landed such a stellar home. I posted their adoption tale kind of late yesterday, so if you happened to miss it, please keep scrolling after this post and give it a read.

We're on the waiting list for kittens, but things are still a little quiet down at the shelter, so I'm not sure how long it will be before we get our next batch. Maybe Bean will get some for her birthday tomorrow. Wouldn't that be the perfect gift for our girl?

Fingers are crossed!

There Goes Mose. So Long Sid!

Just two days after our little Fishkin Twins arrived I got an email from Tiffany, who was just beginning a search for a pair of kittens or young cats to add to their family of three.

In her note, she introduced her family and told me a little bit about their life together.  She shared that over the past few years, they had said goodbye to several beloved senior pets. These losses were difficult for the Tiffany and her partner, Bill, but especially hard for ten-year-old Vivian.  Tiffany thought this would be a good time to introduce some kittens into their lives so Vivan could experience what it's like to have a pet for many, many years.

She went on to describe the kind of cats they were hoping to find --- a cuddly, playful and bonded pair who might easily connect with all of the humans in their home.

I was sitting with a cuddly, playful, and bonded pair of kittens in my lap when this message from Tiffany arrived, and after I had finished reading it, I said to the boys, "I think I've found your people."

I emailed her back, sent a couple of photos of the Fishkins, and told her a little bit about their personalities. She shared these pictures with Bill and Vivian, and they all were very excited to meet the kittens. Once the URIs started improving, and when quarantine was nearly up, we had them all over for a visit.

We entered the kitten room together, which startled Sidney and sent him scrambling. Mose wasn't rattled at all and quickly introduced himself to the family.  He's always been the most outgoing of the pair.

Vivan had brought along a fishing pole cat toy, which she used to lure Sidney out from the shadows.  Soon, she had a lapful of Fishkins.  I was impressed with her kitten-wrangling techniques. Also, the fact that she understood that it's always best to let the kittens come to you -- that's not always an easy concept for kids to comprehend.

We had a great visit, the kittens delighted and enchanted our guests, and that family of three grew to five that morning.

I wish I could have sent the kittens home with Tiffany, Bill, and Vivian that day, but the Fishkins still had to get over their URIs, get bigger, and get snipped.  And their new family had to prepare for the arrival of the kittens! They had to shop for supplies, do some kitten-proofing in their home, and study all of the Fishkin photos so they could learn the boys' subtle differences and be able to tell who is who!

Finally, adoption day came, and when they arrived to pick up their babies, the little loves were curled up on the couch, next to each other with necks crossed, tails tucked under, forming the perfect little heart.  Tiffany pointed the out heart immediately, and we let out a collective "Awwwwww."

Vivian and Bill joined the kittens on the couch while Tiffany filled out the adoption paperwork at the table. Once the transaction was complete, we visited, and I enjoyed our last few moments with these precious little Fishkins.






There was a lot of  "Ok, now that's Sidney, no, wait, that's Mose" that morning.  I did my best to point out their differences, but as they've grown, they've changed. Features that have helped identify them have faded, the size gap has narrowed, so it got harder to tell them apart!  I found it's easier to identify them by their personalities, and I'm guessing their new family will find it the same way.  

We talked about feeding schedules, litter boxes, toy preferences, Moses' fascination with the fridge and Sid's bad habit of nursing on his brother. After all kitten questions had been answered, we said our goodbyes, and off they went.

In the photos below, you can see the gentleness of this family in their hands. I am thrilled to no end that these are the hands that will be raising Sid and Mose.

Thank you, Tiffany, Bill, and Vivian for adopting our kittens. We wish you many, many happy years together!










I still have a lot of Fishkin photos to share, so tune in tomorrow for lots of cuteness.

Also, MS Butterbean will be turning  ELEVEN  on Wednesday, so clear your schedule for lots of birthday fun!

I Don't Know!

I took a look back at all of the Fishkin pics I shot while they were with us. I thought that after spending more time with them and getting to know the kittens better, it would have gotten easier to tell them apart in those early photos.

As it turns out, it still is just as challenging!

I suppose it doesn't really matter who was who in the photographs.

In reality, it mattered.

We needed to know so we could monitor their health and make note of whose eye was runny or whose nose was crusty as they healed from their URIs. That, we were able to do -- mostly because of their size difference and Sid's bushier tail.

Still, it does bother me a wee bit that I can't properly identify our foster babies in the photographs.   I'm just going to have to let that one go.


I am, however,  100% sure I can identify them in these two early photos -- after I took them I made a mental note of who was who.   That's Sidney in the top photo and Mose is below.





OK, I'm 98% sure.  


How about you?  Did you figure out who was who or did you struggle during their whole chapter with us?




-------


Tune in tomorrow for the Fishkin's adoption tale!

Kitten Visitors

Our friends love to meet our kittens, so each litter always has plenty of visitors.  It's good for the kittens' socialization to expose them to plenty of people, so we always welcome guests.

My friend Maggie came by with her daughter, Alana, the other day. As you can see by the look on Alana's face, it was a morning of pure bliss. I think if she could have stayed in that chair with those kittens on her lap forever, she would have been completely fine with that! So much joy!!









My friends Sky and Violet visited the Fishkins, too. They belong to our dear friends Eileen and Matthew, and they're two of the sweetest little humans you'll ever meet.

And just like Alana, I think they would have been completely happy staying in this moment forever.


















Our grown-up friends visit too.

Here's one of my besties, Katy, with a lapful of Fishkins. You've met Katy before -- she adopted Thurston and Norma Easterbrook! She loves all kittens, but I think little black ones tug at her heartstrings the most.








Thank you to all of our visitors for coming by! Sidney and Mose enjoyed spending time with you all, and so did we!