I've added a ramp. Prince has gone up and down a few times. Hopefully Francis Noodle was paying attention.
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T.M. Baumgartner
@tm_baumgartner@mstdn.social
mastodon 4.7.2Theresa, writer of SF/F (T.M. Baumgartner) and cozy mysteries (Tess Baytree). Formerly software engineer, veterinarian. Completely unable to follow directions.
I foster a LOT of kittens for the Yolo County Animal Services shelter.
"Could a vampire policemen enter my house if they had a warrant?" Theoretical Magic, out NOW! https://books2read.com/TheoreticalMagic
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Joined November 06, 2022
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Northern California, USA
Sometimes you just need a nap and a snack at the same time.
Francis Noodle is everyone's buddy. (That's The Kitten Formerly Known as Prince curled up like the world's cutest little backpack.)
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterKittens
Added mom cat and three babies yesterday — pretty sure the babies have fever coats, so they won't look like that when grown, but their coloration is really interesting at the moment.
Also have a boy who had a string caught around his back leg. He's definitely going to lose some skin. Not sure about function at this point.
#FosterKittens #CatsOfMastodon
It's best to share the cat bed with your buddy! (Francis Noodle and Kitty Tuna)
#FosterKittens #FosterCat #CatsOfMastodon
Thursday afternoons I meet a friend at the library makerspace and do *something*. This was today's project (based on a tutorial in a book I've had for 30 years). I'm happy with how it turned out.
She is a good mom and the babies are thriving, but the "my safety vs her benefit" equation on giving oral meds means that she's going to get the last two doses of antibiotics in food and if she doesn't eat it, oh well.
#FosterKittens #FosterCat #HissyGrowlyMom
The five new babies from yesterday. A friend came over to help socialize them, so I finally got a picture of everyone. They are eating well and their eyes already look better.
And finally, Sunburst, the blind kitten, who will be done with quarantine soon and will join the seven rowdy kittens a few feet away. She has graduated from hand-feeding to eating from the emotional support spoon, so I have hopes I won't need to spend the next twenty years holding food for her to eat.
Partial success! Couldn't get mom, but I did finally trap the baby. We should still be well within the socialization window, so the baby is now in a big dog crate in my bedroom.
That takes a little time pressure off, but trapping mom before she has another litter is going to be a challenge!
Sunburst finished her quarantine today. She and Cloudberry seem to have hit it off.
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Buddies! (They have access to the entire room. Both went into the crate on their own.)
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterCat
My kitten army will soon take over the world! But first, a nap.
Uncle Nimbus is the best babysitter for the elemental kittens.
"Sleep is for the weak."
-- fellow foster mom Jennifer
Anyhow, here are five of the seven bottle babies currently in residence.
Nimbus has arrived! This young man probably has FIP and he's a little hissy, so he's getting the medical+behavioral super combo. Hisses get kisses, my friend!
Rooster has been adopted!
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterKittens
The baby-loving bachelors are meeting Pickleball Joe for the first time and it's pretty hilarious.
Eventually PJ will be with a group of kittens his own age, but they have another week of quarantine. Nimbus and Francis Noodle can provide a little guidance in the meantime.
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterKittens
Am I working on edits? Yes. Am I also socializing kittens? Yes.
Mom is not friendly (to me), so she is monitoring things from inside the crate.
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterKittens
A fellow foster's mom cat (who is great with the babies but constantly plays in water bowls) is going off for adoption soon, and she's trying to figure out the best way to word this:
"Super sweet, laid back, cuddle bug, loves attention, by the love of all that is holy, do not put her water bowl anywhere you don't want flooded, we are not kidding, don't claim you weren't warned!"
I think it's perfect, as is! 😂
Francis Noodle and Kitty Tuna are getting along well.
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterKittens
Brought Kitty Tuna into the office to see if she and Francis Noodle will be a good match. (If so, KT will stay here and I'll clean the bathroom for another foster group.)
So far, so good, and Francis Noodle's body slam was taken in the right spirit.
#CatsOfMastodon #FosterKittens
Lulu would like to stare into your soul!
(I may need to make a reaction gif out of this.)
I wonder what I did with the closet hardware I never re-installed after I refinished the floors...
My day has been a(n absolutely hilarious) progression of the new kittens pooping on the floor and me adding more and more litter boxes in response.
This is "accident" #5. Clearly the kittens are winning.
Last night I saw one older kitten, so I'm back in the alley trying to catch it before the socialization window closes. So far only one cat has appeared, it has a tipped ear. (I borrowed binoculars from a friend, so I could actually see from 20' away...)
With any luck, I'll get mom and baby together. (I know, I know, it's unlikely, but let me have my dream!)
Back in my garage office in the apparently cat-free alley. I did figure out a way to keep the teeny-tiny ants out of the food — if only the feral mom and her baby were around to appreciate my hard work!
Finally trapped the cat I was looking for and... she was lactating and I don't know where the kittens are, so I released her.
I'm hoping somebody will find the kittens and we can trap them all together, but... ugh.
Back in the alley trying to trap the pregnant cat. I have not seen her since Friday morning, which makes me wonder if she's gone elsewhere to have her babies. If I *do* trap her, I'll have to check to see if she's lactating and release her if she is.
But it's a lovely evening and I've waved to a few neighbors.
I am back in the alley trying to trap mama & baby. The neighbor from the end of the street came over and asked if I was trying to trap raccoons. 😂 Not intentionally! I have no idea what I would do with a raccoon if I caught one. (Okay, I do. I would set it free very, very carefully.)
Replying to
Update: still haven't found the heavily pregnant cat (who has probably already had her kittens), but the other cat trapped last Thursday was spayed today...
... and she was trying to be a teen mom —early pregnancy that would have resulted in FIVE more feral cats in a couple months.
So that disaster has been averted. Now we just need to find the other one.
#Trapalong2026
Feral mom: 6
Theresa: 0
Once again, didn't even see her this evening. The only winners this week are the mosquitos.
I never saw the cat I was trying to get this morning, but I did figure out how to set up the drop trap, a small win.
Replying to
Feral mom: 7
Theresa: 0
I have one more chance tomorrow morning, but I'm not optimistic. I'm adding a note to my calendar to try again in 5 weeks.
#Trapalong2026
Replying to
Cripes! There are now four cats here that I'm not trying to trap. WHERE IS THE TABBY???
#Trapalong2026
After eight months of researching the parts I needed and falling into the rabbit hole of "this part is no longer made and has been replaced by this part which is no longer made which has been replaced by this part which is no longer made...", I went to the hardware store today, bought the thing I thought should work, and fixed the toilet.
$20 and ten minutes (+ 8 months of overthinking). My brain is ridiculous.
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@Jasperthecat@mastodon.sdf.org Ha, I think we all do! I'm kind of surprised I let it get away because it was a good blanket.
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@Jasperthecat@mastodon.sdf.org Adorable!
(I had that elephant blanket for a while. I think it went back to the shelter with a round of kittens.)
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@dandylover1@someplace.social It's a good idea, but I'm not sure how I would get something like that onto her.
@catzilla@toot.cat Not really my style but it's interesting.
The acoustics in that apartment must be wild.
Replying to
@DrJLecter Yeah. I think she normally hangs out in the yard of the people who feed & don't TNR. The last time I talked to them about getting the cats fixed, they were unhelpful.
But she also sometimes goes to the yard of the people across the alley and they have been trying to trap her for a while now. We're hoping she brings her kittens to their shed. Someday we'll get lucky!
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@mirabilos @sindarina I have an appointment for her on Wednesday morning. If I can't grab her by then, I'll probably have to wait five weeks and try again (plus trapping/fostering the kittens).
Interview with Dwayne Mathers as part of the kickoff of this year's Mysterious Murders Contest! Write a 3k-word story with a locked room mystery — no entry fee, top three stories get some *amazing* cash prizes. Join the fun!
#AmWriting #AmReading #MysteriousMurdersContest
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZDieOhDTvU/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==