Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

Allow us to formally introduce the blog to Constance Envariables, or as we call her, Connie!

This beautiful blue-eyed lady arrived to a shelter in Connecticut with a prior litter of hers in mid-June. The kittens she arrived with were already of adoption age and quickly found homes. Connie, on the other hand, was pregnant again and in need of a foster. Michelle, our momcat coordinator through H.E.L.P. For Pets, Inc., reached out to us on the 19th of June to ask if we would be willing to take her in and we said yes. The next day, Mr. A drove to Connecticut and brought her back to the Academy. She traveled well despite the distance and as an even bigger bonus, she didn’t deliver her babies in the car like we were told she might!

Just after her arrival to Kitten Academy, she was super friendly, nesting quite a bit and showing no signs of irritation or aggression when faculty and free-roaming cats or kittens came by to peek through the glass of her door. Her big, round, taut belly, plus the interaction with the shelter made us think she could deliver her kittens at any moment. For this reason we decided against a vet appointment until after her delivery. Little did we know, she would wait 12 more days before going into labor!

On July 2nd, Connie welcomed six healthy kittens. Although there were two pairs of visually similar kittens, there were enough details to tell them apart without taking extra measures to distinguish them.

At 5 days old the kittens got their (first & last) names! Everyone was of similar weight, except for Hugh Mongus, who was more than a full ounce lighter than the next heaviest sibling. We were ready and willing to tube feed him but thankfully it never came to that. After 4 days of closely following his weight, he started making bigger gains and eventually began following the type of growth curve that we are accustomed to seeing.

At six weeks old, the kittens got their first vet appointment scheduled for early September. That visit consisted of wellness checks and vaccines; everyone did great. By this point, the class had moved from the kittenette downstairs to the sunroom upstairs and greatly enjoyed their new space. As the kittens got older, Connie continued to let them nurse which led to some upset tummies and vomiting. Because of this and to help her dry up for a later spay, Connie started wearing a suit. This suit also helped to subdue her slightly when interacting with the faculty around the house. Connie isn’t necessarily a problem with the other cats but does sometimes hold strong eye contact. The other cats did not always appreciate that.

On the 12th of October, the whole class got their second round of vaccines, rabies shots, pre-surgery blood work and wellness exams. All the tests came back great and everyone but Hugh was cleared to move forward with graduation. Although Hugh was now meeting the weight requirement, the vet noticed he seemed to have cryptorchidism and wanted to give him a bit more time to develop before moving forward with his neuter. Cats can still be neutered if they have cryptorchidism but it’s a more invasive surgery and we weren’t really in all that big a hurry.

Later in the month on October 30th, the class went back to the vet. Hugh followed along to be examined but was once again deemed unready for surgery. Knowing at this point that Hugh already had an approved adopter, we chose to give him yet another few weeks to develop to avoid the more invasive neuter. The others all went ahead with their graduation surgeries. At some point during this same time, Connie got a small scratch to her eye. Due to this, she was sent home with some eye medicine and a follow-up visit set for November 10th. The rest of the group were sent home with meloxicam for any pain and swelling that would arise from the surgeries.

A few short days later, everyone was healing up nicely from their surgeries except for Paige. She seemed to be in some pain beyond just soreness and overall wasn’t acting like herself. The non-emergency vet happened to have an opening so Paige went in for a quick exam. The exam showed no fever and no obvious signs of anything wrong. This led the vet concluded that Paige may have just been playing too hard. She was sent home with gabapentin and was to spend some time away from her siblings to heal.

The next morning, she didn’t have much of an appetite and the following day wasn’t any better so back to the vet she went. Our vet directed us to take her to the emergency vet which we did. What they found was an issue with her kidneys—we suspect renal hypoperfusion but this has not yet been confirmed. Supporting our suspicion was that an ultrasound showed that whatever the issue was seemed to be acute and not congenital. We followed the recommended treatment which meant leaving her for a few nights at the vet hospital to get electrolytes and subcutaneous fluids. This helped to flush her kidneys. During her 4-day stay at the emergency vet we got updates letting us know that she was eating, beginning to act more kitten-like and her kidney values were improving. They suggested we take her back to the Academy and observe her for a few days before getting a recheck from our local vet a few days later.

Mr. A picked Paige up from the emergency vet and brought her back to the Academy on the 7th of November. Paige was acting much more like herself and was doing much better than before. On Tuesday, the 10th, Paige went back in for her follow-up blood work. The blood tests took a few days to come back and showed slight improvement. Connie also tagged along to this appointment to get her eye checked again and it looked just fine. As for Paige’s ongoing care goes, we will continue working with the vets and decide what is best going forward. Dr. DJ is thinking subcutaneous fluids and maybe phosphorus binders but that’s not a decision we will make without further guidance. We will keep you updated as we find out more. Each day Paige is getting more and more playful which is helping us to remain optimistic!

While all of this was going on with Paige, we had two photoshoots and since Paige has come home we’ve had two adoptions!

Adoption news!

- Hugh got adopted Nov 8th by a name you might recognize from our mailbags, DragonMakr! For the first time since 2017, we made special arrangements for a Kitten Academy kitten to be neutered post-adoption.
- Anita was picked up on Nov 11th by Mayhem & Bamboozle’s mom! Listen to their letter about getting a new sister in this video!
- Sue has a mystery adopter who tentatively plans to pick her up on Nov, 19th.
- Paige has a mystery adopter with a pick-up date that’s to be determined.

Kittens & Mom still need applications!

Connie, Terry & Warren are still in need of adopters. Could you be the home they’re waiting for?

- Terry is a super energetic, playful and gentle guy. He loves to snuggle, he gives warning licks instead of warning bites, always wants to be included and never turns down the chance to play! He would be a great pairing with Warren, too, if you’re looking for more than one new addition!

- Warren has a lot of energy like most kittens and loves to play. He and Terry would be a good pair if you’re looking to adopt two kittens since they’re always wrestling around together. Other pastimes of his include watching TV, eating food and chasing or pouncing on toys.

- Connie loves human contact, especially a warm lap but can be shy at first. We suspect she is pretty young herself based on the fact that she’s still plenty playful but not quite at the same intensity like that of her kittens. She could do well with other cats if an introduction is done slowly or if the other cat is generally more passive.

If you are interested in Connie, Terry and/or Warren, click the button below to apply!

Apply Now!

Okay, okay. You’ve waited long enough! It’s time for the photos! Below you will find a mix of kitten photos, current photos and Halloween photos. Unfortunately, there’s only one photo of Paige, who wasn’t home for the photoshoots and was non-compliant with the camera as a kitten! If she’s still at the Academy during the next photoshoot, we’ll be sure to get some photos and upload them in a future blogpost!