Catching up with Scottie and the "Puppies"

August 04, 2022 by Mr. Academy in Introduction, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

We’re setting new records in being waaaaay behind so we’re delcaring it a “website backlog forgiveness day time” And here’s the plan: we’re just going to post what we got, no worries about trying to put it all together narratively or checking that we’ve edited a roughly equal number of photos for each kitten.

So here’s the blog post we uploaded all the way back in April, with Scottie and the Puppies, and we’ll be back with more catching up before you know it!

Here’s a couple things to know in case we don’t:

Crunchyroll Expo 2022 is this weekend and the kittens will be attending — well, virtually, anyhow. Many thanks to Crunchyroll for bringing the extra attention to the kittens we’re fostering, for the third year running! We’re told that if you are attending the Expo virtually this year, you don’t even need to register in advance, just turn up on the website and check things out!

And speaking of big events this weekend, we’re expecting the arrival of a new momcat with her six or seven kittens on Saturday evening. Keep an eye on the stream for updates!

Back soon (probably?) with more!

Here’s Pug, Beagle, Pomeranian, St. Bernard, Basset, Jack Russell, and of course, Scottie:

"Introducing": River and the Tiny Townies

April 29, 2022 by Mr. Academy in Introduction, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

[Edit: The date on this post is February 8, but it wasn’t published until April 29.]

We’re further behind than ever before! Here we are introducing River and her kittens and they’ve already all graduated (except Yurt) — but we’ll get to that after a bit of more timely news.

KA-Con 2022

KA-Con is being held in-person this year June 17-19th. The event is entirely arranged by the volunteer KA-Con Planning Committee and we’re expecting it to be a casual good time where we get a chance to meet and interact with some of you in-person (and some virtually)! As in previous years, attendance is limited to Patreons and Discorders so that the Planning Committee is able to accurately gauge the scope and not work themselves to an early retirement!

Miss Mellie’s Kitten Academy Poems

Miss Mellie and Umbra Love have published Volume Two of the amazing Kitten Academy Poems, an illustrated two-part series of imaginative stories told in verse by the cats and kittens that have attended the Academy (part three coming In Due Time™). The link here goes to the Kindle versions, but if you dig in, you’ll find they are also available in paperback or even hardcover! The on-demand printing isn’t cheap but the quality is superb, and the poetry and artwork is well worth the price. The profits from sales go to Kitten Academy and various other animal rescues[*]. If you are interested in further supporting Miss Mellie and Umbra Love, you can commission poetry and art in the same style for your own pets at their new project, petpoetraits.com!

Scottie’s Tiny Puppies

Scottie’s class has failed their final exams and will be held back for a week or two of summer Spring School. More on that in our next blogpost (In Due Time™).

River and the Tiny Townies

With that out of the way, let’s introduce River and her Townies! They came to the Academy January 8th and the kittens were already a few weeks old. Although they started out extremely shy, it wasn’t long before they took over the Academy (and our hearts).

They’ve all graduated now, except Yurt, who is being adopted with Beagle of Scottie’s class. In order to get caught up, we’re publishing whatever photos we had ready-to-go, and perhaps we’ll be able to publish some or all of the rest In Due Time™.

Here’s the rest of the photos we have ready-to-go!

[* In the past, proceeds have been split among Kitten Academy and DAWS, the shelter that provides us cats to foster. Currently, Miss Mellie and Umbra Love are dedicating a portion to orginizations involved in rehoming of pets that have been rescued from Ukraine.]

Catching Up Part One: Buttons and Bumble (And Splotch)

January 31, 2022 by Mr. Academy in Photos, Merch

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

We are, in the words of the great Douglas Adams, “…late, but moving fast!” Today’s blog post is entirely about Buttons and Bumble, with a side of Splotch. We have the best intentions to return quickly with posts about the other new residents of the Academy… soon! Until then, catch them on the Live Stream!

In what may be a first, Buttons arrived from Georgia as a presumptive momcat, was found to be a non-pregnant kitten, had her graduation, and has gone to live with her adopter (back to Georgia, coincidentally), all before we managed to post anything about her on our blog. That doesn’t say a lot for us, but it sure says a lot for Buttons, and her adopter (and all of you)! Our favorite fact about Buttons — she was allowed to roam the Academy freely for most of the weeks she was here, and in all that time, only went downstairs once; just long enough to decide it wasn’t for her. Here’s a few photos from the photoshoots she managed to participate in.

Next, DAWS had the lovely tuxie Bumble arrive as a presumptive momcat. But she turned out to be a slightly chonky cat, not pregnant at all. She, too, has had her graduation surgery, but is still awaiting adoption applicants. Her favorite things to do are eating and sleeping, and she would make an excellent couch companion. She’s young, perhaps a year or so, and so does also require a certain amount of play and zooming — more on that in a moment. She does not start trouble with other cats, but she does let them know to keep a distance by growling. If pushed further, she’ll run away and hide. She only fights if cornered. She can get along with other cats just fine, and if they’re reasonably polite and will respect her boundaries they can even become friends over time.

…Which brings us to Splotch. You may recall that Splotch had an adopter lined up, but the adoption was delayed a short while so that we could focus on helping her get over a bit of a snort that she had had since birth. Good news: the snorting has been completely resolved thanks to the ceaseless efforts of Dr. Katz! However, due to a change in circumstances, Splotch’s adopter has had to withdraw, and so Splotch will need a new adopter.

Splotch is a strong, healthy polydactyl kitten who loves play and zooming more than anything else, napping and eating when necessary. Splotch likes to be near her people, but tends to be independent and prefers cuddling and purring when it happens on her schedule. We expect that over time, she’ll build a very strong bond with her adopter and come to enjoy affection more freely. She would make an excellent companion for someone who wants a more active and curious cat — if her mom is any indication she’ll continue to be that way well past kittenhood. She’s good with other cats, and will respectfully give them distance if they respectfully request it. She’s polite with humans and cats, takes corrections well, and seldom uses her claws or teeth without provocation. When other cats are too forward, she tends to correct them with quick smacks rather than a growl, so an adopter who already has cats should consider whether they’ll respond favorably to that. So far, everyone here — including River — gets along with her just fine.

Our recommendation would be to adopt Splotch along with another cat or kitten — one that she will get along with and that may help her find an outlet for some of her energy as well. So far, it seems like Bumble would make a fair choice for this, although it’s possible that Bumble would be overwhelmed if she were solely responsible for keeping Splotch entertained. It may well be the case that Splotch ends up best friends with one of the tiny Townies or even eventually one of Scottie’s kittens. It also seems likely that Splotch would be just fine without other cats around, if her adopter is committed to keeping her busy!

So, applications for Splotch and Bumble (together or separately) are open!

Here’s a couple “bonus” images including previews of the upcoming blogpost photoshoots that we’re behind on editing and posting:

…one more thing!

In what’s definitely a first, there’s also beautiful Buttons merch on the store — merch announced after Buttons had already come and gone, but it’s so pretty we can’t wait for ours anyhow!

What Happened to October?!

November 05, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Photos, Cheatsheet

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

We’re awfully late on getting some photoshoots published, plus we owe an art post that was supposed to happen before October — now it’s been pushed to “before December.” Let’s see how we do!

Quick updates - everyone is almost entirely healthy, but we’re still dealing with a few minor issues. Rue’s allowed all the kittens a bit too much leeway and we’re trying to get her and Mural to both stop allowing the kids to nurse… but momcats gunna’ mom! Caper still doesn’t prefer to eat the regular food with all his family, but we’ve found that he will if it’s his only option. Splotch still has breathing sounds, but the doc has checked her out and neither of us believes it’s anything critical. It may just be remnants of the URI Mural and all the kittens had in more evidence a couple weeks ago. At any rate, we’re watching and treating everything and everyone is happy and active — including Mr. A, who’s still recovering from some back issues.

All the kittens are scheduled for their vaccine boosters and checkup on Monday the 8th, and will be getting their graduation surgeries on November 30th and December 7th - some on one day and the rest on the other. Based on that, all kittens and moms should be ready to be picked up by December 17th at the latest, although some will be ready sooner (like Rue and Tomfoolery, who are both OK to go anytime).

The latest word from DAWS is that prior applicants will likely be adopting all of the kittens, and Rue came to us pre-adopted, but Mural and Tommy may still need adopters. Of course, nothing is certain and it may also turn out that some of the kittens also need new applicants. So the time is right to open up the application for anyone interested. Keep in mind that while you are allowed to adopt from anywhere in the continental United States, if you are not local, you will be responsible for arranging travel to pick up the kitten(s - we do encourage adoption of pairs). If you are flying, you will need to arrange with the airline to allow you to bring the kitten(s) in the cabin on the flight; no checked kittens! Most airlines require you to verbally inform an agent ahead of time about your plans so they can enforce rules about how many animals are allowed on any given flight.

As mentioned, we do encourage adoption in multiples. Adopting a solo kitten is certainly allowed but we’ve recently been reminded (by Tommy) that kittens without siblings need you to help them burn off all their play energy every day, and it can be a lot to keep up with! Adopting with a sibling or mom means a little less burden on you, believe it or not!

Here’s updated photos of everyone, followed by the rest of the shoot! We also have a photoshoot from October 11-12 that we will hopefully publish out-of-order, soon!

Rue’s Ruses

Rutabaga - Rue - Momcat

Caper - Male Classic Tabby - Blue Collar

Hijinks - Male Mackerel Tabby - Red Collar

Hustle - Male Long-Haired Tabby - Purple Collar

Gimmick - Male Black - White Collar

Sham - Female Black - Pink Collar

Gambit - Male Black - Green Collar

Tomfoolery - Tommy - Male Dilute Tux - Honorary Ruse, No Relation

Mural’s Tinypaints

Mural - Polydactyl Momcat

Splotch - Polydactyl Female Torby - Gold Collar

Trace - Polydactyl Female Tortie - Maroon Collar

Etch - Polydactyl Male Tabby - Black Collar

Doodle - Polydactyl Male Black - Polka Dot Collar

Squiggle - Female Tortie - Pink/Green Collar

Scrawl - Female Torby - Grey Collar

What a roster! And here’s the rest of the photos!

Rueral Living For a City Kitten!

October 09, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Introduction, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

We’ve got all kinds of things to share with you but we’re also at least three blog posts behind right now so we’re just going to briefly introduce our newest arrival, and post some outdated photos of Rue and Mural’s kids. We’ll have something a little more recent and verbose coming up soon in due time!

The new kid, Tomfoolery, is a couple-few weeks older than Rue’s kids. He was discovered panhandling for pastrami outside a deli in New York City by a long-time friend of Kitten Academy, and we offered to take him in for extra socialization and education. It’s our hope that he can eventually join Rue and Mural’s combined kids but we’re taking it slow, as he’s got a lot to learn about how to politely interact with other cats — and humans for that matter! He’s got more energy than most classes combined and while he’s learning his lessons very well indeed, he still can be a little too enthusiastic when he gets all riled up.

Tommy has been a good reminder for us, and a good lesson for potential adopters of kittens — a kitten has a ton of energy and needs to work it off. If they don’t have parents and siblings around to play, all that interaction and play becomes your responsibility, and it can be a big one! This is one of the reasons we greatly prefer to see kittens (and momcats) adopted in pairs.

As the kittens all get older they will become closer in weight and skill and a better match for Tommy whether he’s overly excited or not. We expect him to graduate at the same time as Rue and Mural’s kittens — just before Christmas.

Just a couple quick reminders:

We’ll announce when we’re ready to open the application for these kittens - should be in the next few weeks. Until then, DAWS has asked that everyone wait for it, and to not try to apply using their website — to keep things simple for them. Thanks for being patient!

Mr. A may be taking it easy for the next week or two while he recovers from some back pain - the worst is already over but it’ll take some extra R&R to make sure that he’s fully restored. Please excuse any extra delays in publishing photos, social media, and close-ups while this is ongoing! You all have plenty of practice in patience already given our usual delays!

And speaking of the usual delays, here’s a whole bunch of photos from various photoshoots, mainly from September 17-19 when Mural’s kittens were two weeks old and Rue’s were four weeks old including some last-minute photos with Paisley and Basketweave. Also included are a few slightly more recent of Tommy.

Two Households, both Alike in Dignity!

September 09, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Cheatsheet, Introduction, Photos, Merch

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

Mural has finally had her six precious kittens after the second-longest pregnancy ever* at Kitten Academy! But before that — literally the day before — we brought in Rue and her sixlets. So today’s mewspaper post is going to introduce two families!

(* Mural gets second place with 34 days spent pregnant at the Academy. The record continues to be held by Tempest who lasted 37 days!)

Rue’s Ruse

Rue was discovered in the Bronx where she was rescued and brought to Hoboken, NJ and given the name “Rutabaga.” Reportedly very sweet and playful, she was a joy but soon concern mounted over her growing belly and a trip to the vet was in order. The vet quickly determined that she was pregnant with six little kittens, so her rescuers called the one person they knew could help — Mom! (Their mom, not ours or Rue’s.) Mom brought Rutabaga to Dr. Katz in Fairfield, CT where the kittens were delivered, and spent their first two weeks. Now that they’ve reached an age appropriate to more mobility, we’ve brought them in to the Kitten Academy to give them a little space to stretch out and zoom around! They are currently living in the “Second Annex” next door to Mural, with hopes that eventually the two families can come together.

“Mom” will be adopting Rue (so actually Rue’s mom after all) after she’s done raising her last litter of kittens (Rue, not Mom), and the kittens will go through the usual adoption process here at Kitten Academy when they are about three months old.

A Note on Applications

Speaking of which, DAWS — the shelter we work with and who process applications for Kitten Academy kittens — have asked that anyone who wants to apply for any of Rue or Mural’s kids use the Kitten Academy application here on this website. They ask that you don’t use the regular DAWS application. The Kitten Academy application will open after the kittens are a few weeks older and we’ve had a chance to get to know them a little better. We’ll be sure to put the word out here and on our Twitter when that day arrives.

Here’s the Rue crew, and see below for Mural!

Caper - Male “Classic” Grey Tabby

Hijinks - Male “Mackerel” Grey Tabby

Hustle - Male “Mackerel” Grey Tabby

Gimmick - Male Black with Ventral White Spots

Sham - Female Black

Gambit - Male Black with Grey-Flecked Prosterior

Rue - Momcat

Mural’s Tinypaints

Mural is another momcat who was brought to Dr. Katz, this time from a sort-of cat colony near her practice in southwestern Connecticut. Mural was brought in with the intent of performing a spay and returning her to her usual place (TNR), but Dr. K discovered she was pregnant (Mural, not Dr. K) and very friendly so offered to have her attend the Academy. We initially suspected she’d deliver kittens within a week of her arrival but it turned out to take over a month! During that time she’s shown that she’s very comfortable around other cats, and spent most of her days just hanging around the Academy with the faculty.

Etch was born with a special talent for reviewing movies and Facebook posts.

Mural is a polydactyl cat, which in her case means she has one extra toe in-between her fourth toe and her dewclaw on her front paws. Four of her kittens are the same, each with one extra toe on each of the front paws, as noted below. This is an unusual, but not rare genetic mutation that is unlikely to have any impact on health or longevity. However, it does allow for an impressive thumbs-up!

Splotch - Female Brown Tabby- Polydactyl

Trace - Female Tortie with Orange Head Stripe - Polydactyl

Etch - Male Orange Tabby - Polydactyl

Doodle - Male Black - Polydactyl

Squiggle - Female Tortie with Half-Pink Nose

Scrawl - Female Grey Tabby

Mural - Mom

One more thing before we go — well, two actually. Two new fantastic merchandise designs on our Teespring shop! See here for previous designs.

A lovely painting of Mural by @alienswearsunglasses titled “Toof”

Technically Etch, but the cryptid version by @tanize!

…and here’s some bonus photos, mostly of Custard’s silly expressions:

Happy Graduation to the Catterns!

August 26, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Graduation, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

Loom’s five wonderful kittens, born on May 27th, are big kids now and ready to go to their new homes with their adopters! It’s been a wild ride, starting with Loom being just a kitten herself and not really sure how to momcat. We helped her provide for the kittens until they were old enough to be weaned. And we, in turn, got a lot of help from a few very special vets including Dr. To at the Animal Medical Center who helped Chevy when he bit off more than he could chew, and our regular vet Dr. Katz at Aristokatz who never seems to take a break — unless it’s Herry’s.

The adoption schedule, as we know it so far, is below. But the most important note is that Basketweave still needs qualified applicants for his adoption! He’s Loom’s clone and certainly the best climber in the group. He’s the only one in the entire family to have mastered climbing over the fence and therefore comes and goes throughout the house whenever he likes! A very clever kitten indeed, who’s certain to bring joyful mischief to his future family. [Ed: Basketweave now has an approved adopter!]

Loom and Herringbone - September 12th
Argyle and Chevy - September 3rd
Paisley - September 19th
Basketweave - September 22nd

Our new momcat, Mural, still hasn’t delivered her kittens but it can’t be too much longer now. She’s definitely almost ready to go and we’re hoping that her reportedly extensive experience in momcatting will lead to a nice, relaxing birth followed by a couple months of playing Kitten Academy on easy mode! We got some nice photos of her the same day as the below photoshoot — August 13th — and we’ll just save them until it’s time to make a blog post all about her.

One last note - the URL for the regular Kitten Academy Live Stream has changed. If you ever have trouble finding the stream, you can always check here for the latest link.

Paisley

Basketweave

Chevron

Herringbone

Argyle

Loom

Everyone

What Mew, Loom's Catterns?

July 22, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Merch, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

We took some photos of Loom and her kids for you to enjoy! Not much else to it. They all got collars but that was after this photoshoot, so the collar colors are noted by their names but you won’t see them — don’t try looking closer!

Brief health updates: The Catterns are all over their Calicivirus as far as we can tell! Herringbone took a spill and we’re still consulting with the vets about whether there’s anything we can or should do - meanwhile he’s kittening perfectly well on three legs! We’ll keep you informed as we know more.

Here’s a cute new design in our Teespring store featuring Puget.

Loom

Paisley - Female - Lavender Collar

Basketweave - Male - Grey Collar

Herringbone - Male - Red Collar

Chevron - Male - Blue Collar

Argyle - Male - Orange Collar

Bonus Photos!

Port Oranges and Catterns Updates!

July 06, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Adoption, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

As you no doubt are aware, Port Oranges have been getting picked up by their adopters and as of this writing, only Bombay, Rotterdam, and Sydney remain. And Millet, of course. They will be picked up in due time:

Bombay - Friday July 9th
Syd and Millet - Saturday July 17th
Rotterdam - TBD, after neuter on the 12th

We would have liked to have done another studio photoshoot with the entire group but unfortunately, time did not allow. We did, however, catch a bunch of action shots with the oranges and the A-Door-Able bird toy. You’ll find some of those at the end of this post!

Meanwhile, we managed another brief shoot with the Catterns. We’ll split that up by kitten here as it’s still difficult to tell Chevron from Herringbone. The Catterns are finally eating well on their own and all seem very active and happy! There’s good evidence that the Calicivirus that Rotterdam had earlier has been picked up by some or all of the Catterns but they seem — like Rotterdam — as though they don’t even notice.

Paisley

Basketweave

Chevron

Herringbone

Argyle

Loom

Here’s a few extra of the Catterns

Here’s some photos of the Oranges at play!

This Post Stuck In A Holding Cattern

June 22, 2021 by Mr. Academy in Introduction, Photos

Greetings, Kitten Academicians!

The headline might be a bit of a stretch, but we’re almost a month late in introducing Loom and her Catterns here on the website! Loom came to DAWS on a transport from West Virginia and at first, we were skeptical that she was even pregnant. But Dr. Katz confirmed it with an X-ray and a few days later, on Thursday May 27th, she delivered five healthy little kittens.

It seems as though — for one reason or another — nursing with Loom hasn’t been able to provide them with all the nutrition they require, so we’ve been supplementing them with frequent tube-feedings. As a result, they’re all fat and happy three-and-a-half weeks later, and just now in the process of transitioning to solid food!