Momcat News!

December 18, 2016 by Mr. Academy

We just want to make a quick post here to update you on the status of our momcats, Abby and Chutney. We'll come back with another post soon about our kittens and exciting adoption stories!

Abby is at On Angel's Wings in Crystal Lake. She turned out to not be a momcat after all! She's just got a big belly. She's a skittish cat, but once she knows you, she can be very loving. Contact or stop by On Angel's Wings to see her or arrange an adoption!

Chutney's pregnancy turned out to not produce any viable kittens. She's at the emergency vet as we write this, getting a C-section and spay. She's going to be just fine! She'll be returning to the Academy this evening, and will rest and recover for a little while before going to On Angel's Wings or another foster.

On Angel's Wings has three other momcats that need fostering, so their preference is to move Chutney to someone who can handle an adult cat, and bring one of the other momcats to us, where we have more experience. When we know which of the three we'll be taking on here, we'll be sure to let you know!

[EDIT: 18th, 4:15pm, Chutney is out of surgery and doing well. However, the vet will be keeping her overnight to monitor her recovery. Remember to always spay or neuter your pets!!]

[EDIT: 19th, 11:15am. Chutney still at vet. Reportedly doing well, but vet wants to see her eat before she goes home. Next update after 3pm.]

[EDIT: 19th, 9:30pm. Chutney home, recovering. Full of purrs and headbutts.]

We'd like to end this post on the most important note: a big thank you to all of our supporters over the last several months! Because of your generous donations, and a couple months with unusually low expenses, we were able to choose the best treatment options at the emergency vet today without needing to be concerned with the cost. That sort of privilege is wonderful, and it's thanks to all of you that we were able to easily choose the very best for Chutney. Thank you so very much for your help! We can't properly express how grateful we are that you've helped us in this situation. You made today a much better day for everyone!

Chutney Gallery:

Abby Gallery:

So Much Mews!

December 02, 2016 by Mr. Academy

It's been a couple of weeks since we've been able to write one of these blog posts! We've been awfully busy between moving kittens around, trying to arrange for a new momcat, and obviously, the adoptions of Ivy's League and the Weathercats!

When we are busy like this, we hope you keep involved by watching our Facebook page, or even more, our Twitter feed. We try to keep some activity on the Twitter every day. And of course, for those of you who are Patreon subscribers - even if only for a dollar a month - you get access to a 24/7 live chat, with some wonderful people.

So, on to the news. Firstly, the most important thing to mention, is that Dusty is still seeking an adopter. [Edit: DUSTY HAS BEEN ADOPTED! THANKS EVERYONE WHO HELPED GET THE WORD OUT!] Tomorrow is Saturday the 3rd of December, and Animal Outreach Society has decided that Dusty will go to the PetSmart in McHenry in the morning, and stay there until she is adopted. She's a wonderfully sweet, loving kitten who is playful, gets along very well with other animals, and never tires of snuggles and pettings from humans. And snuggles and pets back as best she can! If you or someone you know is interested, please contact Animal Outreach Society.

The other kittens in the group have all been adopted, and some of them, in spectacular fashion! Harv and Stormy were adopted together, by a family that made a six-hour round trip from far northern Wisconsin just for the kittens! In any other Kitten Academy graduating class, that would have been the most amazing thing all by itself. But we have another major milestone from this charming class of kittens: Yale is being adopted by a "mystery adopter" who is flying in from another state, just for Yale. They will be arriving at the Kitten Academy on Saturday morning, at 7am, and flying back home with Yale the same day.

Yale's adopter will appear on the live stream at least a little bit, and we'll take whatever video and photos we can, for people who are unable to tune in live. We wish we had the resources to give this event all the fanfare it deserves, but instead, we'll just bring our enthusiasm and sincere appreciation.

Finally, we think most of you are aware by now that we have Abby in the annex, a new cat from On Angel's Wings, who we believe to be pregnant (the cat, that is). We don't know much of her story, only that she was relinquished at a shelter by her former owner.

When we started Kitten Academy, our hope was only to raise a little awareness of the kittens we foster, locally. Instead, you all have helped make Kitten Academy a global presence, and having half of the kittens in this last graduating class adopted from out-of-state is absolutely mind-boggling! Thank you all for helping to get the word out, and for your support.

Graduation Photos!

November 16, 2016 by Mr. Academy in Graduation

Ivy's League and the Weathercats will all be at PetSmart, hoping to be adopted, beginning on "Black Friday," November 25th, from 10am-1pm. Animal Outreach Society has asked us to provide some biographies and photographs for their adoption flyers. This post is mainly here as an easy way for us to provide the requested information to them.

We'll miss them all when they go -- but on the other hand, they've stayed with us longer than any other Kitten Academy class, and they're really starting to feel a little crowded in the main Kitten Academy classroom!

These kittens are all amazing, loving kittens. If you are interested in adopting one (or more!) please apply through Animal Outreach Society as soon as possible!

Yale

Harvard

Cloudy

Stormy

Dusty

Cornell

Welcome to "The Sprigs!"

November 11, 2016 by Mr. Academy in Introduction

Yesterday, five new kittens arrived at the Kitten Academy, from Animal Outreach Society. We're referring to their group as "The Sprigs." They came from a feral mother in a feral cat colony, but have been living indoors for at least a week or two. Most of them like people and will purr, so they're already better off than our last group of feral kids -- the Spice kittens from earlier this year.

DJ Made this cheat-sheet out of photos we took at the vet's office.

Ivy's League and the Weathercats in the main room were due for adoption this weekend, but Dusty has come down with a serious upper respiratory infection, and possibly Yale has it already, too. So Animal Outreach Society has decided they will stay with us an extra two weeks while they get over their colds. They will be eligible for adoption, and go to the PetSmart in McHenry, on November 26th, instead.

Until then, the new kittens will be staying in the Kitten Academy annex. We need to keep them separate until we know both groups are very healthy, and given their big difference in size, probably they will need to be separate even if they are healthy.

Here's some intro photos from after their baths:

As with all the kittens, the Sprigs now have their own pages on the Kitten Weight Spreadsheet, one for the weights, and one for a graph.

Here's all the rest of the photos from yesterday!

100,000!

November 05, 2016 by Mr. Academy

As of about 5:00am November 5th, one hundred thousand of you have subscribed to Kitten Academy on YouTube! This is amazing! When we started Kitten Academy in April, we would never have guessed that so many of you would enjoy it so much.

I've talked a little bit on the stream about having something that we were going to announce when we hit 100,000 subscribers. So here we are! Let me start by saying there's nothing we could do that would adequately express how wonderful this milestone is, nor repay you all for your support. I'd like to have more time to create new things for you, and hopefully in the next few weeks, we'll be able to make some neat new videos as thanks.

Merchandise

What we have for you today, though, is Kitten Academy swag! We've put up a Zazzle store, with products featuring our logos and designs. We're really just getting started on it -- we don't yet have a good idea what products to offer or what designs to put on them. We also have plans to add some fun new designs, beyond what we're offering today.

So, take a moment, think about what Kitten Academy things you'd really like. Is it a shirt, a pet food bowl, a framed picture? Zazzle offers a lot of items! What logo or design, or photograph would go on it? What words? How would they be arranged? If you have an idea that you really think you'd like, email us, tweet us, or even just comment below and we'll make sure it is an option in our Zazzle store.

If you can't wait, and want to go right ahead and make that thing for yourself, we also are offering the option of downloading our designs and applying them to things anywhere on the internet - or in your house. If you do make something on your own, please let us know! We'd love to see photos! Also, if you want to duplicate the rug that's been seen on the live stream, this is the way to do it. There's a link to the appropriate vendor on the DIY designs page.

Thanks again for all of your support. We hope we can make this month the best yet! Don't forget, we're expecting new kittens this week, on or before November 9th! Also, Ivy is still at the PetSmart in McHenry, IL - and there's an adoption event every weekend, Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 2pm. People from Animal Outreach Society will be there, ready to help you adopt the perfect cat!

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2016 by Mr. Academy

All the kittens are out having their spay/neuter today, but we did a little photoshoot with some costumes yesterday. The kittens will all return this evening.

Ivy is still at PetSmart in McHenry, IL, hoping to be adopted.

Ivy's Adoption Event, and Upcoming Schedule!

October 28, 2016 by Mr. Academy

This should be pretty brief; I just want to make sure everyone knows what's going on!

First, a quick note to our Patreons, if you missed the news, we had to reschedule the Patreon exclusive livestream to 2:30pm Central, Saturday the 29th.

Tomorrow, October 29th, Ivy will go to the PetSmart in McHenry, IL at 11:00. There will be people from Animal Outreach Society there hosting an adoption event from 11am-2pm. After that, they would like Ivy to stay at PetSmart until she is adopted. However, it seems likely that if she is not adopted by Sunday evening, we will bring her back to the Academy and just have her at PetSmart for the weekends. Maybe. We have to work out the details with AOS and PetSmart.

November 2nd, all six kittens will go to the vet all day for their "Graduation ceremony" (spay/neuter, microchipping, vaccinations, etc). They will return to the Academy in the evening.

Animal Outreach Society has a lead on five new kittens, which are currently living with their mother in a barn. They expect these kittens to be weaned and brought to the Kitten Academy on or before November 9th. The mother is feral and will be spayed and returned to the barn. The kittens are (naturally) somewhat feral, but reported to be interested in and friendly with humans.

November 12th, all six of the current Kitten Academy kittens will be brought to PetSmart in McHenry, IL, from 11am-2pm, for their own adoption event.

If you want to adopt Ivy or any of her kittens, now is an excellent time to contact Animal Outreach Society in McHenry, IL, with your application!

Ivy's been a wonderful cat, both to her kittens, and to us. She was a kind mother to her three kittens, and still enjoys visiting with them. She loves to play, especially with catnip toys, and she also loves vigorous belly rubs. She likes to sing to her humans with a hearty "MAOOB" while carrying her toys around the house. And she loves relaxing in a lap while her humans work at the computer. She's the first Kitten Academy momcat to have her own Twitter account, where she uses her trademark disapproving glare to entertain her followers. She gets along with other cats and dogs acceptably well.

Here's some of our photos of Ivy over the last few months. We'll certainly miss having her around! She'll make an excellent companion to whomever adopts her.

A Little News, a Lot of Photos!

October 20, 2016 by Mr. Academy

Sorry we haven't done an update in almost two weeks. We've been pretty busy between integrating the new kittens, working on getting things in place with the new cat run, and all the bits of daily life.

No news is basically good news, though - everyone has been healthy and happy! Though Ivy's been a little unwell in the last 12 hours; we're keeping an eye on her and if she's not feeling great again by tomorrow, we'll bring her to a vet.

Animal Outreach Society has scheduled the spay/neuter for all the kittens for November 2nd. So they'll be out pretty much all day then. And they are up for adoption with their first showing at PetSmart in McHenry (presumably - we'll update as we get closer to the date) on November 12th.

First, some photos of the Kitten Academy staff cats in the new cat run. We'll post more about it when it's completely finished, including a bit of a tour.

And then... all the kitten photos!

New Arrivals!

October 08, 2016 by Mr. Academy

First off, thanks to all of you who went through the archival videos in our last blogpost and helped decide what was worth keeping. We'll be using your suggestions as soon as we have time to go through and edit them!

Now on to the real news - most of you know that Animal Outreach Society sent us three additional kittens to help fill out the class roster until graduation. They are exactly the same size as Ivy's kids, and so should all graduate together (in a month or so).

They were bottle-raised by their first foster parents, then were taken over by a second foster for a while. Now they are coming to Kitten Academy to complete their education before adoption.

The new kittens will be living in the Kitten Academy Annex for the first few days, until we're all comfy with each other and sure they are healthy. Then, probably on Wednesday, they will be brought into the main Kitten Academy room with Ivy's League.

Sorry about the quality of the Live Stream camera that's in the Annex. We have a replacement coming on Monday - until then, we just have to make do. [Edit: the camera didn't make it, we pulled one from the main room instead for now.]

Our naming chart for Ivy's kids is pretty far out of date, too, so we're including recent photos of them here with the new kids.

Cloudy - Male - Black Collar with Pawprint Design

Stormy - Male - Green Collar with Pink Design

As usual, here's the bonus photos from this first new kitten photoshoot!

We Get By, With a Little Help From Our Friends!

October 06, 2016 by Mr. Academy

Now for something completely different...

My God!  It's full of videos! — My God! It's full of videos!

YouTube allows us to create archival dumps of the Live Stream, if we do it within the four-hour window they provide. Over time, we've accumulated a few of these that we've intended to go back and trim down to just the interesting parts, and then publish them.

The trouble is, for a lot of them, we're not sure why we saved them. For a couple, we're not even sure that we saved them! It's possible they are dumps YouTube created, because the stream went down, or just because YouTube wanted to.

This is where we'd like to enlist your help! Below are links to all the videos in question. If you care to - no pressure - please view them (or skim them - some of them are VERY long!), then comment on them, on YouTube, with your opinion of whether we should publish them, and if there is anything of particular interest that happens during the videos, exactly what time in the video that thing occurs.

We'll use this information to either publish the videos wholesale, or delete the videos, or cut out clips from the videos and publish those. Some of these are already labeled with what I think the video is about - but don't take my word for it, and also, be sure to say whether you think we should publish it, if I'm right. And where to trim it, if you think that's the thing to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_M67o1ofg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaEM-pzbPQk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEP-Rx8PJec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jKcgeAI6Og

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCifMvgpbCs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3e5j9nsS-c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=metXi-TlT3k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL1mbi-E0jU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6mATFma9kI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCJ92k3lhLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzTzWWJhbCY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weZZpeCkuH8