Fostering

When I was introduced to Tippin I had to lie on the lounge floor to get a look at the black and white mother of two hiding under my sofa. The sight of anyone at the glass doors to the lounge sent her into a small hissing fit or a mad dash for the security beneath the furniture. A week later this blog post is being interrupted by her stretching out across the computer desk talking to me begging for a scratch. She has certainly made herself at home and we can here her all day talking and meowing all over the house.
Her two little boys Davey and Oliver have three very capable mothers, two of whom have realised that raising kittens is very hard work. Unfortunately there are downsides to kitten fostering.
The biggest hurdle? The litter box. The cats are not allowed outside so when we got the cats we also got litter trays and cat grit. WELL. It stinks, unbelievably and to make matters worse we cannot leave windows open for fear of escape. Of course I have to open them a crack and we remove what we can and flush but I have never seen anyone empty the room as quickly as Tippin can after a visit to the red tray in the corner! And yes we do change the litter...frequently.
We also spend a lot of time sweeping or vacuuming up litter as she is a very enthusiastic digger - I guess even she knows that she needs to bury that awful smell as quickly as possible!
Kittens are very busy little things and I have even had to remove them from the dining room table! At least puppies cannot claw their way up to places animals are not meant to be. Of course when I walk into the lounge and see one curled up on top of the Sky box (it is warm) and the other sleeping under the coffee table it is kinda nice! But they certainly are a handful and a good lesson for the kids. Yikes, Tippin is back on the desk demanding attention...as nice as this is I think I will risk being called heartless and admit that 7 weeks of cats will be long enough, and yes for the kids too!