as you may know, female tabby (striped) cats with splotches of autumnal coloring (as seen in tortoiseshell cats) are known as “torbies”. both Cookie and i are torbies, and Caramel (Ms. Floofs) is a tortoiseshell. in order to have calico, tortoiseshell, or torbie markings, a cat must have two X chromosomes. so that means that virtually all cats with these colorings are female. there will be a very rare few XXY males that can also have these colors. last year, there was a male calico cat in PAWS! his foster mother was told that only about 1 in 4000 calico cats are male.

enough science, go see my induction page! Cookie has an induction page, and so does Caramel (Ms. Floofs).

TLOA will be having a Halloween party! so we are planning to attend in costume. the male contingent of The Furry Bambinos will also be attending the party in costume. efurryone is welcome, so please join us!

here i am in my witch costume. exactly the look i was aiming for.

Cookie was unhappy about the whole costume thing, and ran around the house moaning and complaining about it. they eventually dressed her as an angel and got a good photo.

Caramel looks absolutely ridiculous in her pumpkin hat.

my boyfriend cat Padre looks absolutely dreamy as Count Dracucat.

my dorky brother Panda Bear really enjoys these photo shoots. here he is dressed as a clown. heh.

and here is Panda Bear dressed as a skeleton.

Sunny is batty, oops, i meant that he is dressed as a bat.

and Sky is an angel.

Happy Halloween, Efurrybuddy!!!

Well two more fosters have graduated from Furry Bambino Foster Academy – Nadia and Bart! Nadia is the grey tabby female and Bart is her black tabby house panther brother. They are half of The Gymnasts class of Kitten Season 2011.

They got adopted TOGETHER into a great family where they will have the best time!

We thought we would share some photos of the Little Lunatics (as Mom calls them).

They were in PetSmart for just 24 hours and had two different families apply to adopt them!

Nadia and Bart were the most “creative” kittens in the history of Furry Bambino Foster Academy. This is what they did to Nadia’s folder containing her medical records and adoption contract. (Silly Mommy left it out where they could get to it.)

Bart is the only kitten in the history of Furry Bambino Foster Academy to perform this stunt. Look at those Froot Bats on him!!

Redecorating is another Special Skill of Bart and Nadia.

All four Gymnasts were skilled climbers. Nadia demonstrates her talents on our cat tree in the fambly room.

Not to be outdone, Bart applies his climbing skills to our screen door in the fambly room.

They especially liked to climb people! That’s Bart on Mom’s hip.

This is Vitaly on Dad’s leg.

Nadia really liked to sit on Dad’s shoulder.

Or the back of Mom’s neck.

Wonder how she got there? Here’s how.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HehSRp0lllo

The past few evenings Mom and Dad let Nadia and Bart mingle with us Furry Bambinos. I had a great time chasing them all over the house. I am embarrassed to admit that we had to take turns chasing them – they wore us out! Also, I had to tell Bart to stay away from MY prey – I don’t share my kills. Nadia is sitting behind me with her high beams on.

As you can see, Nadia … (photo taken by Mom’s friend Zhou Zhou)

… and Bart liked to do everything together. They will get to spend their lives together!

Next time, we’ll tell you about our new students at the Academy!

As Headmaster of Furry Bambino Foster Academy (FBFA), it is my pleasure to introduce our first SQUEE-worthy class of Kitten Season 2011! Here, they are practicing their Itteh Bitteh Kitteh Nap Pile Committeh! Clockwise, from top: Nadia (grey tabby female), Lilia (Lynx Seal-point Siamese female), Bart (house panther), and Vitaly (Lynx Chocolate-point Siamese male).

The Gymnasts joined us here at the Academy on Wednesday, April 13. Guidance Counselor Panda Bear welcomed the bebbehs to FBFA.

They were eager to get out of the PTU and check out their dorm room!

We estimate that they were six weeks old at that time, so they are about 8 weeks old now. They had been found in a box on a porch in Cleveland. They are all in relatively good health. Three of the four have umbilical hernias which will be repaired when they have their ladygardenectomy or hoohaectomy surgery.

Lilia …

and Vitaly …

have already been “pre-adopted”. PAWS (the rescue organization with which FBFA is affiliated) has a very firm rule that all animals must have had their ladygardenectomy or hoohaectomy before they can go to their Furrever Home. Lilia and Vitaly are scheduled for their surgeries next Tuesday, May 3.

Nadia (grey kitteh with pretty grey stripes) and Bart (house panther kitteh) …

are scheduled for May 20. Bart has a slight heart murmur, and the V-E-T wanted to give him some more time hoping that he would outgrow it.

In case you were wondering why Mom named the kittens for famous gymnasts, see the following series of photos. Bart begins his climb with a flying leap to Mom’s knee, then shimmies up her leg, digging in his claws for traction.

Next, Bart is seen clinging to Mom’s hip before he begins his final climb to the top.

Bart on Mom’s back – climbing Mount Ve-Sue-vius.

Bart is pleased with himself for reaching the peak – Mom’s shoulder.

(Mom trims the bebbehs nails every few days because they grow back pretty fast.)

Mom is taking Nadia and Bart to an adoption event at our local PetSmart today. Hopefully, they will get “pre-adopted” too!

P.P.S. Double bonus points if you can SPELL the last names correctly!  

and me, Caramel!

Today, we become Young Lady Cats, as we are now One Year Old! Today, I officially graduate from “Diva-in-Training” to “Diva”! I am so happy! Cookie is delighted to be a Young Lady Cat as well!

Please make yourselves at home! We have food and beverages (please drink responsibly),

nip (please use nip responsibly, unlike Panda Bear as shown here),

toys,

cozy napping spots,

treats,

fun and games,

friends and companionship!

We received some very lovely gifts from Mom and Dad, and we are happy to share with you!

Please leave us a comment to tell us you were here! In honor of our birthday, Mom is going to donate $1 (US) to the Humane Society of the United States for each comment received on any of our birthday blog posts. All comments must be received by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

In addition, one lucky winner will receive a Gift Certificate to The Animal Rescue Site store! To enter, leave us a comment on any of our birthday posts! One chance per household will be entered. We will have one of us draw the name of the winner on Thursday, March 11, 2010, in the evening EST. All comments must be received by 11:59 pm EST on Wednesday, March 10, 2010.

Enjoy the Party, Efurryone! Stop by tomorrow to see what Panda Bear gave Cookie and me as Birthday Gifts!

PapaDave came and took us home on Saturday evening.  When we got home, he gave each of us a bath. This is me during my bath:

PapaDave used sweet smelling baby shampoo!  This is Caramel getting her bath.  She does not look very happy, because all her floofy furs got wet and made her look much smaller.

Now we look and smell all pretty.

We asked PapaDave where MamaSue was.  He said that she was visiting her Mommy, Daddy, and brother.  They live far away. Last weekend on Sunday afternoon, MamaSue came home to Casa Furry Bambino.

When she got here, she opened the door to our apartment so that we could mingle with the Big Kitties again.  I like to mingle with the Big Kitties, but sometimes they can be grumpy.  Especially the Female Big Kitty named Meerkat.  Sometimes Caramel or I accidentally run into Meerkat.  Then she gets all growly and then she smacks us and hisses.  The handsome tuxedo kitty is a little nicer, but sometimes he hisses at us too.  He and I had a nice talk one night over drinks on the dining room table.

The Big Grey Kitty is the nicest of all of the Big Kitties, but he kind of keeps to himself.  I would like to get to know him better, but I get the idea that he is spoken for.

For Father’s Day, the Big Kitties, and Caramel and me, got some nice gifts for PapaDave.  Well, Mama Sue helped.  She went to the store for us, but she brought back just what we knew PapaDave would like.  Caramel is sitting on PapaDave’s lap as he opened his gifts.

That was a cool mousie that rolls on the floor.  Panda Bear studied the mousie and discovered that it was not a real mousie, but it was still fun.

We also gave PapaDave a feather on a stick toy.  See how much fun PapaDave had playing with Panda Bear and Meerkat with it?

All five of us kittehs are in this photo.  Left to right, Meerkat, PapaDave, me (Cookie), Caramel, Padre, and Panda Bear.  MamaSue is not in the picture because she is taking the picture.  But those are her shoes next to Panda Bear.

Lots of exciting things have been happening lately, so we will post more another time.  Bye for now!