Recently, Dad complained to Mom that the "output" of the 6 foster kittehs exceeds the "output" of the 5 of us Furry Bambinos.  Something about them producing more in 12 hours than we do in 24 hours.

Well.

Never being one to back down from a challenge, I marched downstairs to the basement and made a significant contribution into Litter Box #6.

This one's for you, Dad!

Now, Padre, Meerkat, Cookie, and Caramel, I need you to do your part as well!

We have new foster kittehs here at Casa Furry Bambino! Details are forthcoming.

Mom and Dad did a total musical furniture game with the kitten room furniture. They used the flashy box a lot, so we will show you before and after in a future post.

And most exciting of all, the Itteh Bittehs got adopted! Yay! Yay! Double Yay! Let me remind you of just how itteh bitteh they were. This is The Itteh Bitteh Kitteh, formerly known as Shadow, now called Niecy, at about 4 weeks old.  Look at that face!

"Put me down, or I will have no choice but to claw you to ribbons."

And this is The Itteh Bitteh Kitteh formerly known as Boo, now called Trish, at about 3 weeks old:

"I scoff at your baby gate and feeble efforts to contain me."

The Itteh Bittehs were Mom and Dad's first really tiny foster kittehs who were in need of a lot of TLC.  While they were here, because they were so young and not fully weaned, they needed to be bottle fed, and then syringe fed.

Niecy developed an eye problem which required a trip to the V-E-T, and then ointment three times a day.

Trish's spay surgery got cancelled The Day Of, due to what can only be described as a poop explosion.  All. Over. The. House.  So while Niecy was being spayed, Trish stayed home, and Mom and Dad cleaned up the house.  When Dad picked up Niecy from her surgery, let's just say that Dad had a very malodorous loooooong ride home.  So now both girls had diarrhea and were sequestered to the kitten room, where at least the damage would be contained.

Diarrhea leads to dehydration, and nausea, and the feeling like you do not want to eat.  Mom started syringe feeding special food to the girls …

… and Mom and Dad teamed up to give the girls sub-cutaneous fluids.  Which the girls did not like.  At all. Unhappy kittehs are squirmy kittehs.  Which made it darn near impossible to get any fluids, let alone enough fluids, into the girls.  Mom's advisor in the rescue group suggested another fecal sample, which Trish kindly provided.  Mom drove to the recommended clinic to drop off the sample.

Within an hour, the results were back: roundworms.  Mom gave the girls Strongid, which Trish promptly horked back up, as she could not keep anything down by this point.

So, on the evening of July 3, when all the v-e-t hospitals were closed, and most of the country was partying and drinking adult beverages and shooting off noise makers, Mom and Dad drove 30 miles across town with two very sick kittehs.  The emergency hospital gave the girls massive amounts of sub-cutaneous fluids, and Trish was given an injection of an anti-emetic.  Mom and Dad were given Panacur and Albon to give to the girls at home.  Within three days (three doses of the Panacur), the girls were doing much better, and eating on their own again.

As much as we kittehs dislike the V-E-T, we are also grateful for their help when we really really need it.

* * * * *

I am sure that you remember our post about the passing of our dear dear friend, Miss Tammy Faye.  Tammy Faye's parents are our "Aunt" Deb and "Uncle" Paul, and Aunt Deb is our regular kitteh sitter.  A little while after Tammy Faye passed away, Aunt Deb asked Mom if The Itteh Bittehs had been spoken for.  Mom said that the girls did not have a Furrever Home lined up, and that due to their medical condition it would be about another month before the girls would be ready to go to their Furrever Home.  Which was fine with Aunt Deb and Uncle Paul, since they needed some time to grieve, and were not ready yet for new kittehs.

And fine with us, as we got to spend some more quality time with the girls.  We Furry Bambinos showed Niecy and Trish how to help with the unloading of the groceries.  Trish and I are starting to rassle.  Cookie and Panda Bear are also helping.

Niecy learned how to assist with plastic grocery bags.

Trish liked to hang out with me.  Here we are on Mommy's chair.

Trish and Niecy invented a new way to play with The Alpine Scratcher.

This is what the girls looked like on August 6, their last morning here at Casa Furry Bambino.  They are hanging out with Panda Bear and borrowing his Gizzy Quilt, which he was kind enough to share.

That evening, Mom and Dad put The Itteh Bittehs into the PTU, and collected their medical records and adoption paperwork.  Panda Bear said good bye to The Itteh Bittehs …

and then Mom and Dad left to take The Itteh Bittehs to Aunt Deb and Uncle Paul's house.

Once they got there, Dad opened the door to the PTU.  Trish, always the braver one, emerged first.

Niecy gave careful thought before exiting the PTU.  Once she did, she dashed into the kitchen and managed to squeeeeeeeze under a microwave cart on wheels.  Niecy stayed there until Mom and Tim (Aunt Deb and Uncle Paul's son) extricated her.

Naturally, Niecy and Trish decided to find a better place to hang out while they got used to their new home.

Is that perfect or what?  They could see out, but could not be seen unless you crawled down on the floor.

It actually did not take all that long before Niecy and Trish decided to make an appearance.  Trish was lured out by a feather toy.

Niecy came out to explore some more.  She found a cool feather toy dangling above her head.

After Mom and Dad went home, Aunt Deb and Uncle Paul stayed up and played with Niecy and Trish for awhile.  It wasn't long before Trish claimed the foot stool as her own.

Trish and Niecy, enjoying a meal of stinky goodness and crunchies:

Niecy enjoys her feather toy:

Mom and Dad are very happy that Niecy and Trish have been adopted by such kind and caring friends.  Mom and Dad look forward to visiting and watching the girls grow up.

Niecy and Trish are living the good life with Aunt Deb and Uncle Paul!

::sigh::

Yes, I like to knead on Mom's squishy belleh and get me some good lap action.

Yes, Meerkat is an expert at staring contests.

Yes, I paw at Mom's head while she sleeps.

Yes, we hunt for mousies to offer as gifts.

So when Mom took this quiz she FREAKED OUT when she saw the results:

Seriously doods, why would I want to kill the Can Opener Lady or the Pooper Scooper Man?  It's just not in our best interest.

Whatever you do, don't let your parents take the quiz!

When my current kittens Boo and Shadow got really sick during the July 4th weekend, I had to drive 30 miles across town to take them to an emergency clinic that was open.

"We demand to be let out of here!"

At the clinic, Boo and Shadow were given massive amounts of sub-Q (subcutaneous, i.e., under the skin) fluids to help with their dehydration.  Boo was given an injection of chlorpromazine, an antiemetic, since she could not keep anything down. I was given two different liquid meds to take home and give to the girls.

Boo doesn't feel so good

Shadow doesn't feel good either

One of the meds was Panacur - a really potent dewormer to get rid of the parasites the little girls had. The regular medicine we use for deworming is Strongid, and it was just not cutting it this season. Panacur is given as one dose for three days - and by the third day, really sick kittens who are refusing to eat have perked up and are doing much, much better.

Empty Dishes!

I was given a pretty full bottle of Panacur, which meant there would be a lot left over since I was only going to use 3 mL total. When you volunteer in animal rescue, funds are tight, and we are careful with everything that costs money. Like meds.

Which brings me to my first drug deal.

Two weeks later, both kittens were healthy, and I had a lot of Panacur left over. I got a call that there were other sick kittens that needed a dewormer, and the decision was made to give Panacur rather than Strongid.

So I agreed to meet another volunteer in an empty parking lot to give her the bottle. I was excited about my first drug deal!  The deal took place after dark, in a seedy part of town, and with the sound of police sirens in the distance.

OK, the deal actually transpired in broad daylight.

And seedy part of town? Well, we were in the parking lot of Saks Fifth Avenue at Beachwood Mall, in one of the most expensive Cleveland suburbs.

As far as police go, there was mall security patrolling the area in their SUV's.

We were ignored.

Tammy Faye was like a cousin to us, since her Mom is our Aunt Deb. Special thanks go to KC for this beautiful graphic that was posted on the Cat Blogosphere site.

Aunt Deb came over to visit us on Friday.  We gave her lots of Bambino lovin'.  I purrsonally made sure to make Aunt Deb feel welcome.  I guess you could say that of all The Furry Bambinos, I am the Cat Ambassador.  I like to greet fambly, friends, and air conditioner technicians.  I always come to the door to say hello.

Aunt Deb also visited with The Itteh Bittehs, our current crop of fosters.  She said that the feline therapy helped.  In case you need kitten therapy, here are some recent photos of The Itteh Bittehs.

Itteh Bitteh Boo on back of big chair in living room.  (Hmmpf!  Doesn't she know that's my spot?)

Itteh Bitteh Shadow close-up.

Boo sleeping on Mommy's dining room chair.

Shadow practicing for the World Cup.

Get ready to SQUEEE!!!  Itteh Bitteh Boo Belleh!

Itteh Bitteh Shadow Bunneh!

We hope that you enjoyed the photos of The Itteh Bittehs!  Next time, we will tell you all about the medical ups and downs in the lives of Itteh Bitteh kittehs!

We just got the sad, sad news that Tammy Faye passed away on Friday, from heart failure.

Tammy Faye's family is devastated.

As you may know, Mom and Dad are good friends with Tammy Faye's fambly.  Aunt Deb is our regular kitteh sitter. Mom and Dad visited Miss Tammy Faye when her fambly was away.

Miss Tammy Faye liked our Mom …

… but she had a major crush on our Dad.

This is one of our favorite photos of Tammy Faye. She and our Dad were making eyes at each other.

Tammy Faye's family really needs your purrs right now.

Please leave your condolences for Tammy Faye's fambly here.

Tammy Faye, you will be missed!

Please save a sunspot for us at The Bridge.

Purrrrsss …

in other news, mommy is taking a class where she is learning html.  she's not smart like us furry bambinos, who already know all about html. mommy says that she likes her class a lot!  it is through the community college in our area. and daddy is very happy that mommy is taking the class, so she can stop bugging him with lotsa stoopid questions.

tonight, mom learned about a href tags.  like, duh!

since so many of you said that you liked the last cartoon i put on the blog, here is another cartoon that you might like. remember to hover your mouse over the cartoon for additional commentary by the author.

BOOK BURNING

xkcd.com

did you read the hover-text? seriously, go back and read it.

now, you will be able to appreciate this:

How Will The End Of Print Journalism Affect Old Loons Who Hoard Newspapers?

ha ha ha ha ha! wasn't that funny? aunt patty sent this to mom. aunt patty majored in print journalism when she was in college. both mom and aunt patty have a tendency to have lotsa newspapers around. do your parents have lotsa newspapers lying around?

As you know, we love our Daddy very much.  He feeds us, he scoops our poops, and he cleans up our horks.  Dad puts up with all of the fosters that Mom insists we take in.

Recently, Daddy has been very busy working for the U.S. Census.  He has been a crew leader and it was his job to sit in McDonald's several hours a day.  We have no idea why the Census is so interested in McDonald's.  Maybe it had something to do with revising their "billions and billions served" sign.  Sometimes he sat in two different McDonald's in the same day.

So you know that us Furry Bambinos want to show Dad our appreciation for all he does.  I have been helping Dad with his paperwork as Crew Leader.

Caramel and I assist Dad with organizing his Census binders.

I have inspected the binders.

Padre did his part by horking up a hairball on the dining room carpet.  This morning.

Meerkat did some serious shedding in the fambly room.

And Cookie taught the fosters how to claw the furniture!

Speaking of fosters, we told you that Daisy, Bo, and Luke are now in their furrever homes.  Well, now we have Boo …

and Shadow …

AKA The Itteh Bittehs …

as well as Antoinette …

Notice how much Antoinette looks like Meerkat?  Antoinette showed up last Sunday, the day of the Tony Awards.  She knocked at our back door.  Seriously, she did.  She had to jump a 6 foot tall fence to do it, too!

So it has been busy here at Casa Furry Bambino!

Happy Daddy's Day!

Today, I want to purrsonally thank all of you who voted for me in the rounds of Kitty Fight Club.  I appreciate your votes and kind words of support.  There were some very tough competitors that I faced, including Scylla, Asia, Snafu, and Sweet Pea.  Congratulations to Sweet Pea!  Like all of the kittehs in the competition, she is really adorable, and I am glad that she won.   All of the kittehs who competed are cute and adorable and sweet in their own way.

I want to thank Mommy and Daddy who emailed lots of family members and friends to ask for their votes.  Daddy even posted about me on his facebook thingy!  Mommy and Daddy love me, and they love all the Furry Bambinos.

A big Thank You to all of Mommy and Daddy's relatives and friends who took the time to vote!  Thanks to those of you who didn't think it was too dorky to vote for a kitteh in a photo contest.

As readers of our blog know, my sister Caramel and I are what is known as "Failed Fosters".  That means that we started out as foster kittehs, with the original intent of being adopted to a loving family through the Public Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS, here in Northeast O-Hi-O.  After hanging out here for several months, getting schlepped to several adoption events, having an adoption application put in for me, and then retracted (thank goodness!), Mommy and Daddy decided to adopt Caramel and me themselves.  This is probably the single best thing in the world at which to be a failure.

Because of our family's continued involvement with PAWS, foster kittehs come and go here at Casa Furry Bambino.  Daisy, Bo, and Luke are now in their furrever homes!  The director of PAWS emailed all the PAWS volunteers to ask for their support for me in Kitty Fight Club!  A big thank you to Amy and to all of the PAWS volunteers for the work they do, and for voting for me!

Last, but not least, thank you to all my blogging friends!  At times like this, when I'm feeling a little down and sorry for myself, I remember all the good in the world, and all the good in the Cat Blogosphere.

My next competition begins on Thursday, May 13 over at Misha's blog, The World According to Misha.  My opponent is another real cutie, Asia of Pet Meadow.

We are very sorry that we have not posted or been able to visit and comment recently.  We really miss you!  We want to know what is going on in your lives.  There are several reasons for this, some of which have been beyond our control.

1) Our Internet connection has been SLOOW SLOOOOW SLOOOOOOW for the past several weeks.  Some days, it is just fine, but at other times, it is too slow to load pages without timing out.

2) Mommy and Daddy are both very busy lately.  Daddy is working for the Census Bureau.  The phone keeps ringing, and Daddy keeps running out the door.  Daddy supervises a team of 21 humans who go door to door to collect information about the people who did not return their census forms.

3-5) Reason Numbers 3 - 5.

Daisy

Bo

and Luke

AKA "The Dukes of PAWS".

Yep, more fosters!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!