It’s been a few weeks since Miss Mia joined our family. After being treated by her new vet and serving her time in quarantine, she has officially been introduced to our family and moved fully into our condo. And, despite her new-found “freedom,” she insists on being in her favorite spot whenever possible: tucked up and napping on my lap. When she can’t make it onto my lap – either because I’m up and cleaning or cooking, or just not seated, she heads for her second favorite spot: my laptop. *Sigh* Luckily, she’s thusfar only sent emails to imaginary email addresses, and she hasn’t found a way to post to her own blog, but she has altered all of my laptop settings, and closed out of programs with my documents and projects unsaved.

She’s doing quite well, but still remaining remarkably small (she’s around 1.5 lbs now, and still has her blue eyes, although the vet believes that she is now around 12 weeks). When she’s not napping, she spends her time stalking the dogs’ tails, attempting to reach into my parrotlet’s cage, or climbing the furniture – which will not be cute very quickly. Still looking for a good method for training cats, as Mia simply looks at me when I try to remove her from the laptop and tell her “NO’ – and then climbs right back onto it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

The little bundle of fuzz that found her way into my bushes Monday night has settled herself into her new home. Her first visit to the vet had expected, but good, results: although she does have worms and will have to remain in quarantine from the rest of the pack for at least another week, she is in otherwise good health. The vet reported that, contrary to initial estimates, Mia is, in fact, 8 weeks old, albeit the “smallest 8 week old kitten we’ve seen in our office.” She weighs in at about 12.5 oz, about 6 oz lighter than the average of the litter of 3 week old kittens the vet had examined that morning, which means she’ll need some fattening up.

Now that she’s getting used to her new digs, she’s quickly won over both my husband and I, and is becoming more adventurous by the minute – climbing, playing, and examining her surroundings. She no longer cowers in the corner when we come into her room, but rather mews in greeting, stretches, yawns, and comes over for her designated play/snuggle time.

It still amazes me that anyone could be callous enough to dump her and her litter mates into a canal (sharing genetics, surely her litter mates were just as sweet and adorable as she), and reminds me that – while my husband and I had agreed not to bring on any more pets, there’s so much that we could/should be doing to get involved with the local shelters (my excuse for not, to date, has been to avoid falling in love with all the poor little tortured souls there and winding up with an entire menagerie of animals in my home). I’d love to get involved more – and would appreciate any suggestions from those of you out in cyberspace who have the experience/advice on getting started in doing so.

I have always been what you’d call a “dog person.” Cats are cute, but I developed allergies to them when I was about 10, and have stayed away from them ever since. However, the other night, while relaxing on my balcony with my little fur baby, I heard a pitiful crying from the bushes below, and had to go investigate. What I found absolutely melted my heart. Tucked into the shadows I found a tired, cold, and absolutely filthy baby kitten – and by baby, I mean perhaps three weeks old. She was exhausted and barely put up a struggle when I picked her up, opting instead to nuzzle into my neck and steal my warmth.

My husband, who also has allergies, was none too pleased when I brought her inside, but took all of 10 minutes to cave and join in my rescue efforts by keeping her warm while I ran to the food store for emergency supplies (it was about 10 pm, and there was no way I could even drop her off at a shelter if I wanted to). The first night, she cowered and shivered until we brought her food and milk, and absolutely devoured her meal as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

After getting her settled, I checked out the area for litter mates and to make sure I hadn’t missed Mom – but by the looks of her, I knew Mom was nowhere nearby. The kitty was absolutely covered in mud and silt, and her ears were caked with sand and dirt, which gave me a sad, disturbing insight into what she’d been through, most likely tossed with her litter mates into the canal 50 feet behind my yard. The clinic I called confirmed what I had suspected – that this is common practice in Florida, and that, tragically, “the gators probably got to” her litter mates before they were able to get out of the water.

After a good night’s rest, Mia’s personality is really beginning to show. I suspect that she’s half Siamese – based on the shape of her head, her very slender build, and the fact that she’s absolutely all legs. She also loves climbing and “talking” – which I’ve read are other traits of Siamese cats. She’s curious and sweet and has adopted me as her surrogate Mom/human jungle gym. The clinics I’ve spoken with all think that she’s about 3 to 3 1/2 weeks old. Amazingly, she’s 100% litter trained (hasn’t had a SINGLE accident since I brought her inside), and she is accepting wet food mixed with milk.

While she seems healthy, she was covered in fleas, and she’s going for her first vet visit tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed for a clean bill of health – but for now, she’s confined to the little pen I made for her in the guest bathroom. Any suggestions/tips for caring for orphaned baby kittens would be greatly appreciated!

We have a pack in my house. No, really. My toy Maltese, the 5 lb princess, is the pack leader. My 55 lb Springer is her subordinate (it’s amazing that this large dog that once tried to fight for the Alpha position with my fiancee so quickly rolled over and let Bella – as a 1.5 lb puppy – take the lead). My fiancee and I are simply here to cater to their needs: food, water, walk, belly rub, brush me.

Everyone thinks their dogs communicate. Mine are VERY effective. When their water bowls empty (for the 4th/5th/6th time during the morning, because my Springer won’t stop drinking), Bella picks up her dish, bounces over to wherever I’m working, and drops it at my feet. If I don’t immediately respond, she asserts herself by either scratching the bottom of the bowl, smacking my leg with her front paw, or barking at me. When it’s time to play, Colby (the Springer), brings me his toy, puts it on my lap, and waits about 5 seconds before growling and barking at me. When it’s time for belly rubs or brushing, Bella jumps on the couch and sits on my lap, on top of my laptop or book or whatever I may have in front of me.

Now, I think they’ve mastered effective communication – tag team style. They’ve learned each other’s signals, and they know who is more effective at getting their way (Bella, for example, is more effective at getting water from me, since I know Colby is always thirsty and I have to control his water, whereas Colby can be much more assertive about reminding me that it’s their dinner time if I’m stuck working late and don’t realize that it’s closing on 7 pm – he has an actual vocalization, not a bark, not a growl, not a howl, but more of a “woo-wooo-woooo” that, I’m convinced, is him trying to literally “say” the word “food.”). With the two of them teamed up so tightly, I hope they don’t decide to plot AGAINST me.