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Minnie Camp

Tuesday
6/28/2016

Since our sad and short experience with the Princes litter in early May, we’ve been out of the fostering loop. We washed everything in the villa and scrubbed its surfaces with bleach-based wipes, but the parvo virus associated with panleukopenia can survive for months in a clean, empty room. We and the HT cat manager decided it was too risky for us to take another litter of unvaccinated kittens.

Instead we offered to be a short-term outlet for vaccinated adult cats whose foster parents were going on vacation. Our first customer arrived on Thursday night, a young medium-haired tuxie named Minnie.

We couldn’t help remembering our own foster Minnie, who gave birth to five kittens in the villa during the Presidents Day blizzard of 2010. Hard to believe the Moochers are now six years old!

A young couple dropped Minnie off and told us she was their first foster cat. They’d had her for three months and hinted she might be a “failed foster”, since they were considering adopting her. They were heading out to Yosemite NP to explore the backcountry on a guided trip. Awesome.

They left us with at least 20 pouches of Minnie’s gourmet wet food (Weruva chicken and duck) and told us that they feed her one or two spoonfuls five or more times a day. If they free-feed her, she vomits everything up.

After they left, Minnie retreated under the futon… and stayed there. We tried to coax her out but she only hissed at us. We didn’t have to worry about her vomiting, since she didn’t touch her food. We offered her the Wellness dry food our own cats eat, then Trader Joe’s canned food, then Pro Plan Kitten canned food.

After 24 hours or so, she emerged and ate an ounce of Pro Plan Kitten. We offered her more and she ate that a few hours later. The Weruva? Nah. Vomiting? Nope, and we’re feeding her bigger servings fewer times per day. We discovered that she loves the water from cans of tuna or salmon.

Minnie’s into day 5 (of 14) with us now and feels comfortable lounging in her nests or on the cat tree.

Her playful side is emerging and she purrs a little when we stroke her. She likes to roll around on her back and sink her claws deep into the cat-tree posts.

But it’s been clear from the start that Minnie is quite attached to her foster parents and will be thrilled when they reappear.

Life in the villa is comfy and peaceful, there are birds to watch in the bamboo outside the window, and we hang out with her after work each day. But Minnie is ready for her forever home. And she may have already found it.

filed by: TS

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