Shortly after we took Roxy in, we realized she wasn’t going to work with us, but she was pregnant with nowhere to go.  She needed good food and a safe place to have her kittens.  I was nervous about having kittens at first, but I needn’t have been.  Roxy was a wonderful mama kitty, knew just what to do, and did it.

She had four healthy kitties and took wonderful care of them.  At six weeks, we got them their shots and about that time, we noticed two of them seemed to be a little underweight.  Most had migrated straight from mother’s milk to kitten chow, but two needed a little supplementation.  Number One and Number Four.  After just a couple of feedings, Number Four was doing just fine.  Number One was still pretty skinny, but he was eating and beginning to fill out a little.  Roxy wasn’t as generous with letting him nurse as she was with the others, and he was spending more time apart from the others.  I was concerned that maybe something was wrong with our little guy, so I took him with me when I took Roxy in to drop her off for her spay appointment.  The vet did some lab work and declared him healthy but in need of just what we were doing — supplemental feeding.

I went ahead and listed Roxy and three of the kittens on Craig’s List on Tuesday.  We’d had an independent query for Number Three (our precocious girl) the previous week, and the people wanted her, so she’ll be going to her new home in the Dallas area in early December.  That same night, I had a query of interest for Number One (I’d mentioned his need for supplemental feeding in the ad).  A young man and his wife had bottle raised a kitten a year ago and were looking for another young kitty with need of special attention.  Our dear Number One fit that bill.

Pet listings drop off the first page of Craig’s List very quickly.  I figured the weekend would be a prime time for people looking for pets to adopt, but we’d be way down the list.  I also wanted to separate Roxy to her own listing.  So, on Saturday morning, I deleted the original listing and put Roxy up with her own write up and pictures followed a few minutes later by a reworked listing for the other two.

I got a query on Roxy fairly quickly, which surprised me, but a young couple (not too young) came to visit and fell in love with her immediately.  Roxy seemed happy with the pairing, so we let her go.  Roxy by herself is a sweet, mellow kitty.  Roxy with other cats around is ferocious.  I felt bad for having to let her go, but I think in the long run, Roxy will be better off.  She’ll be in a situation where she can be the queen kitty.  We were able to essentially foster her through a difficult time.  She came to us scrawny, underweight, and pregnant — we’ve since realized she may have just finished raising a litter before we met her.  We got her medical attention, good food, allowed her to have a relaxing pregnancy (except for the other cats in the house), and deliver and raise healthy kittens.  We also broke the cycle of pregnancy by getting her spayed.

I didn’t get any queries on the kittens until we came home from hubby’s rehearsal on Sunday evening.  Then I had three emails asking about two kittens.  The moment of truth had come.  I had to make my case to hubby, because I wanted to keep Number Four, but I wasn’t going to do it without his support.  We talked and reached, I believe, accord on keeping Number Four.

I contacted the respondent who wanted a kitten for his daughter — Number Two kitty would be a perfect kitty for a young girl.  He’s playful but a big ragdoll, too.  I can imagine him growing attached to a young girl and providing a companion for many years while she grows up.  Number Two was the one the daughter was interested in.  We arranged to meet yesterday afternoon, and Number Two went to his new home.

I contacted the other two respondents, thanking them for their interest and letting them know the kittens were no longer available.  I removed our ads after each kitty went home.

Reality could be very different from my impressions, but my gut feel is that each kitty has found a beneficial situation for him or her, and they should do well.

We think Number Four’s name is Tarzan.  He has the yell down.  He swings from things, he has the demeanor of a lord (Lord Greystoke), and he seems to respond to the name. And it looks like his eyes are going to stay blue or close to it.  Ajax is warming up to the kittens, so he should have someone to play with.  I’m sure Tarzan will learn to give Natasha her space, so she should be able to deal with him being in the house.