The Observation Deck

Currently there are two mother cats with kittens in need of foster care at the Lakewood Animal Shelter. Kittens need to be fostered until approximately 6 weeks of age. If you are interested in fostering one of these families, please contact Catherine Butler at (216) 221-7953.

Oops!

Due to some communications problems, we didn't get an "adopt-a-pet" into this issue.

We promise it will return in the next edition.

Please spread the word about fostering!

Still need foster parents at the shelter. Please see above and call us if you're able. It's really a wonderful experience for many, many folks.

Thanks.

Kevin Butler
(216) 221-7953

We got a sweet mother and 6 babies who haven't opened their eyes yet yesterday. The entire family is so excited! They are so cute to watch and I think they will only get more intreesting.

We always had our cats neutered, so I have never seen kittens this young. Thanks for a great opportunity.

Thank you Farrises!

It's volunteers like you that make this city great.

Savannah's painting donation was the hottest item at the CCLAS silent auction.

Thanks Mike, you are very kind, but the pleasure is all ours.

I thought I would let you know that the babies started opening their eyes on July 3 and by yesterday all of them had their eyes open. They are starting to get more active now, holding their heads up without too much wobbling and becoming more mobile. We have even found two out of the nest!

I haven't been able to determine the sex of the kittens yet. But one is black, one is a tiger cat - like the mother, one has tuxedo markings (she is the adventurous one), one I think will have lilac points, the other two are cream color - but they may be developing points too.

Please tell me what "fostering" entails and don't mention that I'm asking to Bob.

Suzanne,

I had a sales job too, now Don is just as excited as everyone else in the famliy.

For us, we took the mother and babies when the babies were a few days old. The animal shelter provided us a cage, a litter box, a food dish and instructions. We had to find a room for the family that our other cats could not go into. We provide food, water, litter, (now just for the mom)although if we keep our receipts they will reimburse us. Lucky for us, the mother cat was great and knew what she was doing. We pet her and make over her quite a bit - and she allows us to pet her babies - which I read need to be socialized with humans so they respond positively when they are returned to be adopted around 6 weeks.

Lynn, glad you're enjoying your fostering experience. I'm done with my own fostering stint this week, and we've had a lot of fun with it.

However, fostering is still desperately needed! More moms and kittens have come into the shelter, and they need to be placed in homes until the kittens are around 6 weeks of age.

Lynn has summed up fostering pretty well. A foster parent gets food dishes, litter boxes and a cage. We ask that if you have other cats to keep them separated. The mom cat will do everything. In the beginning, the kittens will nurse only. After awhile, you can introduce them to canned kitten food. The mom can eat kitten food too, as the higher fat content is good for her while she's nursing. (You can turn your receipts into CCLAS and we will reimburse you.) Fostering also allows the kittens to become socialized to humans and more adoptable.

If you have questions or are interested in fostering now or getting on our foster list, feel free to call me at (216) 221-7953 or call the shelter directly at (216) 529-5020.

Just a quick update. The babies are walking around now and being quite adventurous. They are playing with each other, pouncing on mom's tail and generally starting to behave like little kittens. Poor mom has quite a bit of trouble watching all 6 of them. We think they are such fun to watch and their individual personalities are starting to form.

Lynn, Don

Thanks for the kitten. We got our kitten tonight from the Farris fostering project. A cut little black and white female.

My wife saw another four she wanted but sanity prevailed.

Great project, great kitten.


Thanks to all.


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Jim

Take another.....you REALLY need at least two. That way they have a friend to play with. Trust me on this.

Jeff

Jeff Endress wrote:Jim

Take another.....you REALLY need at least two. That way they have a friend to play with. Trust me on this.

Jeff

Jeff not to get all mushy, but we have two. One, "Ms Suzanne Peppers" was given to my mother-in-law who is staying with us by Suzanne Metelko. This new one called "Farris Butler" will fit the need of two perfectly.

I like cats, but I still lobby for a dog. Always nice having one thing in the house happy to see me walk in the door after a long hard day.


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Jim, I'm so happy that you and Deb took Farris Butler. (Have to love that name - reminds me of Ferris Bueller's Day off!)

Someone has adopted the mother cat too, but I still have 5 adorable kittens.. I'm taking them to the Lakewood Animal Shelter Tuesday. But if anyone wants to preselect a kitten, just e-mail me here with your phone number and I can arrange to show you them before hand.

I have one beautiful all black female.

The rest are males.

One is an outgoing tiger cat - just adorable

One is beige with lilac points on his ears, mask, paws and tail absolutely beautiful.

Two are beige. One has beige on beige tiger striping with lilac points on his ears and tail and is extremely sweet.

The other is beige and very cuddly.

Jeff is right - two kittens are great together - they wear each other out playing together and are good buddies and it isn't much harder to take care of one cat than two.

Lynn Farris wrote:Jim, I'm so happy that you and Deb took Farris Butler. (Have to love that name - reminds me of Ferris Bueller's Day off!)

Lynn

I only have one complaint. The Foster Parents taught Farris Butler to climb all over people's heads! Makes sleeping a little tough.

Thanks


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