Back in July, I literally grabbed up three kittens who were living under my back deck. They were five weeks old. I also trapped their feral mother, so that she could continue to nurse them and I wouldn’t have to worry about bottle feeding them every few hours.

The two orange tabbies are boys and the gray dilute tortie is a girl. Their genders fell in line with their coloring (more on that in another posting). I named them Phineas, Phillip, and Tori. As expected, they came with some extra, unwanted guests. Specifically, hookworms and ear mites. Amazingly, no fleas. The ear mites were harder to treat simply because it required three weeks of twice a day ear drops (last week was just once a day). The kittens hated the drops and I totally empathized, having suffered many an ear infection as a child. But we got through it.

Orange boys tend to be very friendly, and Phineas and Phillip are no exception. Torties can be a tad feisty, and Tori fits that bill quite well. Phineas is the explorer, eager to check things out. Phillip is a quiet giant (well not quite a giant yet, but he has a gentle soul and is the biggest of the three).

Watching them grow from clumsy, eager kittens to expert jumpers and knowing the best way from A to B was super enjoyable, if a tad destructive. The time came for them to find their furever homes when they were nearly 5 months old. I initially advertised on my synagogue listserv and got several bites. After one failed visit (the person’s cat allergies kicked in majorly), the boys found their home with another cat-savvy couple! They have a big, feline sister. I’m not sure if they have met yet. As of last week, they had not. But the boys are adjusting wonderfully.

Tori and Lark are still with me. Tori is getting friendlier and Lark still won’t let me touch her. Lark still needs to get to the vet for her shots and spay surgery. We’ve gone through one heat (fortunately relatively short). I’m hoping to convince her to get into the carrier in the next week or two and then whisk her off to the clinic. After her recovery, we can start working on integrating her with my other cats.

I intend to advertise Tori on Facebook and a few other places so that she find her furever home. I’ll keep everyone posted on how that all goes.