Update on the "Cutest Puppy in the World": Wendell, A.K.A. Duke, is officially NOT a Chihuahua mix! At 4 months old he weighed a whopping 20 pounds, which means he may top out at close to 40 pounds when he's all grown up. Gone is the big round head and bulging eyes; they were artifacts of developmental delay, not breed type, and developmentally he is all caught up. He is full of mischief, and likes to chase the cats; when he catches them, he sits on them. He's in the first picture above. The other pictures are 4 of my 5 current foster kittens.

Update on Mr. Big: The gorgeous German Shepherd I pulled from the pound and sent up to German Shepherd Rescue completed his heartworm treatment successfully, and is doing extremely well. He is now full of energy and very active. He will soon be finished with his medication for tick fever as well. Last I heard, he was heading for a foster-to-adopt home for a two week trial period. Let's hope he's in his forever home now!

Update on Courage the Stumpy Rump kitten: she will be altered this week and will go up for adoption next weekend. Her tail stump is completely healed. She is the terror of her litter, always pouncing on her mother and her 7 brothers and sisters.

Update on Andie the semi-feral Chihuahua: Andie is still at my house and has made a lot of progress. It took three months and suddenly she no longer cringed away from our hands; suddenly, we could pet her on top of her head or on her back and she wouldn't run away. A week later, we discovered we could bend over and pick her up with no fuss. A few days ago, she climbed into my lap of her own accord for the very first time. She has discovered the joys of being scratched behind the ears! She has learned to walk on a leash, and has made a few visits to the dog park; she visited PetSmart once but it was too much for her, so we are still working up to that final test before she becomes adoptable.

My current crop of kitten fosters is too adorable for words. I took three tiny 4-week old babies from the pound, thinking they were old enough to "mush" (eat a mush of canned kitten food and kitten formula from a bowl), but they were completely unable to grasp the concept. They would climb into the bowl and frantically try to suckle on the edge. No matter how many times I gently pushed their noses into the mush or tried to get them to lick it off my finger, they just couldn't figure it out! I ended up feeding them with a large syringe for two weeks before I could finally wean them. For the first week, I fed them 4 times a day, which was pretty exhausting. But they are fat and healthy and happy little kittens, and I'm proud of them! Chickie is a gorgeous torti-tabby with white, and has the biggest purr; she loves to visit with my dogs and has no fear of them. Chili Bean is black and white, and the most independent and adventurous; unlike her sister, she likes to arch her back and puff out her tail at the dogs and won't go near them. Chief is a gray tabby with white, and he is a chunky little monkey who loves to cuddle.

Then, last weekend, a woman came into PetSmart with a tiny little kitten named Sweet Pea that she had found the previous day on the side of the road, moments from becoming road kill. She is a torti tabby, like Chickie, but very different-looking; she is mostly a very dark tabby with fine striping, with one large patch of orange on her head. She is a little hellion; she likes to run around and play-fight a lot more than her big foster brothers and sisters did when they were her age. At only 5 weeks old, she is already mushing happily.

Yesterday, I took in yet another 4 week old kitten, named Diamond. She was an orphan brought to the spay/neuter clinic we use when she was just 3 weeks old. Her foster mama decided she was too lonely on her own, so we put her with Sweet Pea so they cold both have company. She is even more active and outgoing than Sweet Pea, and at 4 weeks old actually prefers to eat from a bowl. She is a tortoise shell, very dark with one large orange diamond-shaped spot right in the middle of her forehead, and white feet.