Two down, one to go

Well, all three kittens were spayed and neutered on Friday, and invited to the adoption center on Sunday.  Three young teen volunteers helped me unload them from their carrier and put them in a spacious cage.  The word "cage" hardly does it justice; the new adoption center facilities at PetSmart are excellent, with plexiglas fronts for optimum viewing, and climbing structures with hiding nooks to help frightened cats feel safer.  It was lined with soft towels and beds and full of awesome toys.  The kittens made themselves right at home, exploring the nooks and crannies and sampling the toys.  The volunteers were impressed with how relaxed and friendly they were.

Sometimes it takes weeks or even months to adopt out a foster, but within 3 hours, I got a call from the adoption site manager to tell me Biggie was being adopted.  Liz picked the kittens up after their 4 hour stay at the center, and when she came home I said, "One down, two to go!" and she replied "Uhh, actually, it's two down and one to go."  Poor Piglet was all alone in the carrier.  When Liz arrived to pick them up, Bitsy was being adopted.  They had considered Piglet, but with a young child, they were concerned about his biting.  They probably made the right choice.  Until he gets past this bitey phase, he's a bad fit for a home with children.

Shortly after he came home, I took this picture of Piglet looking wistfully out the front door, for all the world as if he was looking for his missing foster sisters.  We miss them, too, but we're so happy they found forever homes.

The Bitey Phase

Mr. Piglet has entered a regrettable, but all too common, "bitey phase".  Most kittens go through this phase, but some are worse than others, and Piglet is pretty bad.  Any time his face is anywhere near one of my hands, he grabs it and starts gnawing.  One strategy for dealing with this problem is redirection.  I flip him over onto his back and stick his own hind paws or his tail in his face.  He will usually bite them for a while.

Today, when he finally bored of his own toes and tail, I picked him up and stuck him in Darby's face, which diverted him for a while.  Here you can see him gnawing on one of Darby's lips like a piece of bubble gum.  (Don't worry, she likes it.)

Ewww, interspecies tongue kissing!!