Don’t worry, I’m fine. Just covered in kittens.

My regular blog readers might have noticed that I haven’t been blogging with the regularity that you’ve come to expect from me. No worries, though; I’m not sick. Something else has been distracting me.

Specifically, four seven-week old kittens.

I have recently signed on to foster kittens through Lollypop Farm. It was a decision I’ve been toying with for quite some time, ever since our Lilly passed away a few years ago. I needed something to fill the hole in my heart that she left.

After going through the sign-up and online training process, it took what seemed like FOREVER (actually only two weeks) before I was matched with some seven-week old kittens who needed a little extra TLC. The description Lollypop offered for the four siblings warned me that they were struggling with diarrhea. But I was so excited to be able to get some kittens, ANY kittens, I let that warning bounce right off me. After all, how bad can it be?

Turns out, pretty bad.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Gordon, Carmel, Mo and Gerry are indeed adorable. And they’re all very affectionate. And they love to cuddle up in a ball together in our laps to sleep. So that part of being kittens has been great. The let’s-drop-stinky-poop-all-over-the-living-room-rug-and-kitchen-floor-and-JUST-outside-the-litter-box part has been rather exhausting.

It’s been a learn-as-we-go experience for my husband and me. We realized pretty quickly that we hadn’t kitten-proofed the house anywhere near enough, especially for kittens that seem to consider pooping an Olympic sport. But we’re smart people. When every new challenge, we came up with a solution.

• Kittens going upstairs and soiling the carpeting? Build a barrier at the base of the stairs.

• Kittens able to leap over the barrier? Extend it with cardboard boxes.

• Kittens able to find a way AROUND the barrier? Attach planks of wood to the side of the steps with bungee cords.

• Kittens can’t get to the litter box in time? Put a second one in the living room.

• Kittens soiling the upholstery? Put towels and pee pads on every chair and wrap the couch in a plastic tablecloth (thanks Becky for that idea).

• Kittens pooping on the area rugs? Roll them up and put them on the porch.

So right now when you walk into our house, you’ll enter a living room with a bare floor, litter box in the corner, and plastic pads and towels spread EVERYWHERE. There’s a box of floor and carpet cleaning supplies within easy reach, and a basket of rags which gets accessed regularly. We’re doing two loads of laundry a day.

So you see that we’re kind of on duty all the time, and pretty much every hour or so we have to run around behind the kittens to make sure they’re getting to the litter box or — especially with Carmel — cleaning up a half dozen little messes. Things are slowly getting better, but it’s been rather time consuming.

BUT. I love having these little stinkybutt kittens around. My husband is clearly getting a little aggravated (especially since he gets up before me and so has to clean up all the overnight messes). But when they look up at me with their adorable little kitten faces and huge purrs, they melt my heart.

So no regrets, and I will miss them when they’re old enough to return to Lollypop for adoption. In the meantime, I’ll try to keep blogging, but it’s often hard to accomplish with four balls of fur climbing all over me.

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 11/8/2023)

Tags: Missy Rosenberry, Webster NY