Foster Friday 1: Introducing Butch & Cassidy
Foster babies Butch and Cassidy. All images via Junipurr Studio
Happy Friday, friends! What are you and your furbabies up to this weekend? I’m presently writing to you from the poolside, where I’m eating hot cheetos and enjoying an hour of cat mom self-care time 😁. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you may know that Junipurr, Favorite Parent, and I have been hosting two very special guests: Butch (orange & white boy) and Cassidy (calico girl), two six-week-old siblings who were found in a car engine. Since coming to our home, they have learned how to eat, use the litter box, climb (everything), purr, enjoy lap naps, and play exuberantly with new friends. It’s been an absolute joy supporting their growth — and of course making sure my girl Juni gets plenty of loving too — but I needed some me-time. Holla if you feel me, fellow parents of any species :D
For today’s Tell Junipurr It’s Friday (TJIF), instead of a link pack, I thought we’d do something a little different. Let’s call it… Foster Friday!
What is Foster Friday?
I’m thinking a free-flow sharing of things I’m learning as a first time kitten foster parent, updates on the incredibly entertaining Butch & Cassidy (these babes are about to put all of Hollywood out of business!), and/or spotlighting amazing cat foster parents and resources. What do you think?
Let’s give it a go :)
(Scroll 👇 if you’re just here for the foster babies, which is the most 😍 part)
Photo by Favorite Parent for Junipurr Studio
What I’m learning as a first time kitten foster parent:
Years ago, I took an all day workshop on kitten fostering from KittenLady herself. I promptly let four years pass because conditions weren’t “optimized” and I didn’t feel “ready.” Then, the Universe gave me a gentle little push, and I found myself signing up for my local shelter’s foster program, attending the trainings, and saying yes last Friday to bringing home two little furballs. The #1 thing I am learning is that … I am ready. You probably are too, if you have ever kinda sorta been curious about fostering. Specifically, I was surprised to learn:
You really can foster even if you live in a shoebox. The only viable space foster babies can be in my home is the bathroom, which has no window, but as the shelter and numerous experienced foster parents have taught me, bathrooms are actually perfect. Just deep clean, kitten proof, add in some cozy blankies and beds, their food, water, litterbox stations, and you got yourself a 5-Star Kitten Hotel. Or at least a perfectly serviceable Marriott. Meowrriot. Ok, I’ll stop :D
You can foster even if you have resident furbabies! However:
No means no, including when it comes to resident and foster furbabies meeting. When I first heard this rule during foster training, I thought: “Surely they don’t mean no as in ‘never ever.’” Oh, but they do. Though different shelters/rescues may have different rules, I came to realize how important this rule is for their mutual protection, because the kittens are too young to have all their vaccines just yet and so are highly vulnerable; at the same time, they could also be carrying parasites or diseases that would be dangerous to Juni. So we have a baby gate in front of the always closed door to the kitten room, and towels rolled up on both sides of the door to further minimize scent swapping or little paws touching.
Kittens thrive when they have a friend, a fact that, as a singleton myself and a mother to a singleton cat, I did not immediately intuit.
How much play fighting six week old kittens engage in, and how aggressive it looks! Cassidy & Butch are like gladiators + sumo wrestlers + alpha lions. This is apparently good and necessary for their development (I’ve consulted the shelter multiple times), but it still leaves me like the ‘Face with Peeking Eye Emoji.’
The many different slurping, squealing, chirping, and trilling sounds kittens can make! They are a two-person symphony.
Kittens need enrichment, just like adult cats. For some reason (perhaps because the kittens are so young and tiny?), I didn’t realize they needed environmental enrichment. My local shelter is amazing and provided all the essential supplies, including a few toys. However, it took my re-reading KittenLady’s Tiny But Mighty to be reminded that kittens need fun in the form of (smaller) tunnels, scratchers, hideaway boxes etc. Naturally, I went on an enrichment haul, and the kitten room shall soon be transformed 💪
How positively giant and muscular Juni looks to me now. She went from being a microscopic button to The Hulk. But, she is and will always be my baby ❤️.
Foster Babies Butch & Cassidy
Butch and Cassidy literally grow and change so fast, they obsolete my daily reports on their development as soon as I write them. Nevertheless, some observations from week one:
Butch - Butch is a playful little gent who won’t say no to the good life. When his sister mews, as she occasionally does when she has ventured a little too far into the Great Unknown (farther corners of their kitten room), he will get up from whatever he is doing and hurry towards her. When she joins him at the food plate, he will let her have some of his portion. However, he is a CHONKY food loving boi. And not in the way that most babies love food. Kittens this age on average should be gaining 7-15 grams, but Butch has averaged +30 grams a day for the past four! (Shelter staff informed me this is great news - the more weight gain the better, when they are this young and small). Compared to his sister, he is more reserved and wary of people. However, once assured of people’s good intent, he is more content to stay in a warm fleece blanket purrito and get a head rub. And today, Butch gave me such a long, sweet loving kiss (gentle licking of the hand) that I felt almost shy 😂. Butch’s favorite things so far are wet food, hiding spots from where he can monitor and sneak attack, and wrestling with his sister. He is especially proud of his grip strength and sharp claws, which he shows off when being picked up by grabbing onto any surface he can.
Cassidy - Almost fearless Cassidy is a feline Beyonce meets Alex Honnold from the Free Solo climbing documentary. Though she is smaller than Butch by 100grams, Cassidy is an intrepid pioneer. She is always first to explore anything and anyone in their room. Her favorite things are to play pounce on her brother; climb all types of surfaces; chase crinkly toys; and, have the top of her head gently brushed. She is frequently torn between eating and playing, and especially in the first few days, sometimes needed to be gently swaddled and presented food on a tongue decompressor, while turned away from any signs of play. Her motto is: Play Hard, Nap Hard. Over the past two days, Cassidy has become a serial lap napper and purring machine! She is also quite a talker and often sounds like a tiny squeak toy. Sometimes she gets a little jelly when Butch is getting a meowssage or brushing, and she’ll gently paw my hand and squeak at me, obviously communicating “My turn.”
Their bond - Despite their aggressive (to my eyes) playing, the babies adore each other. Adore. They are each other’s best friends, #1 squeeze, and protector. As noted above, when Cassidy cries or squeals, Butch always answers in a tiny soft squeal of his own and hurries towards her. I’ve lost the number of times he has acted as her emotional support while she was working on a particularly big poop. When they go to sleep, they literally either pillow (one leaning head on the other’s torso) or hold paws.
