New Houseguests

Tonight I picked up another family of momma and kittens to foster for Abbey Cats.  Momma cat is named Belle Neige, she's a snowshoe mix, pretty as can be:

3 female kittens of hers, Belle Simone, Belle Cherie (both tabbies) and Belle Matisse (the black one):

Cherie is not pictured in the above photo because she was too busy exploring her new surroundings to worry about eating (but she snacked later):

Or maybe it was Simone, I can't quite tell them apart yet! Simone has darker markings on the top of her head.  Here's either Simone or Cherie doing an impression of a squirrel:

The fourth kitten is little Calliope, a tortoise coloured kitten who had a near fatal brush with death in the form of botfly larvae (ewww!)  that were embedded in her throat and pressing against her windpipe as they grew under her skin (ick, ick, ick) so she was having trouble breathing and swallowing.  You can read her story here (don't worry, no gross pictures of the insects if you click the link.  Can't guarantee the same if you Google it.  Ick, ick, ick.)  Poor little thing couldn't eat and was fading fast before emergency surgery to remove the larvae.  The good news is she is recovering nicely and will only have to wear the not too flattering but still cute little collar for another day or two.  She looks a little unusual with her shaved throat and she's small for her age because she couldn't eat very well but her appetite seems to be just fine, thank you very much, I'm sure she'll catch up to her foster siblings in no time.  And if the purring is any indication, she's a friendly little thing and just as curious as her more rambunctious foster siblings, just a little shy at first.

Kittens are all about 10 weeks old, so ready for adoption any time. Still, it will be fun to have kittens in the house again!