Keeping up with Cookie and her crumbs-week 3

Another week has passed and the kittens are growing so quickly.

Biscuit

Graham

Keebler

They are starting to explore a little more and are more aware of the sights and sounds around them. They're even getting a little more cooperative in their photo sessions  - seems we just had to add a few more naps with mom into their written contract!

Now moms getting more of a taste of her kittens growing independence:

Always fooling around when mom's all business.

Guess that's why they're born so darn cute.

It's about time for their beauty nap, so until next week......

OOOPS -  wait just a minute, before you go we wanted to give a quick update on our special guest Mason (our boy that was born with no hind legs).

First a little background story - 

Early in March we welcomed two young tiger girls to our rescue. One was adopted out in a few short weeks but the other was left still waiting for a home.  Snookey is a small gentle girl with a timid personality and was having a tough time integrating with some of the other more confident residents.  We thought Mason might like a friend and roommate and his personality seemed a good match- so we introduced them.

After a lot of careful observing and suspicious eyeballing it seems they were willing to give friendship a try -

And Mason was clearly up for having a roommate- just as long as she doesn't yawn!

Darn - now that did it!  Thanks a lot Snookey.

In the cat world that can only mean one thing ----NAP TIME!

Well - it's good to have a friend to snuggle with on these lazy, warm spring days.

Keeping up with Cookie and her crumbs

Here we are at the two week mark and everyone is looking as cute as ever -
 all eyes are open. . . .
and it looks like they are not huge fans of the paparazzi!

Can't say as we blame them- it's not  uncommon  at this stage that they hiss at unfamiliar scents and objects.  So thankfully it's nothing personal toward us humans.

They are also starting to become aware of their litter-mates at this age.

They are already beginning to develop little personalities of their own- so we decided it was time to give them names to celebrate their individuality:

The little orange guy is now Graham

This little tiger girl is now Biscuit

And this little girl is now Keebler

At two weeks it's also time to start getting these guys socialized and we have invited our volunteers to get some hands on time with the kittens.  So far mom, Cookie, has been great about letting everyone touch her babies.

She has been happy to take a few breaks of her own and even get in a little play time for herself.

Better take that time now cause soon these guys will be up around and into all kinds of trouble!

-Even though they are acting so cute and innocent right now.

Well, heads are getting sleepy and it's time for another nap.  Until next week -enjoy the eye candy!

That's how the cookie crumbles

HERE WE ARE A WEEK LATER:      Our mom, Cookie, and her kittens are doing great!  Born deaf and blind(their eyes are closed and their ears folded down) most of their time is spent nursing and sleeping and they have little social interaction between them -except for some friendly competition at feeding time!

They remain close to mom at this stage and rely on her to keep warm.

Cookie's taking a break and so thankful for moments like this.......

......and this....

. . . . and this

Because every mom knows that moments like these are sure to follow!



And the dinner time drama can just drain your energy and your patience sometimes.

Between 9 -14 days the kittens eyes will begin to open:

Here we are at day ten!

All kittens eyes are blue initially and they will remain blue for several weeks,  and their vision will be blurry at first.
Their sense of smell is also slowly developing and they may begin to hiss at unfamiliar objects.-  and they will soon be starting to become more aware of their litter mates.

Enjoy your time now mom- they grow so quickly!

DO.... OR DO NOT - THERE IS NO TRY -yoda

AND YES SHE DID!




 Just in time for mothers day our lovely mom Cookie delivered

 three beautiful babies on Wednesday morning (5/6)

 her first baby just after being born

Born  at 7:35 am and 7:45 am these guys were happily nursing about an hour after their birth.

Third baby arrived about 2:00 pm

And mom's finally done and nursing all three.

Happy mothers day to Cookie!  - and all mothers!

May the 4th Be With You!

May the 4th be with you!

Princess Hera

What small dog wouldn't idolize Yoda? 

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”

– Yoda

(...Zoey agrees)

Expecting another spring story?

Well-the cats are having so much fun that we just can't help but enjoy it with them.
They really know how to relax and enjoy a nice spring day!

   There is plenty of sunshine to bask in ....

green grass to roll in .......

and munch on!

And fountains flowing ........



And,  oh yeah -  there is that other sign of spring we haven't yet mentioned  ........


The pitter patter of tiny kitten paws running across the floor!

Well we don't actually have any kittens here just yet - But we're expecting one of our newest arrivals to provide us with some soon.

Our pretty girl Cookie arrived at the Sanctuary with a few buns in the oven and we're looking forward to providing her with a safe, quiet place to welcome them into the world.

She also brought along her other three beautiful daughters who will soon be ready for homes of their own!

roxie

cookie

emily

 

whiskers

                                                             
So enjoy the photos of our beautiful new girls-     and stay tuned while  we follow Cookies progress as she has her kittens, and we watch them grow!

The Sanctuary Celebrates Earth Day -All Week!

Earth day/Earth Week is something that we enjoy celebrating at the Our Companions Animal Sanctuary. Each year we strive to do some small acts that will greatly impact the Earth and our local community and this year was no different! We had a lot going on during the week, please read how local people are helping out the Sanctuary and the Earth!

Road Clean Up:
We were lucky enough to have a few Earth conscious girls cleaning trash from the roadways that the dogs frequently walk. This not only made it so that the roads were cleaner for our dogs but for many local dogs that also use these back roads as their means of exercise! Thanks girls!!

 

These great girls picked up bag after bag of trash

on the roads near the Sanctuary!



 

Fraternity Ground Work:

Another group that stopped by during Earth week were 8 young men from the UConn Fraternity, Alpha Kappa Lamba. They helped with a lot of outdoor projects and even helped us move some wood chips that we have been hoping to add to our trail! What a great help!!

 

From building this cart to spreading woodchips to

the Sanctuary trails, they were so helpful!

 



Wildlife Management Class Presentation:
You might not have known this but we have been working closely with a Wildlife Management group from UConn this semester. They have chosen the sanctuary to be their project and have researched all aspects of wildlife and environmental issues here at the sanctuary. They were able to report on creative and helpful solutions that might be able to assist us with any problems that occur at our location. They did a lot of hard work and covered a wide variety of topics. These topics were of great interest to our feline guest/audience member, Frankie, who couldn't get close enough to the screen. We are so grateful for these students!!
 

 

Frankie posing and listening intently to learn more

about Wildlife Management at the Sanctuary

 

These events have been so great to host and we are so grateful for all of our wonderful volunteers! Earth week is important to all of us and impacts our animals tremendously. So if you were able to stop by and hang a colorful paper flower on our wall, read the informational posters in the cottages, make a birdfeeder for the local birds or if you just picked up one piece of trash off of the ground, we thank you!!

 

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little.

Do what you can!

-Sydney Smith