First Day of Freedom

Misty took Temba to work yesterday (so convenient to have a vet tech in the family) and we found out that Temba is still healthy and now a whole whopping pound! He was 0.3lb when he first arrived...I'm so proud of my little guy.

He has also earned the right to not be put in the "extendo-carrier" (I tied on a case that once held 10 reams of printer paper to the end of his carrier so he'd have more room as he grew). Today was his first day of mini-freedom. He is still not big enough to be let loose with the dogs all day, but he has free reign of our bedroom and the master bath (all closets and cabinets were taped shut, just in case). We are also putting down food in the morning when we leave rather than feeding him at particular times, which gives us a breather. I'll see tonight how he fared; wish the rugrat luck!

As you can see, Temba's eating has not improved much. Luckily, Tasha is more than happy to clean him up afterword with her tongue. 

Look who has finally figured out the water bowl! Of course, he never used the smaller dish that we laid out for him; he'd rather climb the side of the dogs' water bowl (sometimes he fell in!). 

Catching Up

I've been a little out of it the last week or so due to a prescription drug problem (I ended up in the E.R. with breathing trouble, but we've switched meds so I should be okay now). When I was awake and functioning, the animals have kept me extremely busy...especially now that Temba is up and about.

Misty and I attended our Animal Handling I class at the Harford County Humane Society so that we can start volunteering. The class was a big joke, especially since Misty is a vet tech and I've worked in a kennel. But, you got to go through the motions anyway. Our first volunteering will be an Adoptathon at the Harford Mall on Saturday, July 9th from 10am-3pm. Anyone in the area should stop by and check out all the cuties!

This is amazing! Tasha is normally a little food-agressive (i.e. she lets Misty touch her food/take away her bowl, but not me). And yet, she had no objections to Temba hopping in and playing in it. NOTE: he managed to get in when our backs were turned...we normally wouldn't have let him. 

"Oh boy, mama Tasha's rope is fun to scratch!" Please note the upper left corner where you can see that Tasha is keeping close tabs on her kitty pup. 

Temba's recent developments

Temba has been growing in leaps and bounds lately. He is no longer on the bottle and is attempting to understand lapping water (currently, he shoves his face into the dish, gets some in his nose, sneezes, and then licks what remains off his face...similar to how he currently eats his wet food). He hops along and is getting very quick - blink, and he's in a different room up to no good. His swatting ability is still a bit delayed, but he's so cute when he tries. He has some pretty wicked teeth coming in; still likes to suckle on my finger and fall asleep though.

Temba's first big bath - a result of kitty shoving his face into the food dish and trying, not very successfully, to lick the result off his face. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of these two playing peek-a-boo. This is when Boulder was still not 100% sure of the little guy. Luckily, he appears to be coming around. 

Boulder is waiting for his playmate to grow up

Our adult cat, Boulder, cannot wait for Temba to get big enough to play with him. Yesterday, he tried to play peek-a-boo on the stairs. Temba was wandering around on the top floor (under my close eye, of course) and Boulder got on the steps. He poked his head out and batted his paws on the top of the stairs until Temba looked at him. Then, he ducked his head behind the stair to hide himself. Eventually, he would poke his head back up and do it again. Temba doesn't quite understand it yet, but I am sure it will be a fun game for the two of them in a week or so.

Look close and you'll see that Temba is sleeping on Tasha. I think yesterday was a big moment - Tasha didn't make any annoyed gestures and allowed Temba to lie on her for an hour. She tried to get up a few times, but when she saw him there, she licked him and flopped back down. 

We are beginning the weaning process (God help us!). This is Temba's first milk-coated A/D wet food meal. He walked through it before he realized it smelled yummy. What a mess! 

My big baby, all tuckered from the weekend. That was MY pillow...once upon a time! 

Happy Pride

This weekend was Baltimore Pride. Misty and I packed up the two dogs and headed out for a day of hiking, shopping, and mingling. There was a better turnout there than at DC Pride (which we went to the weekend before). Perhaps it was a result of the headliners being RuPaul and Mellissa Ferrick. I got Misty hooked on M. Ferrick; she rocks! There were a lot of fun items that, had we any money, we would have loved to purchase. My particular fave was a doggie T-shirt that said "I love my 2 mommies". Wouldn't Shelby have looked cute in that?

Temba yesterday (we think he's about 3-weeks-old now). 

Tasha keeping a close eye on Temba (in carrier) while Shelby pretends neither exists. 

Temba earning his name

Temba is named for the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest. Temba Tsheri did so at age 15, after a failure at age 14 that cost him 5 fingers. I named this little one Temba b/c he lost his whole family, but I expect him to persevere. He is finally starting to live up to that name, as he begins to explore his surroundings.

His eyes have been open for several days and I think he is starting to see shapes. He's walking, though clumsily. Tasha, my husky, has been licking him and being a good girl. Shelby would still prefer to be alone, but Boulder is beginning to show a *nice* interest in Temba (no hissing - yay!).

Temba's 2nd day with us 

Introduction

This is our first post. Just FYI, Jenna will more than likely be the poster as Misty is not all that computer savy. We have been together for 4 yrs and view our pets as our children, although we are looking to have human ones in a few years.

We have a 12-yr-old Siberian husky named Tasha that I've had since a puppy; an ~8-yr-old rescued Border Collie mix named Shelby; a 3- or 4-yr-old grey cat named Boulder that we took from a roommate who couldn't care for him; and, recently, an orphaned kitten of about 2 weeks named Temba. I hope to upload photos of Temba so you can see the progress he makes as he grows up.