Girl Number Three: Nadine Pickett

This darling miss is Nadine Picket. She's the third and final girl kitty in the Pickett litter. She's quiet, demure, and as sweet as pie. Sometimes she'll sit back and watch the world go by. Other times, she's right in the the middle of it all. She started off looking more like a dilute tortie. He color is shifting now and she's looking a little more tabby. It will be interesting to see her develop. She too was blessed with extra toes.

Belly Up to the Milk Bar, Babies

As the kittens grow bigger, it's harder for them all to squeeze into their position at the milk bar. It's quite competitive. There's a lot of squirming, climbing, wiggling and crying, but eventually they all find a place.

Here's a very satisfied, post breakfast, tiny orange guy.

Hello, My Name is Twyla Pickett

Meet Pickett number two. She's a beautiful, curious girl with extra toes, just like her mama.

Such A Good Mama Cat

Beulah Mae is such good mama. She's always willing to stop, drop and nurse whenever one of her babes needs her. She's very protective too, and watches them very closely.

The other day, I was sitting on the floor watching the kittens climb and crawl inside their basket. One of the kitties climbed over the edge, fell to the floor, and started crying. At the same time, Beulah heard a startling noise coming from the other side of her sanctuary door. She dashed towards the stray kitten, picked it up by it's scruff, ran over to me and dropped it in my lap, then ran off to hide. I felt so flattered that in this panicky moment, she trusted me with the care of her crying babe.

Dear Little Ruth Anne Pickett

Let's start with the smallest of the Pickett clan, darling little Ruth-Anne. She's itty bitty for sure, but a very determined little girl. You've got to watch her closely, she likes to escape from their cozy little basket. She'll go as fast and as far as her little legs will allow.

She prefers her full name , Ruth Anne, because it sounds more grown-up, but you call her Ruthie if you like.

Meet the Picketts

We're getting closer and closer to having names for all the babies. One thing that we do know for sure is that their last name will be Pickett.

So for now, I present to you, the lovely Beulah Mae Pickett and her precious babes. I'll announce all the baby names once they are decided upon.

Picking Up Speed

They are dragging their bellies on the ground, but Beulah's babes are getting more mobile by the day. Here's tortie number two, tearing it up. I don't know if her extra toes are a help or a hinderance.

Teeny Tiny Tortie

Tiny Orange Guy

The kitties can pull themselves up, crawl onto mama and all over each other. They're getting stronger by the day, but not really able to walk yet. They just can't seem to get their big, round bellies all the way off the ground.

Our little tiny orange guy looks quiet here but he's actually the biggest cry baby in the batch.

It Runs in the Family

Like their mama Beulah, these two babes have extra toes too.

Tasty Little Porkchop

Even though these aren't the greatest photos, I thought the moment was too sweet not to share.

More on Mama Cat Beulah and her babes later...

Thanks for the Love

On behalf of all the Mayfields, Porter and Clementine wanted to say thank for loving them all so much. They know they are the luckiest kitties in the world, being loved by so many. They promise to ecourage their parents to take lots of pictures and keep us all updated on their new lives.

So long from the Mayfields. They will never forget you.

Mayfield Memory Lane

It's the eve of the departure of the last of the Mayfields, Porter and Clementine. In honor of this , I present to you a selection of never before seen pics of the Mayfield Six. Enjoy !

Bitsy Babe

Here's another babe from the batch. You can see he/she still has his/her umbilical cord.

Charlene + Porter = Love

Beulah and Her Babies

Mama cat, who has been named Beulah, was a stray that came into the Humane Society last week. She had her babies at some point after 6:00 PM on Tuesday the 8th of April.

Beulah is such a gentle soul. She's very attentive towards the babies and is always happy to see any human that enters her little sanctuary. She seems very comfortable and relaxed. The babies are so tiny, they're slightly smaller than a full grown hamster. None have opened their eyes yet, that should start at about 10 days, and they are a week old now. They spend most of their day piled up by mama's belly either sleeping or nursing. They are a nice assortment of colors: two torties, one orange, one gray and white, and one black and white. We're working on names right now, but we haven't determined the sex of all the babies yet, so it's hard to name them all.

Beulah and the babies are in Kim's bathroom right now, completely separate from any IBKs and Kim's other cats. We're not entirely sure how this is going to work out. We'll probably keep them all together until the babies are weaned, then will find a home for Bulah, and continue to raise the babies until it's time for them to go. Where they'll all be kept? We haven't figured that out yet.

Kitty Party!

My dear friend Anne made this wonderful birthday card for me. Isn't it just adorable?

Can you identify all the IBKs?

I Have so Much to Tell You, I Don't Even Know Where to Begin

1. Porter and Fergus had their surgery Thursday. Every thing went just fine.
2. On Saturday, Fergus moved in with his new parents. It sounds like he's comfortable there already. He even attended a dinner party with his parents and was the quite a hit. He's such a well adjusted boy. I am so proud of him!
3. Clementine is over her bug and went in for her surgery this morning. She'll come home this afternoon.
4. Porter and Clementine will go to their new homes this weekend, for sure.
5. All of the Holsteins got adopted last week. Lionel and Patty Cake went solo, Emmett, Rita and Winnie all went together. Patty Cake will live next door to Emmett, Ritta and Winnie. All have FABULOUS parents. Sue was very sad to say goodbye to these precious kittens, but is so happy they have such loving families to live with.
6. We have five kittens and a mama cat. Yup. I'll have details tomorrow.. but here are a few teaser pictures. The babies are 6 days old and they are teeny-weenie. Mama cat is such a sweet, sweet, sweet girl.

So Long Little Love Bug

I had to say goodbye to dear little Fergus this afternoon. He and Porter are going in tomorrow morning for surgery , and I'll be heading out of town for the weekend. He'll be going to his new home this weekend, so he'll be gone when I return. Kim will be shuttling him to Met Vet and back and will be handling the adoption as well.

It was hard saying goodbye to him. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, he's the most affectionate kitten I have ever met. I sure will miss him. Charlene seemed to be extra fond of him. I know she'll miss him as well.

Lucky for him, his new mom works from home. She'll be able to give him lots of love through out the day. Lucky for mom, she'll be adopting a kitten who loves love so much! He'll have a big brother cat named "Mushroom" and a daddy to love him as well. I am sure he'll be as happy as can be with his new family.

So yes,, I am gone for the weekend. We're going to Sin City to celebrate one of those horrible birthdays that ends in a zero. I am leaving my laptop behind, so please don't expect any posts from the road.

When I get back,, I'll have lots of new kitty pics to post. I was a little snap happy with the camera today. Dearest Craig gave me a fabulous new camera lens for my birthday. It's going to make taking pictures of kittens in low light much, much easier. I am so excited about it !!

I'll leave you with a bonus picture of Porter to get you through the long weekend. If you need a kitten fix, pop on over to my cousin Wendy's blog to see what her babies are up to.

Clementine: Then and Now

Farewell Auggie,, Farewell LeRoy

This weekend Auggie and LeRoy officially left the nest. Kim, Sue, Craig and I were all there to say goodbye to the boys. While Kim and their new dad filled out the paperwork, I got to have one last love-fest with LeRoy. I will never say I favor one kitten over the next, but out of all the kittens in the batch, I felt more love from LeRoy. I was happy to have our final moments with him cuddled up in my arms.

Auggie perched himself on his new mama's lap and had a little snooze. It was so sweet to see how comfortable he was with her already.

After the paperwork was complete, we took a few photos of the new family, then passed the kittens around and said our goodbyes.

We are so happy they went together and to such a wonderful, loving home. They are going to be assigned new names. LeRoy will become Howie and Auggie will become Baker. They promised to send us lots of pictures and updates.

So now there are three Mayfields left. Fergus and Porter go in for surgery on Thursday. Fergus will be leaving us this weekend. Clementine is scheduled for surgery on Monday. She had a little bug and has been on antibiotics this week, so we have to make sure she's 100% before she goes in, but things are looking really good. If all goes well, Clementine and Porter be nestled into their new home by the end of next week, and we will be kitten-free.

AND yes, there will be more kittens. Kitten season is just getting started. We may take a few days off between batches, but there will be more.