Meet my kitties!
on Insta @we.lick.noses
In the summer of 2020, prime COVID time, I signed up to foster kittens for the ASPCA. My first pair of foster kittens were adopted by Konnor’s brother. My next foster kitten found a good home. Then in mid October I got a text from the ASPCA asking if I was up for fostering two tiny kittens who still needed to be bottle fed.
It was the worst possible time. Two weeks earlier I’d switched teams at work and was starting to climb a huge learning curve in my new role. Four weeks earlier Konnor had broken his neck (yes for real, it happened surfing, he was super lucky, isn’t paralyzed, and didn’t need emergency surgery) and he was still too incapacitated to help - with the kittens or with, well, anything. I was overwhelmed and exhausted.
But I said yes.
When they came they were 2.5 week old tiny little nuggets, still bottle feeding every 4 hours, at the adorable age where they could walk but not very well. And we knew pretty quickly that there was no hope for us. These two weren’t going to be adopted out. They were stuck with us.
Jezera
Jezera, aka Jezzy, Jezzy Muffin, Muffin-Pie, McMuffin-Pie, or MC Muffin, is the sweetest yet sassiest lil’ miss. She LOVES adventure, and her saddest moments are when we have to leave the park or hiking trail after she’s been exploring on her leash.
A few of her other obsessions:
Water of all kinds - when I’m washing dishes, taking a bath, or watering the plants, she has to be there
Chirping at birds, bugs, lasers, and miscellaneous reflections of light off phone screens or passing cars
Snuggling on my chest (she’s snuggling with me as I’m typing this which is making it kinda difficult!)
Kepler
Oh, Kepler. Kepler is our goofy goober, our kneady bub, and our Long Boi™.
In contrast to Jezzy’s super loud personality, Kepler does his thing quietly until you wonder what he’s up to and turn around to find him doing something absolutely absurd, like climbing on top of the ceiling-height cabinets over the fridge or ripping a cardboard box to shreds.
Kepler has a sweet tooth, and will try to steal pastries from me or sneak a lick of my ice cream. Yoga mats are his favorite hangout spot (which is very inconvenient when you’re trying to, you know, do yoga). He also loves being outside, exploring and chasing bugs.
He sleeps in the absolute weirdest positions you can imagine, likes to be the little spoon in bed, and if his sister’s in the way when he wants to lay on or next to us he’ll just lay right on top of her until she moves. When I do a work from home day, he has to be under my feet at all times. Speaking of feet, he has a weird thing for feet and has to rub his face all over them - socks or no socks, and the stinkier the better.
Kepler’s so stuck with the nickname Bubbub that we haven’t really branched out to more nicknames (unless you count Kneady Butt).
Adventures
I’ve been training Jezzy and Kepler to be adventure cats since they were little, and they absolutely LOVE being outdoors!
We started by taking them in the car every morning to drop Konnor off at work (back when he couldn’t drive because of his neck and I was working from home a lot), and stopped for coffee and people watching from the car before heading home.
Since then Jezzy and Kepler have been to pet friendly Airbnbs in Joshua Tree and Lake Arrowhead and have hiked and explored on mountain trails and around lakes. Like most cats they don’t walk with us on leash like dogs, because they want to sniff absolutely everything in sight before moving on. So they ride in their backpack until we stop and let them out to explore the area.
We went on our first camping trip this past spring in Idyllwild, and they LOVED it! We spent the entire evening sniffing around the campsite, the surrounding woods, and the stream, and then all cuddled in the sleeping bag for warmth. They loved having the tent as a safe place to watch, sniff, and listen to the woods around them.
They also love going to parks in our area where they can birdwatch and people watch and climb trees. Lately I’ve been working to get them used to being in more public places - Kepler recently came with me into my local coffee shop and explored their patio while I sipped my coffee.
Our next adventure will be a long road trip this holiday out to Colorado to visit Konnor’s parents.