Busy in Beaverton

I am having a lovely housesitting experience in Beaverton, Oregon.  

There are 3 kittens and the mama cat in a crate in a bedroom usually dedicated to grandchildren. They are being cared for as foster cats until the kittens get old enough to get adopted. I got scratched by the feral mother cat for trying to toss some treats her way. The scratch is pretty well healed two days later but at least it made me stop worrying about COVID-19 and instead I worried about cat scratch fever! 

Did you know cat scratch fever is caused by bacteria transmitted from cat to cat by fleas and humans risk contracting the disease by kissing or nuzzling cats, or by being scratched or bitten? How can you not nuzzle a kitten especially when you are as starved for nuzzling as so many of us singletons are these days? I take comfort in the statistics: "The study, which took place over eight years and surveyed over 13,000 cases of cat-scratch disease, found the annual incidence of the disease was 4.5 outpatient diagnoses per 100,000 population, which is higher than expected, but still quite rare." I think we are familiar with the suggested remedy: WASH YOUR HANDS after fondling your cat.

    My favorite kitten is Hoss (all their names are from 1950's to 1960's TV shows. Hoss is Bonanza show) the white with light brown spots. He is quite intrepid and the most interactive with me. Here he is already starting to read at the tender age of 5 and a half weeks:

Actually he is chewing on the cover of the tablet. Close enough!

And then there are the birdfeeders on the back deck. The starlings are hogging the suet but there are lots of other birds: downy woodpeckers. Steller's Jay. Can you tell I know almost nothing about birds? But it's still fun to watch them, especially the hummingbirds.

 

There are four cats who live here. All of them are over ten years old. Tux (guess which one that is) is the only lap sitter but two have become affectionate over the few days I have been here.

There are 8 litter boxes including the two for the mama and her kittens so you can guess I am fairly busy. 

Update: all kittens have tested negative for FIV! And all have been adopted. My heart yearns for Foxy and Hoss!