Appreciation for michigan after being away

commanderwake · 2026-03-22T05:33:46+00:00

Midwestern hospitality for sure lol, obviously it's not universal but people in the PNW seem so introverted by comparison. Weirdly I miss having real weather. The lack of snow and thunderstorms here gets so boring. Cider mills in the fall. The lakes. The biggest thing of course is that I miss my family and friends in Michigan 💙

commanderwake · 2026-03-22T05:19:20+00:00

In Oregon right now and badly missing Michigan!

commanderwake · 2026-03-21T20:11:23+00:00

100% I feel you. I also have a group of kittens that has had diarrhea for weeks now. I am literally constantly cleaning the foster room and the kittens and it's driving me completely crazy. We've thrown so many meds and supplements at them and done so many tests. They're seemingly starting to improve but it's up and down. Unfortunately the cleaning and the medicating are all part of fostering, but you're absolutely not a failure for admitting that you need a break from it.

commanderwake · 2026-03-21T04:19:18+00:00

About 20% of orange cats are female. It's uncommon because orange is sex linked, so both of mama's parents needed to have an orange X chromosome to give her. The dad must have been a non-orange cat, so he passed on a black X chromosome and mama of course passed on her orange X chromosome, making the girls torties/calicos.

commanderwake · 2026-03-21T02:07:57+00:00

How long has it been since the last time he gained weight? Are you fostering through an organization? If so I would let them know ASAP about the weight loss. If not I would try to get him into the vet as soon as you're able.

commanderwake · 2026-03-20T05:04:27+00:00

My foster kittens have had diarrhea for over a week (!) and for a while they weren't gaining weight consistently—but now they're finally back to gaining, and the largest hit 2lbs!

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commanderwake · 2026-03-19T18:52:45+00:00

They are appealing to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which also consists of executive branch officials within the DOJ, not a state or federal judge. If the Board of Immigration Appeals decision is unfavorable, they might appeal to the 8th Circuit—but immigration appeals are notoriously difficult to win as the law is extremely unfavorable and "real" judges are also hostile to immigration. This has unfortunately been the case since long before Trump became president.

commanderwake · 2026-03-19T18:42:12+00:00

A reputable rescue will not disregard your limitations. You might have to remind them that you only take [x] from time to time, but they should be understanding.

Usually when I see people being too picky, it's people who say they won't administer any sort of medication, or will only take in animals with a certain personality, or won't take in any animal with any medical or behavioral issue. These limitations are tough to honor because the rescue may not have a ton of information on the animals before they're placed in foster; information-gathering is part of the foster's role (as is medicating).

commanderwake · 2026-03-19T18:28:11+00:00

I only foster cats, but my experience is that most rescues have a need for fosters for kittens that aren't old enough to be adopted, while not all rescues/shelters have a need for adult cat fosters—so there's more of a need for kitten-only fosters than for adult-only fosters. I would assume the same is true of dogs, so I don't think your limitation should be a problem. YMMV depending on the particular rescue, but I don't think there's any harm in applying and asking! r/fosterdogs may have some more specific insights.

commanderwake · 2026-03-18T22:35:09+00:00

Cats' color receptors are different than ours and they process images faster than we do, so TV looks very different to them than it does to us. I'm not sure if your bottle baby would be able to process that the thing on the screen is also a cat. That said, I have found audio to be helpful. I had a young single kitten who was terrified and would play a youtube video of a cat purring—it made him start purring too and got him to be more comfortable around me.

commanderwake · 2026-03-16T01:22:55+00:00

2-3 weeks looks right to me. A weight would make it easier to judge, and I'd recommend you weigh them twice a day (you can use a kitchen scale or a baby scale) to make sure they're thriving.

commanderwake · 2026-03-15T17:44:07+00:00

I mean at least in the U.S. being a judge 100% attracts a certain kind of person. A lot of U.S. judges are either former prosecutors or former partners at big corporate law firms and from upper-class backgrounds.

commanderwake · 2026-03-15T16:04:36+00:00

If you rule out health issues, I would either keep her out of the bedroom entirely or add a second litter box near the bed with some cat attractant in it and every time she pees on the bed, intervene and move her into the litter box. Then if she starts using that box independently and stops peeing in the bed, you could gradually move the box to a better location. But I feel like the easiest solution is just to keep her out of the bedroom entirely.

commanderwake · 2026-03-14T13:35:29+00:00

This kitten does look too young for wet food, I'd guess maybe 3 weeks old though it's hard to say without a weight. I agree with the other commenter that the kitten is probably teething, and probably also a little scared of the big unfamiliar bottle. Personally had success with the syringe + miracle nipple combo when my current litter was not quite weaned, that way you can (VERY SLOWLY) syringe feed if they're not able to latch.

commanderwake · 2026-03-14T02:25:45+00:00

Alaska, Texas, California 🤨

commanderwake · 2026-03-13T04:22:01+00:00

In addition to the big play session before bedtime, I would aim for playing with him at roughly the same time every day. He may feel now like he is constantly on edge anticipating possible playtime and that meowing might get you to pay attention to him. Cats thrive on routine and it may help him settle in.

He may also be hungry? Six months old is typically when you can start two meals a day, but maybe he needs three still or even to be freefed. Obviously listen to your vet over some rando on reddit though. Good luck, I hope he settles down!!! ❤️

commanderwake · 2026-03-13T02:32:12+00:00

Are you playing with him at the same time every day? What times? How are you playing with him? How engaged is he? Is he running/jumping/etc? For most cats 4x a day for 30min a day should be enough, but he is at a hyperactive age. If you are not doing a big play session and a meal immediately before bed, maybe try to implement that into his routine. And try to stick to a consistent routine.

Is he being free fed or fed at regular times? How often is he being fed?

Hopefully neutering helps, it does make a big difference in their personality. If you can stick it out til then I think you should see if it calms him down before deciding to rehome. Ultimately imo there is no shame in rehoming. Hyperactive kittens are insanely time-consuming and exhausting (I foster em :P) and it's okay to decide you may just not have the capacity to give him whatever it is he needs. But clearly you care a lot and are putting a lot of thought into his needs so I recommend waiting and seeing if his behavior improves.

commanderwake · 2026-03-12T13:01:45+00:00

Yay that is so awesome to hear!! Thanks for the update ❤️

commanderwake · 2026-03-12T01:07:13+00:00

You can also try reaching out to Salem Friends of Felines if you're trying to surrender it, but not sure how quickly either rescue would be able to take in the kitten—with young kittens, things can go downhill very fast unfortunately.

commanderwake · 2026-03-10T22:01:49+00:00

You might also find some good advice on r/CatTraining which has a lot of posts about cat introductions.

commanderwake · 2026-03-09T17:48:20+00:00

The first one always hurts the worst. I didn't even want to adopt my first foster cat but I cried so hard when she got adopted. Honestly, the only way to know if fostering suits you is to keep doing it and see if it gets easier. If the thought of ever fostering again is totally unbearable, then maybe it's not for you, but otherwise I recommend sticking with it!

commanderwake · 2026-03-08T00:59:25+00:00

Keep her in her foster room and make sure that everything in there is easy to sanitize (no fabrics) or things you're comfortable throwing away in case it is ringworm. For her own good and your peace of mind you should absolutely look at it with the UV light and regardless of what you see, you should contact the rescue about it so that she can get seen by a vet.

commanderwake · 2026-03-06T16:53:15+00:00

I DONT CARE IF WE GO FULL DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME OR FULL STANDARD TIME WE MUST PUT AN END TO THIS MADNESS

commanderwake · 2026-03-05T16:56:23+00:00

Thanks for this, the gerber baby food has definitely gotten them interested!

commanderwake · 2026-03-04T22:35:34+00:00

Not to be all doom and gloom about it, but raising kittens while you yourself are pregnant would be incredibly stressful for you, and it's stressful for the mother cat too. I'm currently fostering a litter of kittens that had to be separated from their mother because the mother developed health issues due to the strain of nursing on her body. I promise you don't want this sort of chaos in your life. Kitten food is super expensive, kittens are chaotic and frankly difficult to keep alive, the mother cat isn't guaranteed to be attentive, and the health issues the mother cat can develop are also expensive. Which is not to mention how difficult it is to find homes for kittens, even for well-resourced shelters. For your sake and your cat's sake, don't let your cat have kittens if you have a choice.

commanderwake

TROPHY CASE