Holly KO + household cat team
I’ve always been Team Cat! I grew up around barn cats with endless litters of kittens to play with. I found my first rescue kitten, Tybalt, under a car on a rainy fall night and coaxed him out with a hamburger. He was shy and terrified so was easy to keep hidden in my college dorm room.
Fast-forward many years later, I helped rescue cats from a downtown demolition site. It was my first foray into live trapping and was so rewarding!
We lost two beloved cats, Oscar and Sophie, within a few short months in late 2019 – early 2020. The loneliness of the pandemic made our home seem even emptier. So we began our adventures fostering kittens. It was so much harder than I expected. My first experience with days-old bottle babies was devastating – I lost two of the three kittens. But I swore I would learn everything I could to avoid that heartbreak again.
Since then, our family has successfully fostered 53 kittens, each with their own personality. Everyone is involved – my ever-tolerant husband Chad and son Parker have become expert bottle feeders and butt wipers!
And our beloved pet cats are amazing foster siblings as well:
Captain Oso “Velcro Tripod”
Our second foster fail, bonded forever over early trauma – he was born with a mangled paw that literally fell off within my first week with him. He was in pain his first year of life so spent many hours carried in a sling around my neck. A full leg amputation changed his life, but he still prefers to be carried!
Oso is the best “foster uncle.” He loves hanging out and cuddling with the babies. And they become better socialized pets thanks to his guardianship.
Hallie “Boss Cat”
Hallie wandered into our yard and immediately won over our then-10yo son and his friends. She’s the epitome of a “people cat” and runs the household accordingly.
She is immune to kitten charms so does a wonderful job teaching boundaries and communication skills to the fosters.
Noodle “Tries Her Best”
Our first foster fail, from our first foster litter! Noodle was and continues to be off-the-charts adorable… but so, so very dumb. She is clumsy and runs headlong into furniture. She is incredibly squishy. We love her so much!
Noodle tolerates the foster kittens, which is all we can ask of her.