NaBloPoMo Post #22
All The Nyans, Part Nine
Back in June we had a hard rain than caused a lot of flash flooding of small creeks and rivers. The water went down pretty quickly, but for a while a lot of people had some flooding problems. Eler Beth got a call from a former workmate who had saved a small kitten from the flooded creek near her house. She said it was a very young baby, and would Eler Beth like to take care of it and try to find it a home because she wouldn't be able to do the bottle-feeding every day? So we hopped in the car and drove over to pick up this bedraggled orphan.
She was a very small torti calico with a pointy face and huge green eyes. She was skin and bones, so she'd either been an orphan for a while, or her mother was a stray and hadn't been in great shape either. We brought her home, and Eler Beth gave her a bath. She was a perky little thing, very interested in her surroundings, and didn't seem shy or scared of us at all.
We housed her in the upper room of Remi's condo, no longer needed for Soren and Illyana. We had been expecting to have to bring out the bottles and formula and start that process all over again, but we soon realized that although this kitten was tiny, she was not as young as we had been told. As a matter of fact, from her teeth, her eyes, and her demeanor, we were pretty sure she was at least five weeks old, possibly older. She could eat regular kitten food and lapped water just fine. It wasn't long before she was doing her business in a litter box.
We kept her isolated from the other "Nyans" until we had her checked out and were pretty sure she was healthy. Then we introduced her to the others while still putting her up in the upper room at night. Remi was taken with her right away -- she was just another playmate for him. Soren and Illyana, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with her. Bryant was happy to have another baby to care for.
We called her Sanaki, or Naki for short. Nothing phased Naki. Bryant irritated her when he tried to clean her, but she put up with it. We'd take the kittens outside for a few minutes, and she was ready to wander off and explore while the other two stayed very close to us. She was about a third of their size but had an attitude three times bigger!
We thought we had found a home for her, but that fell through. I was skeptical as to whether she'd ever be pretty -- she was so skinny and that little face was so pointy. But as she started to put on some weight and fill out, her cheeks rounded out and her eyes didn't overpower her face so much. And now I have to say she is quite beautiful. She has round, owl eyes, that look like big, green jewels in her face. She is serene and sweet and plays like it's going out of style.
We'd had her for about four weeks when we decided she was not going anywhere. Any other orphans that might be taken in in the future would have to have homes found for them, but Naki was already part of the family. Sori and Illy had finally adjusted to having a little sister, and our little "Scoop o' kitty" as we called her was here to stay.
We love all four of our little "Nyans."
Remi, Soren, and Illyana when they are all just a couple of months old, snuggling up together in Little Bit's bed.
Below, Remiel the night we first got home with him. Eler Beth fed him, and then he dropped off to sleep in her hand. He was only 5 weeks old.
Soren also was very good at falling asleep in your hand!
Right, Remi being cute!
Below, Remi and Illyana, snuggled up together. Remi likes to look out the window.
~ ~ Lori
NaBloPoMo Post #14
All The Nyans, Part Five
On Saturday, May 16, Eler Beth and I dropped Bryant off to board at our vet, so she and I could drive to Milton, FL to pick up Remiel.
Thomas stayed home and would care for the other dogs, but we didn't want him to have to deal with Bryant, quite a large dog. Bryant loves everyone at his vet's office, and we knew he would do well there. And it was only for two nights.
The two newborn kittens were going to make the trip with us. They were still being bottle fed and cleaned, needing 24-hour care, so we outfitted a large plastic tote, set it on the back seat of the car, and took them with us. I drove most of the way down, with Eler Beth feeding and cleaning them when needed.
I turned the wheel over to her once in Alabama, and wouldn't you know it we had a downpour right then! She did great, though. It was late when we pulled into our hotel in Milton, Florida, just a few minutes away from Rare Earth Ranch. We checked in, got ourselves and the kittens settled, and happily went to sleep.
The next morning we had a quick breakfast, fed and bathed the kittens and got ourselves presentable for meeting Remi for the first time. My girl was SO, SO excited. She'd been planning for this day for eight years!
We'll meet Remiel, the Fennec, in tomorrow's post.
~ ~ Lori
NaBloPoMo #12
All The Nyans Part Four
We heard from Summer, the breeder, on April 13. Her fox had given birth to two males the night before. Eler Beth was ecstatic! One of those two was Remiel!
As I said in the second post of this series, our only concern about getting Remiel was how Bryant would be with him. Bryant is the sweetest, gentlest dog, but he is big, and he is very attached to Eler Beth. Those fears were put to rest the next week when we brought home the orphaned newborn kittens to raise. Bryant went into surrogate daddy mode. He cleaned them and watched over them, was worried if you took them from his sight, and he was very, very gentle with them. He also would not let Little Big, the fox terrier, get near them. So we knew he would be fine with Remi.
Summer kept us updated online and by email with pictures and reports of the babies' progress. We started making plans for our trip in May to pick him up.
Left is pictured the two newborn Fennec Fox kits. I have no idea which one turned out to be Remiel; they were competely identical.
Pictured on the right are the Fennec kits with their step-siblings, Bengal kittens just a bit older than they. Summer hand raises her Fennecs from birth. She bottle feeds them during the day, and then at night she lets her Bengal cat nurse them with her kittens to give Summer a rest. This gives the foxes the socialization they need.
The story will continue in future posts; the next Remiel post will be about our trip down to Pensacola to pick up our fox.
~ ~ Lori
NaBloPoMo Post #11
All The Nyans, Part Three
From the time Eler Beth was eleven years old, she has wanted a Fennec fox. As with anything she has an interest in, she began researching Fennecs and the legality of owning a Fennec in Indiana.
To my surprise, at the time she first started doing her research, there was a breeder in the Northern part of Indiana who, among other exotic animals, bred Fennecs. She also found one in Ohio and some other nearby states. We contacted the breeder in our state and got some information, and then about twice a year, she'd check to see if she was still breeding them.
About three years ago she started making definite plans for owning a Fennec. She contacted a local vet who works with exotics to make sure she would treat a Fennec; she would. She pretty much made a care manual with specific instructions for housing, training, feeding, and health care.
Two years ago we found out that the breeder in Indiana was no longer breeding Fennecs. But that was okay. By that time she had found a breeder in Florida who she liked the look of. Summer runs Rare Earth Ranch, near Pensacola, and everything we read about her on her web site made us think she was the type of breeder we wanted to work with. Eler Beth got in touch with other Fennec owners who had bought their foxes from Summer, and then she got in touch with Summer, herself, last year. The two of them hit it off from the start. Summer said she could tell from the correspondence that Eler Beth was the type of person she wanted for one of her Fennecs. She has actually turned down prospective buyers who hadn't done their homework, or who expected more from a Fennec as a pet than they would get.
Fennecs are not legal to own in all states in the country. They are legal in Indiana, and we checked with our local officials to make sure there were no city or county regulations against them. There were not.
When she graduated from high school in 2014 Eler Beth saved most of her graduation money to go toward the Fennec, and in late fall of last year we sent Summer a deposit on a male Fennec. Summer's Fennec fox rates were higher than the other breeders, but from what we saw and read, we knew it would be worth it. When Eler Beth started working she saved as much as she could to add to her other savings so that she'd have the balance when her Fennec was ready.
She started getting the supplies she would need for her fox, and decided that she would name him Remiel. By the end of last year we were counting down the days to Remiel's birth -- praying there would be at least two males in the spring litter, because another purchaser had dibs on the first male. If there was only one male or none, she would have to wait until the summer litter was born. But assuming everything went according to plan, we knew that Remiel would be born around the second or third week of April, and we would be able to go down to get him by the end of May.
Pictures of Remiel on this page are current photos of him. I will post pictures of him as a newborn, as a baby, and of her first meeting with him in the next few blog posts.
Eler Beth and Remiel, earlier this year.
To Be Continued....
~ ~ Lori
NaBloPoMo Post #4
All The Nyans, Part Two
Back in April, as we were preparing for the arrival of Eler Beth's Fennec Fox, we got a surprise handed to us -- two orphaned new-born kittens. A friend of ours called to say that a friend of hers had found them on the side of the road. Their eyes were not open, but began opening within a couple of days, so we estimated their birth date as April 15.
This wasn't the first time Eler Beth had bottle-raised a small animal (and I knew it wouldn't be the last!), and she was thrilled. We quickly stocked up on kitten formula, bottles, nipples, bottle brush, pee pads, and second-hand baby blankets. The little girl, the buff colored one, she named Illyana, and the gray male she named Soren.
We had no intention of keeping them. After all, she already had Bryant in her room, and soon the Fennec fox would be here. We didn't think it would be any problem to find a home for them when the time came.
Bryant quickly showed that he was going to be really, really good with a little fox, because he went right into "dad" mode with the kittens. He LOVED the babies. They were HIS babies. He would go check on them in their carrier periodically. He cleaned their little bums. If you asked him, "Where are your babies?" he would go right over to them and look at them. And if I came into the room and took them out with me, to feed in another room or to bathe them, he would get a little agitated until I brought them back.
Now the only thing we ever worried about regarding getting the fox was how Bryant would be with him. He'd always been good with small dogs and puppies, but we weren't totally sure how careful he'd be with the fox. Our fears were put to rest when these kittens came.
They thrived under Eler Beth's care, with a bit of help from me, and of course we became attached. We never dared voice our attachment because Thomas, we knew, would not want a cat in the house. He has an allergy, although in recent years it doesn't seem to be as bad as it used to be. But after our last cat died, he said he didn't want any more because he didn't want to have to deal with it if it died. But with these two every time I'd say something about Eler Beth finding them homes, he'd say, "You don't hear me rushing you." Or I'd say, "You know she's going to be very picky about who she gives them to." And he'd say, "Of course she is. I'm not rushing to get rid of them." We knew there was hope!! :)
As you will see if you read future posts, circumstances occurred that caused Thomas to become VERY attached to the kittens, and they are now part of our family. I'll go into that more as I continue the story of the Nyans which extends into the stories of getting the Fennec fox, another surprise rescue kitten, and.... But I'll just leave that for now.
Illy used to love to sleep under the desk on the keyboard tray. She's too big to fit there now! The last picture here is of them last month when they turned six months old. More on the little ones of the family soon! Happy blogging all!
~ ~ Lori
Remiel, The Fennec Fox
We called her Sanaki, or Naki for short. Nothing phased Naki. Bryant irritated her when he tried to clean her, but she put up with it. We'd take the kittens outside for a few minutes, and she was ready to wander off and explore while the other two stayed very close to us. She was about a third of their size but had an attitude three times bigger! 
We thought we had found a home for her, but that fell through. I was skeptical as to whether she'd ever be pretty -- she was so skinny and that little face was so pointy. But as she started to put on some weight and fill out, her cheeks rounded out and her eyes didn't overpower her face so much. And now I have to say she is quite beautiful. She has round, owl eyes, that look like big, green jewels in her face. She is serene and sweet and plays like it's going out of style.
