WHAT? NO MAD MEN???

If one has to play momma to a new kitten, do it when there is a marathon of the last episodes of your favorite TV show.  The Wednesday that began the marathon was the first day of bonding....

MUCH marveling at the very tiny-ness of it all.  

Within a few days, I did find I needed to start snipping the tiny razor edges growing on his paws.

The vet says it would be easy....

It is very hard to have such a cotton ball of a foot, trying to hold a perpetual motion bag of feathers under one arm to pinch out the little claws, but she assured me that the more things he got used to as a kitten, the easier it will be as an adult. 

As a self-employed artist I had way too much time on my hands.  Watch TV until the guy got run over by the lawn mower, wake up to Megan babysitting in California.... and it went on until the final Sunday... The day before my birthday.

So I now have this Thing to heal the empty hole....

Earning His Way in the World.

Summer is a royal pain in so many ways out here!!

Not the least of which is earning a living!  Summers are hot and smart people TRAVEL (did I mention I thought I would be doing a lot of that?...)

So I immediately decided it would be time to parlay his celebrity into cat food!

Lovely and tiny, here is his first portrait progress shot:

And here is the page where you can buy the finished print: 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/thing-one-debra-jones.html

HE THINKS IT IS A WINNER:

Moving in.

Small cans are not necessarily kitten food.  Although he thought this was hot stuff.  

First few days I was not so sure he was ready for actual food.  Good advice was to thin it with water about half and half, but this was the shred stuff.

Yum.

But he was pretty uncoordinated and had a bit of a problem reaching around to clean up!  

And a little kitty tummy issues.....  Such a delight.

Second day my vet had me swing over for a look see.  DECIDEDLY A BOY, our guy had teeth and energy but we put some pro-biotics and high caloric food in him for a couple of days.

It is amazing how confident I was that this teeny thing would be so easy to adjust to things. 

 He was too weak and too awkward to jump from a high box.... WRONG.

He was a little sickly so he would be docile.... WRONG.

He did, however catch on quickly to hard food (I think they have better breath) and finally figured how far he could back up to STAY within the kitty litter!

And he was just about a pound.  And so tiny it was hard to do much but cuddle... and of course think it was so cute with his tiny teeth and itsy claws....

But he did sleep a lot....