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Breed Unknown

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Home:Cartersville, GA

Age: 6 Years Sex: Female Weight: 14 lbs.

Catster stats for Itti


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Nicknames:
"Bit-Bit", "baby kitty", "Wildness", "BB", "Badness", "Lounge Cat", "ItterBitter", "THE Queen", "Queen Neferitti", "Jabba the It"

Kitty Complexion:

Activeness

sleepy		very active

Intelligence

silly		genius

Curiosity

not curious		very curious

Friendliness

timid		affectionate

Vocal

not vocal		very vocal

Sun Sign:

Quick Bio:

-part feral

Birthday:
October 1st 2006

Coloration:
Tortoiseshell

Likes:
FOOD!!!

Pet-Peeves:
Our labrador retrievers and their noses!!!

Favorite Toy:
Little pink felt mice...she loves playing fetch.

Favorite Nap Spot:
Where ever I am at that moment! :)

Favorite Food:
Lettuce, tomatoes...I know...weird!

Skills:
She can play fetch better than our dogs! She is an eating machine!

Dwells:
indoors

Arrival Story:
On October 24, 2006, as I walked out the back door of the school where I was teaching (which is also where the lunchroom dumpster was located) I saw this little bitty black ball of fur running towards me from across the road. This little cat, barely a few weeks old, ran straight into my outstretched hands. I didn't know much about cats at the time, and definitely knew nothing about tortoiseshells. I just thought she was kind of "funny looking" with her little white beard of a chin and two-toned face. She couldn't have even weighed a pound! She was starving. I took her into the school and was immediately surrounded by the children who were waiting after school to be picked up. They wanted to pet her and begged me not to let her go back outside by herself. The kitten wasn't afraid AT ALL of the children, the noise, or by their hands in her little face! One of my co-workers brought the kitten a piece of Vienna sausage...the little darling nearly bit my finger off when I tried to feed her. My co-worker then informed me that two more little black kittens had been spotted across the street (there was a house notoriously known for its colony of feral cats across the street from our school). So, the secretary's daughter and I decided to catch the other two as well. They were wild! We chased them all over the yard before finally cornering the poor things near the house. We placed all three kittens in a cardboard box...those crazy things kept popping there heads up through the opening and were ready for our fingers with their sharp kitten teeth! The secretary's daughter, the co-worker who told me about the kittens, and I all were bitten by the adorable little demons we had caught! After asking around for any "takers", I realized that I was the only one willing to take on the little biters! I immediately took the box of teeth and claws to my vet's office. I had another cat at home and did not want to expose him to any harmful feline diseases by bringing the feral kittens home. The vet looked them over and said they were malnutritioned, had fleas, conjuctivitis, and that they had tapeworms. He said that he was 99% sure that the little one (the one that I found near the dumpster) was a female as it had "tortoiseshell" coloring...it wouldn't be long before I would discover that she had "tortoiseshell" personality and attitute, too! She only weighed 11 ounces...so tiny. Her brothers, one jet black and the other a dark grey,were both nearly three pounds! She was obviously the runt and may have been abadoned by the mother. Dr. Moore tested her for feline leukemia; she and the other two were "negative" for this devastating illness. He gave me a vial of eyedrops for the eye infections and some mild flea killer that could be used on kittens. Finally, I was free to take them home! I knew my husband would be frustrated with me and my new find, but I felt I had to take care of them...at least until after Halloween! I couldn't give away black kittens so close to Halloween...maybe I worry too much, but I just couldn't do it. We cared for the three baby kittens by keeping them in the upstairs bathroom (away from the other cat and ouor two labrador retrievers) for about a week. During that time, I became very attached to the "little one". She became very sick on several occasions. There were at least three occasions, that week, when I really didn't think she would make it through the night. But, every morning when I went up to check on them, she was still "hanging in there". One night, I just sat on the bathroom floor holding her; she stared into my eyes with her weepy, pussy little eyes and I prayed for her and felt like I was "willing" her to live another night. That was when we first really bonded. During those first two weeks, the brothers grew quickly. We contacted PetLand and they were placed for adotion there. Within a week, they had found new homes for them both. I was so relieved! However, the little female, now named"IttiBitti" was not making a lot of progress in the health and weight department. She still weighed less than a pound and was very lethargic for several days. I returned to the vet's office for advice. He dewormed her again, afraid that a tapeworm was depleting her any nutrients she was obtaining from the formula and kitten food she received. That night she became extremely ill, vomiting profusely and becoming even more lethargic. I was terrified that I was going to lose her. I wrapped her in a little kitchen towel and snuggled her all night between vomiting and diarhea episodes. She was weak, but still alive, the next morning. Luckily it was the weekend and I could stay home with her. She finally passed the worms and began to hold down the food and water she ate and drank. Over the next week or so her vitality improved. She began to walk around and meow weakly when we held her, but my husband and I noticed that she didn't seem to want to play with toys that we dangled right in front of her or show interest in playing at all. She seemed to walk aimlessly around. We were worried that she was blinded by the eye infection or somehow brain-damaged by the malnutrition she had suffered in her early weeks. I was worried and took her back to the vet's office. I was so excited, she finally weighed exactly a pound!! They checked her eyesight and said that her eyes and eyesight appeared to be functioning within the normal range. The vet's assistant told me that sometimes kittens become "depressed" when they are removed from their siblings and that some of her symptoms may be exhibitions of the "depression". They gave me some potent vitamins to give to her to try to improve her energy level and increase her weight gain and told me to be patient with her. After about another week, we finally started to see the cat that Itti would become. I was lying in bed with her one Saturday morning, playing with my ponytail when she reached up and started swatting at the loose hair. Soon after, she was playing with everything in sight! She was also eating everything in sight! It did not take her long to put some weight on...she now weighs about 14 pounds. My father-in-law once joked that she looked like a "stomach with legs" and that is still true to this day! She now enjoys play fighting with her "brother" Lou...who is probably actually a not-so-distant cousin of hers, as he was rescued from the same feral colony six months before she was. She loves playing fetch with little pink or purple felt mice. She is better at fetch than my retrievers! Her favorite hobby, however, is eating. She comes running every time someone enters the kitchen. She runs to the laundry room, where her food is kept, every time someone even looks in that direction...she begs for food like the best of them..."them" being dogs of course! I would be lost without my Itti! Every day when I pull into the driveway I see her big green eyes staring out from the front door side windows...when she realizes its my car pulling into the garage, she runs to greet me in the laundry room! She is hilarious and is always getting into some kind of mischief! She is definitely the Queen of our house and makes sure that everyone knows this! I learned very quickly what the term "tortitude" means and she lives up to it every chance she gets!

Bio:
Itti has one little pink toe...it is the cutest thing ever!

Lives Remaining:
7 of 9

Forums Motto:
Itti (Little name...big personality!)

The Groups I'm In:
Calico & Tortie Darlings, Cra-Z Calicos and Torties, Tortoiseshell Cats of Catster, ~*Totally Torties!!*~, ~*~Tortoiseshell Lovers!~*~

I've Been On Catster Since:

August 28th 2009