The Kitten Awards

Hi everybody! My chess blog is not really back yet — I’m still working on my book — but I thought that on Christmas I could take a little time out for a Kitten Awards Show.

As long-time readers of this blog know, my wife and I take care of foster kittens for the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter. These are kitties that are basically healthy but still too small to be adopted (generally speaking, they need to be at least 8-10 weeks old and 2 pounds). At the Mackenzie Finishing School for Felines, we feed them, give them lots of toys and affection, and teach them the finer points of kitten etiquette if necessary.

This year we fostered 25 kittens in 9 batches. The last three (Muffin, Josie, and Pepper) are still with us, so we had the extra-special privilege of giving them their first Christmas.

And now, here are the awards. The envelopes, please:

Glow-in-the-Dark Eyes Award

This award goes to Abby, hands down.

The Lurker

The “I’ve Had Too Much Coffee” Look

Best Haircut

This award goes to Ace, who was, shall we say, a mess when he first came to us. (But he got cleaned up very nicely after a few days.)

Before

 

After… Stylin’!

 

Best Power Nap

Anyone who knows kittens knows that the competition in this category was intense, because kittens sleep about 20 hours a day. The winner is Emmy… by an eyelash.

Dog’s Best Friend

We had several good candidates for this award, but it has to go to Eddie. He came to us as a single kitty, with no brothers and sisters, so for three weeks Daisy, the dog, was his only companion. Basically he was sure that Daisy was just a large kitten.

Best Chess Kitty

Of course I need this category, right? This year’s winner is Jasper.

Most Convincing “I Didn’t Do It” Award

… goes to Jinjur, who swears that she had nothing to do with the hole in the garden.

Best Halloween Kitty

Although black cats have a great advantage in this category, Josie impressed me with her classic form. Note the inflatable tail.

I think an honorable mention for this category has to go to Winifred, Moo, and Tab Hunter, who look like a posse coming after Max. Or maybe the Attack of the Zombie Kitties.

Best Photobomb

Honest, I was just taking a picture of these pretty flowers, when this cat appeared out of nowhere. (Natasha plays the jester in this photo.)

Special “I Growz Up to Be Big Kitteh Someday” Award

Kip was the smallest kitten that we have ever successfully fostered. She came in at 14.5 ounces and dropped to 13.5 ounces before rallying. While I don’t want to be overly dramatic, I think we saved her life. With an assist from Kip herself, who didn’t want to give up. Here she looks up to big kitteh Max, in more ways than one.

And finally, the coveted

Best Photo of the Year Award

… goes to Natasha’s brother Nikolai, who did this little peekaboo from the door of the “hobbit house.”

I hope you enjoyed these pictures as much as we enjoyed having such entertaining company all year long! For people who just can’t get enough kitten photos, Kay has written a more traditional chronological account in her annual Cavalcade of Kittens post at her blog, “All About Applique.”