The Lumberyards – Kip, Heather, Chipper, and Meadow (Feral Orphans – Adopted)

The Lumberyards were found abandoned at the Builders Supply Store in Lancaster, SC, about 15 miles from our home. It’s another one of those stories where well-intentioned people saw the kittens, waited for the mom to show up, and then eventually contacted the Lancaster Animal Shelter who then contacted me because they don’t have the physical or human resources to care for newborn orphans. I picked up the litter at the Shelter.

I have had remarkable kittens throughout this kitten season, and the Lumberyards are a great example of that. Without a mom, kittens imprint quickly on human caretakers, which makes the kittens especially easy to socialize. But we certainly saw the range of personalities in this litter, from Heather (the sweetest and most beautiful kitten imaginable) to Kip who one visitor described as a Ford F-350 truck with no brakes. All four kittens were adopted into marvelous homes. Meadow was adopted by a family with a large, goofy dog who adores Meadow and tolerates her cat nonsense. Heather was adopted to a family with a younger teenage girl – a perfect fit for both. Chipper was adopted by a family with young children as well and is living his happily ever after story with them. Kip was returned a few weeks after his initial adoption for being too aggressive. We re-evaluated him here, and saw it was just Kip being Kip. He’s an active, muscular little guy with a big motor and doesn’t like to be held. He’s full speed ahead all of the time without ducking under or jumping over obstacles, running straight through everything, even his brother and sisters when he played with them.

Kip should probably have his own page; that’s how big his personality is. After he was adopted the second time, he came back to us for a couple of weeks while his adopting mom recovered from surgery. Kip took turns terrorizing all four adult cats here: Chloe, Stella, Oshie, and Will Feral. It was only Will who would spend a good fifteen minutes fighting and wrestling with Kip, which Kip loved!

But Kip, most of the time, did a good job playing gently with the Panhandle litter; however, he often ended up in time out when he got too excited.

Oh, and while Kip was here we had him neutered since he was scheduled to be neutered the next month anyway. Once the sedation wore off, he was right back to his ways. Bob, my husband, says if we were to have a third cat, his choice would be Kip. He misses that little guy.