Mama Bean! My experience in fostering a cat

When Landshark and Trudy moved out mid-June, I knew Marvel was going to be lonely.  He took to crying every time we were in the same room together because he wanted to go outside.  I knew I had to get him a new friend but I didn't want to adopt another cat (too many variables, too expensive, etc).  I follow a couple pet rescues on Facebook and know how important that fosters are to rescue groups.  I found Twin Cities Pet Rescue through Trudy's coworker Betsy.  Betsy told me about Bean, a 2-year-old cat who had just given birth to 3 kittens.  She would be ready for a foster home once the kittens were all adopted.  That day came last Friday, July 17.

This is Bean's background (now updated after talking to Betsy!)

Mama Bean was found outside in Wisconsin.  She had sad bloody ear tips and was very pregnant. 

Halfway from Wisconsin to the rescue (where two people were meeting up to pass her along), she decided to have her kittens.  In the back of the truck.  I'm guessing she finally felt safe enough to let it happen!

Here she is with her newborn babies!

5 days old.  They used food coloring on their heads to tell them apart. 

Lima, Pinto and Garbanzo.  Pinto and Garbanzo were born polydactyl meaning they have 6 toes on each paw!  Yet somehow they got adopted (together) before the sweet little Lima.

So her kittens got adopted.  I went to Betsy's house on Friday afternoon to pick up Bean.  I could tell right away she was a chatty cat as she meowed a lot in the house and then the entire car ride home.  She got to live in our spare bedroom for a few days to get acclimated to the house.  Marvel got a glimpse of her for 0.2 seconds and did not sound thrilled.  I hung out in the room with Bean for several hours on Friday and Saturday, watching Glee and listening to her meow.

She meowed a lot.  She still does.  But the first few days she was definitely confused as to what the heck was going on.

On Saturday morning I locked Marvel in my room and let Bean wander through the house freely.  On Sunday afternoon, I let them both free to roam.  There was a lot of hissing.  Marvel stood at the bottom of the stairs and Bean just sat on a step and looked at him.  They were curious about each other but not aggressive.  Sunday night, I left them alone for a couple hours when I went to a staff meeting at Vera.  I came back and they were both unharmed but still confused.

I left them out on Monday while I was at work.  I literally spent Monday evening after work just watching them.  They are so weird.  Marvel is now afraid of Bean to the point where she's smart enough to sit at the top of the steps that go down to my room where his food, water and litter box are.  He won't go past her.  I literally had to pick up Bean last night, move her across the room and shoo Marvel down the steps because I could tell he wanted to go down there.  She returned to her post and I realized Marvel was sitting on the steps just waiting for her to leave so he could come back into the living room.

Bean is recovering from an ear infection so I've been giving her medicine twice daily.  Marvel is jealous of any attention I give her, including the medicine.  Last night I let him sniff the syringe of what I was feeding her and he backed off, perhaps changing his mind.

Marvel usually falls asleep with me and wakes up on the bed with me as well.  Not since Bean had free range of the house.  She actually slept with me the past two nights, for a little while at least.  This morning was a miracle because Marvel hopped up to cuddle with me like he used to.  At least I know he's not too mad at me anymore.  He doesn't let me hold him for as long as I usually do and when I do, he's always watching her.  I held him for a bit today then set him on the arm chair in my room.  Then I watched him jump off the chair by putting his front paws on Bean's back and jumping off from there.  Why must my pets always be so weird?

I can tell that they're both calming down a little bit- Marvel has been sleeping a lot, almost bored with her, and Bean has been meowing less.  She also has been sleepy and adorable.  

Anyway, I just thought I'd chronicle my experience as it unfolds.  I'll keep adding to this post as they continue to do weird things!  And hopefully I'll get some pictures of Marvel and Bean together... or at least in close proximity to each other.

7/24 UPDATE: Bean got to visit Betsy at the vet yesterday to get a check up on her ear infection.  When I got home from work sans Bean, Marvel was back to his old self.  We cuddled forever.  Lots of pets were enjoyed.  He got to eat quietly and calmly by himself.  Then about 3 hours after I got home from work, Betsy came over with Bean.  They actually seemed quite friendly when Bean returned.  Then last night there was a thunderstorm and they got weird.  The weirdest part of the storm last night was the poor cat that was outside my window.  Marvel angry-screamed at the cat (I should find a video of him doing this because it is both terrifying and amusing).  I went outside to try and help the cat (before it started raining but the sky was FULL of lightning) but he didn't seem to appreciate my help.  He disappeared, I locked the cats down in my room so Marvel didn't go watch him from outside the living room window and wake up Eileen with his screaming, and tried to go back to sleep.  That worked until about 30 minutes later when it was pouring, the cat was back outside crying and Marvel and Bean were acting weird because of the storm and the strange cat.  So I locked the cats downstairs, went to the front door and as I was trying to go outside, the cat decided to come inside.  This only lasted a few seconds and I managed to get him in to Bean's pet carrier and put him out on our front step with a blanket over the carrier so he felt some sort of safety.  I left the door of the carrier open and went back to my room.  There I found Marvel trying to play with Bean by biting her neck and she was not having it and that turned into a lot of hissing.  This lasted much longer than I thought it would- Marvel was not smart enough to back off and he kept trying to play.  The good news is they ate their food very respectfully of each other this morning so at least we're making progress there.  

10/7 UPDATE: It should have been perfectly obvious that this fostering would end in adoption.  I learned quickly by the way Marvel reacted to the situation that there was no way we could foster another cat if Bean left and go through this whole ordeal again.  So on August 28, I officially adopted Bean.  Within days she started peeing on my bed (usually with me in it).  We tried to start calling her Babs as soon as she was adopted and my mom thought she was peeing in protest of her name change so back to Bean it went.  This went on for two weeks and included an expensive and useless vet visit, a higher than usual water bill due to the constant washing of blankets, sheets and towels, and me sleeping on the couch in the living room for an hour or two each morning.  I'm happy to say we seem to have resolved the issue (knock on wood) and Bean is chipper and charming and happy to be part of our little family.  She's still weird and she still beats up Marvel on a regular basis but I can tell she has settled in.  The biggest challenge for me right now is trying to decide what she should dress up as for Halloween! 

Bean's official first picture as an adopted cat!

Bean as a cheese head (thanks to my Packer/cheese loving roomie)

Bean and her brother Marvel, loving life.