There is so much sad news regarding animals, especially strays, and it gives me a lift when I hear about somebody giving these little guys some extra care and love.

It's so hard to give them up once you get attached. We were adopted by a five month old pregnant Siamese kitten. She was so young she didn't take to being a mother, but we had an older male Maine Coon who stepped up and raised the kittens. He was wonderful. I found good homes for 3 of the 4 kittens with people I trusted, but the mother cat and runt had really bonded so we kept her. Although I knew they were going to good homes, it was still wrenching to say goodbye to them.

I'm glad Kelly didn't get adopted by the woman who wanted an orange cat. It sounds to me like she just wanted an accessory since she was so hung up on color and was waffling about her decision to adopt.

What cuties! We have three lil beasties that were brought to our garage by their mama that we had been feeding. We've been trying to socialize them as much as we can, and have about two of the three ready to go to their permanent homes. Well, assuming we can find them a home. Anyway, I've found with skittish kitties "thing on a string" toys work well, since you can play, but at a safe distance. Oh, and chicken baby food. It's like kitty crack. That way they associate you with really good things. I hope that helps. If you haven't ever read http://www.love-and-hisses.com/ or http://www.kittyblog.net/ they've got some great advice, and cute kittens. 

@Season of life... there are soooo many strays where I live.  Unfortunately, it is really common for landlords to get some cats to hunt rodents, which is not only unhealthy (not to mention if they ingest rodenticide), but contributes to the unwanted cat pregnancies since most of these cats aren't fixed.  There are many cat colonies in this city that form because of this.  The group I am fostering with primarily focuses on TNR, which stands for Trap-neuter-release.  They basically get to know where the cat colonies are, trap the kitties, get them fixed and vetted with shots and stuff, then release them back to their territory, and continually feed and care for the colony.  This is much more humane than the alternative way of dealing with strays, which would be euthanasia.  Also, euthanasia doesn't really help solve the problem, because usually more cats just move into the old colony.  So the group I foster with does TNR, but when they find little ones or friendly older ones, they adopt them out.  

It is hard to give them away, but in the end, I knew it was better for Kelly to find a permanent home, and I am grateful to have gotten to spend so much time with her.  

@NerdyHil, I will have to try the string toy! That actually seems like a good idea, once she is more familiar with the space.  She has been eating better now, thankfully.  I mixed her wet food with some warm water, and she seemed to like that.  And thank you for the blog recommendations, I will definitely check those out!

Ahh they're super cute! I agree with the toys on a string suggestion. Also we used to give our cat tuna (the kind that comes in water, not oil) as a treat and it broke the ice really quickly.

<3  Thanks for sharing.

Be patient - my semi-feral demon cat gets held almost every day (she's so not impressed.)  But when I am asleep or just waking up, she thinks I am safe and clambers all over me!!!