Friday, February 5, 2021

Essential Supplies for Feeding Bottle Baby Kittens - Foster Kitten Friday

After having spent several years fostering young kittens, there are some supplies I've come to rely on time and time again. From food to litter and bedding to toys, check out some of those important supplies you'll need when you welcome the little kittens into your home. 

Today we're looking specifically at feeding supplies for bottle baby kittens.

I've added links to Amazon so you can see photos and prices of the different products. I am a participant in their affiliate advertising program so if you make a purchase through my link I will earn a small commission. The purchase helps support me in purchasing replacement products for each year's foster kitties. I buy most all of my supplies from Amazon, but do get your supplies wherever is cheapest and easiest for you!


Supplies for Feeding Bottle Baby Kittens

  • Pet-Ag Nursing Kit 2oz Bottle is the only bottle I use for all the bottle babies. It comes with a little tiny bottle brush that makes cleaning the bottles so much easier. 
  • The Miracle Nipples are perfect for smallest of the smallest bottle babies like little four ounce Cami and Sami.
  • KMR - Kitten Milk Replacer - is an absolute must. It's like baby formula, but for kittens. Cows milk = bad news for baby kitten tummies.
  • KMR 2nd Step is another product we use for older kittens who still need a milk replacement.
As we transition bottle babies to soft food, we make a concoction called gruel. For gruel you need:
Rosemary wants you to know
gruel is very messy.
I first try them on a thinner gruel before moving to a thicker version. You may need to try different ways to get the kitties interested in the gruel: 
Parsley likes being spoon fed.
Parsley in her early
eating-gruel-from-a-bowl days.

If the kitties have successfully made their way with the gruel, they can be transitioned to straight canned cat food. If they tolerate the straight canned food, you can transition them yet again to the hard kitten food. Be sure to give their tummies plenty of time before switching over foods.


We're not done with supplies yet! Join me in the upcoming weeks for:

Supplies for Keeping Baby Kittens Warm and Comfortable

Supplies for Keeping Baby Kittens Happy and Healthy

Supplies for Making Your Fostering Job Easier

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Homemade Football Coasters Sewing Project - Tutorial Tuesday

For today's Tutorial Tuesday we are learning how to make homemade football drink coasters out of fabric. Just because we aren't gathering with others for the big game on Sunday this year doesn't mean we can't make something festive for our household bubble's football viewing party.


For this project you will need:

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.

Friday, January 29, 2021

Fostering Kittens: Raising Cute Little Foster Kitties for Adoption

What is life like being a foster parent to orphaned kitties? How much work is involved in raising bottle baby kittens and getting them ready for adoption? Find out here!

I'm going on several years now of fostering kittens for Simply Cats, a local no-kill feline adoption center. It's a rewarding experience. They send babies my way and I socialize them and help them grow big and strong. Playful and loving. Healthy and fun. Then they leave my home to get spayed or neutered, micro-chipped and immunized, and then placed on the adoption floor back at Simply Cats. 

Check out the adventures of this past year's foster kitties as they work towards growing up big and strong. You'll find plenty of cute kitty cat photos and I even have some tips and tricks in these blog posts:

The Alaskan Mountains  - Denali and McKinley

Hans Solo - The little fellow who lost both his siblings.

The Duck Tales Cast - Huey, Dewey, and Louie.

The Wild West Foster Kitten Gang - Mama Kate, Wild Bill, Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp

The Simon and Garfunkel Scarborough Fair Foster Kittens - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

The Breakfast Club Foster Kittens - Buttermilk, Flapjack, Shortstack, Crepe, Cupcake, and Mama Sienna.

Want to help contribute to the work I do with foster kittens? I have an Amazon wish list right here. These are the things I use again and again, year after year. With daily laundry and frequent cleaning, items have to be replaced often. I’d love anything you’d be willing to send my way!

Why would I want to foster kittens, knowing I have to give them back?


Can't foster kittens but are interested in helping in a different way? Check out my tutorials for kitty projects:

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Make a Homemade Valentine's Day Heart Corner Bookmark - Tutorial Tuesday

For today's Tutorial Tuesday we are making a quick and easy Valentine's Day heart corner bookmark from fabric. It's a good sewing project for a beginner and makes a nice last-minute gift, too.

Valentine's Day fabric corner heart bookmark

For this project you will need:
Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.


Looking for something else? 
Check out some of my other Valentine's Day sewing and crafting projects!


Otherwise, you can watch the how to video directions for this quick and easy homemade Valentine's Day corner fabric bookmark sewing project here:
Looking for more quick and easy DIY projects? 

Monday, January 25, 2021

Homemade Christmas Tree Ornament Sewing and Crafting Projects

Looking for homemade Christmas tree ornament sewing and crafting projects with supply lists and templates? How about clear, step-by-step tutorial videos?

Get started on your next handmade Christmas tree ornament!

Homemade Christmas Tree ornament sewing and craft projects

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Sewing Through the Holidays and Seasons - DIY Projects

Looking for holiday seasonal sewing and crafting projects with supply lists and templates?

Click below to get started on your next holiday or seasonal
 sewing or crafting project!



Friday, January 22, 2021

Foster Kitten Friday - And Then There Were None

And then there were none. 

Yep, this was the week. The week any foster kitten parent dreads - and looks forward to. The one with mixed emotions of sadness and loss and excitement and hope. The week when they leave your foster home and get ready to head to a new home. Their forever home.

When the itty bitty foster kittens come into your life, you tell yourself you won't get too attached to them. But you do.

You remind yourself on a daily basis they don't belong to you. But you'll forget.

It'll seem like no one can take care of them and love them like you do. But someone will.

You think you’ll never love any other kittens as much as the ones you have right now. But you will.

You'll talk yourself into - and out of - keeping one or more of them as your own. But you won't.

Because you, as a kitty cat foster parent, are only one little spoke in the big wheel of the lives of orphaned kitties. And when weeks like this one come, the wheel is ready to keep rolling along without your spoke. You've done all you can. You've raised them right. Helped them grow big and strong. Playful and loving. You've made sure they've become good, productive citizens healthy and fun-loving cats. And you've loved them just as much as humanly possible.

Goodbye, Annie Oakley.

Goodbye, Calamity Jane.
Goodbye, Wyatt Earp.
Goodbye, Wild Bill.
It was fun while it lasted. 
Gee whiz, you kids grew!

Want to help contribute to the work I do with foster kittens? I have an Amazon wish list right here. These are the things I use again and again, year after year. With daily laundry and frequent cleaning, items have to be replaced often. I’d love anything you’d be willing to send my way!

I can't leave without doing one last Wyatt video. What an adventure we had, kiddo.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Valentine's Day Candy Jar Heart Fabric Wrap - Tutorial Tuesday

If you're looking for a unique sewing or crafting project idea for a Valentine's Day candy jar, make your own homemade fabric jar wrap. This easy sewing project wraps around a glass canning jar!
Homemade Candy Jar Fabric Wrap for Valentine's Day

For this project you will need:

Disclosure: Deb's Days is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to affiliated sites. This means that, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you new sewing and crafting content.


Looking for something else? 
Check out some of my other Valentine's Day sewing and crafting projects!

Otherwise can find the old step-by-step how to directions for the homemade Valentine's Day heart fabric candy jar wrap right here: