The three little kittens – Peanut, Mia, and Rolz – all grown up now…

You know that saying about someone’s “bark being worse than their bite.” Well in Zoey’s case, her bark (growl) really was worse than her bite. Zoey does not bite – but after week 8 with the kittens, she did growl… A LOT. As mentioned, Zeuss had the courtesy to pack his little kitten bags and head for Boston to live his new life. Peanut, Mia, and Rolz – all of whom Dan and I had fallen madly in love with and decided to keep, became freeloading hooligans in Zoey’s mind. Her natural instinct kicking into high gear, rather than feel a sense of loss when Zeuss left like we thought she would, she felt that she had done her part raising these babies and that it was time for them to leave the nest and fend for themselves, so to speak.

She was no longer a loving, nurturing parent, but a Jekyll and Hyde paradox of pure resentment of these precious little babies. If they so much as looked her way or breathed the same air space as her, she would growl menacingly at them, challenging them to run off. Zoey never hurt them, her growl actually was worse than her bite in that sense, but she really did not want them in the house with her anymore. And bless them, they were so confused. They loved their Mama so much and the urge to snuggle and nurse had not completely gone away, which caused her even more anger. And most amazing of all, her anger was directed exclusively at the kittens – she could distinguish in a split second her off-spring versus Zee, Harley, or Jazz who were all safe from her wrath. So, we did what we do best, we loved all of them as best we could in light of the circumstances and remained ever vigilant and patient. Surely she could not resent them forever. Please, fingers-crossed, we hoped.  Read more

Left to Right: Harley, Rolz, Zee, Zoey, Mia, Peanut, and Jazz

From all of us here at Zee & Zoey’s Chronicle Connection, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. We hope you have a wonderful day and we would also like to take this time to thank you for being a part of our world. We have been having so much fun sharing all our great stories, videos, and pictures –  hope you are enjoying our efforts!

All the Best –

Deb, Dan, Zee, Zoey, Mia, Peanut, Rolz, Jazz, and Harley

Left to Right – Peanut, Mia, Zeuss, and Rolz

Week 8 with the kittens was a pivotal time for all of us – exciting, but bittersweet at the same time. By now, each kitten was emerging with a distinct personality and we could actually tell who was who (sort of). They had gone to the vet for the first time to get their shots and a health check-up and it was confirmed that we did indeed have two males and two females as we had suspected. All of them had permanent names now– Rolz was our big boy who was named after his tendency to roll on his back, combined with the clever usage of the letter “z.” Peanut was the runt (at the time) of the litter and so that’s why she got that name. Mia was the other female and was such an exquisite looking creature, that we felt the name gave her perfect justice – very feminine and exotic sounding. The last kitten, who was a male, was already claimed by Dan’s daughter Crystal and her then boyfriend, Sean. They both lived in Boston and fell in love with him via email pictures we would send them and planned on adopting him. Before even meeting him in person, they chose the name “Zeuss,” feeling it was the perfect name to keep the legacy of the letter “Z” and the character of a strong and powerful personality that originated from Greek mythology.  Read more

After the birth of the kittens, the first eight weeks of their life is like fast forwarding a newborn baby to the terrible two’s/three’s of a toddler in a span of 2 short months – basically, the proverbial “calm before the storm.” Even if you have never had children, you probably know someone with children, or at the very least, I’m sure you can remember a time in your life when you have encountered either a newborn or a toddler in lets say, a setting like a grocery store, a movie, a restaurant, or a church. One minute they are precious little angels, cooing and smiling, the next they are a whirlwind of energy and emotion so heightened, that it is exhausting merely looking at them in passing. Read more

Despite that Zee had no one to blame but himself for Zoey’s pregnancy, he clearly had no idea how quickly his newly “extraordinary” life with Zoey was going to change, and not for the better, in his opinion. For the next three months, his beautiful, irresistible, agile, and athletic partner was changing day by day to a fat, lethargic, and uninspiring cat. Zee still stayed close by her side, but you could see he missed the “old” Zoey he had fallen in love with. Read more