First, there is cute.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way …
Naming foster kittens seems trickier each season, and this batch was no exception. I got 3 or 4 suggestions for Wynken, Blynken, and Nod – and I’m definitely saving those – I love those names! I also got several suggestions for, and had also thought of naming them after bag names, because of how they were found. Paper, plastic, and canvas seemed a bit weird though, and the posh handbag names didn’t fit.
But then I was thrilled to get an email from the woman who took care of the babies their first night, and really rescued them originally. Here is the story in her words:
I was actually not the one who found them first but had a part in it. We live in the Montclair district in Oakland. It was Wednesday evening and my younger brother and sister left to go to walk to the Lucky grocery store to get a few things for dinner. They were about halfway there and were passing an elementary school when they saw a lady look into a brown paper grocery bag that was on the curb of the street. The lady called to my brother and sister saying “There are kittens in this bag!”. They talked to the lady and found out her name is Minney. My sister offered to take them to the vet down the street to see if they could help. The vet refused to take them since they did not have any extra staff to feed them. My mom then came to pick them up and went to the pet store to get the kittens bottles and formula. My mom and I both worked together to care for the kittens as much as we knew how. We have had kittens before but not newborns without their mother. We made sure to wake up with them at least every two hours to feed and clean. The next day I had plans in Antioch so I brought the kittens with me. I made plans with my friend Ashley to take the kittens to find them a good foster home. Which she did!!! Thank you Kimberly!
As for the names I have some suggestions. Since we live in Montclair I was thinking the little black boy could be named Monte and the little black girl named Clair. As for the little tabby girl I was thinking Minney after the lady who found them. Let me know what you decide!
I think those names actually fit pretty well, and so, here they are:
They are doing GREAT! They are eating well, pooping well, but not too much, and each boasted huge weight gains on their first full day here! They are little piggies, and I think they actually may open their eyes early. I see tiny wet, bright corners of eyes on a couple of them already!
I am really still having trouble identifying Monte from Claire in photos in which I didn’t intentionally keep track of which one it is.
They are FEISTY little buggers! This is Monte making a break for it after I already got his sisters out of the box!
(Don’t worry, usually they are protected both from escape, and also from overly-curious unsupervised big kitties by a cookie wire rack)
They are really quite tiny, still.
Minnie with her littermate, all conked out in the box after a feed. They get messy crawling around with milk mustaches and wipe them on each other. Pampi has taken to giving them baths – yay!
Being tiny is tough work – it’s exhausting!
It’s also tiring being this cute.
Not much cuter than tiny, toothless, pink yawns!
The tiny bed will actually fit all three of them – but it’s important to conserve space, sometimes.
Warning … paws of CUTE!
I’m so happy have a lap full of kittens again!
Or a tiny handful. Oh little Minnie – you have made my world so much brighter, even though you make me tired 
It’s hard to get a sense of scale, sometimes, in the photos. Sometimes a video helps:
Love the names. Thank Bast they were in a paper bag & not plastic. Whatever do people think? They are so adorable & I’m sure they are in the best possible hands (and lap) available!
Hi, it’s me, Nina Minney – I was the one who originally discovered the kittens! I would love to send you the photo I took of them in the bag. It was pretty shocking. I had my hands full with kids at that moment so it was a god send that those two wonderful teenagers were walking by and agreed to take the kittens up the street to the vet. I called the vet about 10-15 minutes later to make sure the kittens arrived safely, and was going to try to find a family to care for them, but by that time these teens and their mom were already figuring out a way to find someone to help out. My daughters would love to come visit the kittens if there is any way to arrange. Frankly I was in a state of complete shock when I discovered them and was so worried about getting the kittens warmed up and checked out that I didn’t even give my girls a chance to get a look at them. Will you please email me to coordinate? [removed to avoid spam]. Thanks!
Thanks for saving them!
Oh they are so squeeee Kimberly. Thank god you are here to take care of them.
The vet refused to take them? What the hell? He’s in the wrong profession. Thank god for decent people like you.
It’s kitten season; he/she may not have had space, time and staff to take in any more. You don’t know.
Kimberly even said the vet said they didn’t have anyone to feed newborns (which need to be fed every couple of hours). Perhaps it was a single vet practice. You don’t know.
It would have been nice if the vet could have taken them, but it looks like that was not possible. That doesn’t make him/her not decent. You don’t know.