Bramble’s Colony

06/04/2026

Later that evening…

I go to empty the litter box one more time before bed (that makes three times since 10am yesterday in case anyone is keeping track) and shake any litter out of the mat and put a fresh bed in for the kittens, and tell me why Ash started playing with my toes while I’m scooping litter!?!

Story time:

I got my first cat in over a decade back in 2020. I saw a photo of him and his siblings and fell in love with him, but decided to wait until I met them to pick the one that suited me…

Not 10 minutes into meeting me, the cat that I’d thought was cute in the photos started sniffing my feet then climbed my leg, then settled down with his paws on my ankle and tucked his tail under him as if claiming this ankle as his.

Fast forward and I’m starting to get a complex about my feet with how many people’s pets try to sniff, lick, or otherwise play with my feet 👣

This morning, sometime in the half hour between midnight and now, Ash joined the ranks of those animals 😅

I stocked the kitten supplies, made the text all neat, and said “Goodnight Purritos”

Of course I wore gloves while dealing with the linens and washed my hands afterwards !

Can’t wait to see if we make anymore progress in the next 24hrs 🥰

Goodnight cat lovers! And thank you to the people who have supported us in our TNR journey, given tips on socializing spicy kittens, and all around been amazing. It takes a village!

06/04/2026

Two. Hours. Later…

Y’all might get sick of the updates if they keep coming at this pace!

Ash, the kitten who previously rolled a nat 20 for stealth while attempting to disappear behind the litter box?

THAT Ash?

She leaned into scritches from the gentleman of the house this evening and started to purr right before her elevator butt kicked in…

And then?

T H E N . . .

She rolled onto her side, started trying to play a little, and then leaned right back into face scritches!

This tiny gray fluffball was trapped Saturday morning. She’s only been in foster care with us for about 4½ days, and we could not be more proud of her progress.

Not to be forgotten, Cinder and Ember both hissed during today’s interactions but still allowed scritches and did not attempt to vacate the premises or introduce me to any new scratches from those notorious kitten razors known as claws.

That’s progress too.

The more comfortable they become, the more their little personalities start to shine through.

🔥 Ash is a curious, brave, little gal who is apparently determined to make everyone fall in love with her.

🔥 Cinder, as the only boy, is the biggest of the bunch but may secretly be the softest.

🔥 Ember is cautious and reserved, but fiercely protective of Cinder. More than once we’ve watched her position herself between him and the scary humans as if she has appointed herself his personal bodyguard.

Whoever eventually brings these babies into their furrever homes is going to be getting some truly special kittens.

I love this for them. ❤️

As always: If you’re interested in adopting one (or more) of the Fire Litter, you may contact us and we will ensure the Foster Department is notified. SSPCA adoption fees of $100 per kitten apply and are not set (or received) by anyone associated with Bramble’s Colony.

06/04/2026

The Fire Litter continues to make progress!

Miss Ash, the tiniest of the trio, remains the most adventurous. After receiving her deworming treatment, she required a little assistance getting her gloriously fluffy gray coat cleaned up. Once she was feeling fresh again, she surprised us by leaning right into scritches from the gentleman of the house and soaking up the attention like she’d been doing it forever.

Mister Cinder claimed second place in today’s bravery competition. While he didn’t venture out of the kitten tent, he did make several trips toward the entrance to investigate the possibility of Churu-based negotiations. We suspect he is carefully weighing the risks versus the rewards.

Miss Ember, meanwhile, remains unconvinced that humans have anything worthwhile to offer and preferred to keep a healthy distance from all activities involving people. That’s perfectly okay. Every kitten progresses at their own pace, and we’re letting her build confidence on her own timeline.

The babies will return to Sacramento SPCA for their next check-up sometime between June 16th and June 23rd. If all goes well, they should be large enough to be scheduled for their spay and neuter surgeries and begin the next step of their journey toward finding forever homes.

If you’re interested in adopting one (or more) of the Fire Litter, you may contact us and we will ensure the Foster Department is notified. SSPCA adoption fees of $100 per kitten apply and are not set (or received) by anyone with Bramble’s Colony.

06/03/2026

06/03/2026

This could be a game changer!!

Ash & Ember didn’t set off the trap the first time we tried to trap them, they both had to go into the trap to weigh enough to trap them… a heat activated trap could be amazing for kitten catching!

I also realized that it’s way more quiet than the Hav a Hart trap we have.

This will be on our “someday”/“we wish” list.

Right now we’re focused on being able to feed, care for, and socialize “The Fire Litter” for another 13 days before their next appointment at SSPCA

06/02/2026

Well! The babies had their intake appointment for Sacramento SPCA’s Foster Deferment Program today and even though they aren’t certain they’re fans of these things called “car rides” they were lovely.

Miss Ash was absolutely the most curious and adventurous looking out of the sun roof and registering vocal protests with management when the climate control was too much for her delicate constitution. She came in at a dainty 1.26lbs… she may appear to be as large as her siblings, but it’s likely due to her gloriously long gray fur.

Miss Ember was our second largest kitten at 1.61lbs and she used her tiny gray and subtle white striped body to shield her big brother from *everything*…

Mister Cinder with his gorgeous marble black and gray pattern is our largest kitten of The Fire Litter at a whopping 1.85lbs.

They were the recipients of their first round of vaccines, dewormer, and kitten flea preventative.

We’ll be returning them between 6/16 and 6/23 for their next exam and (hopefully) their alteration scheduling…

If you’re interested in adopting one (or more) of the Fire Litter you may contact us and we will ensure the Foster Department is notified. SSPCA Adoption Fees of $100/kitten apply and are not set (or to be received) by anyone with Bramble’s Colony.

Thank you for following the journey of our first litter rescued. We hope there are eventually no more cats to rescue, ‘til then? …we shall soldier on. 😅

06/01/2026

I’m so in love with “The Fire Litter” that I shall probably check in with their fosters/adopters forever. I don’t know how the amazing volunteers at Lapcats Rescue do this all the time, I would fight a bear for these babies at this point… (but not a skunk).

They “allowed” (not really) us to put them in a “Purrito” in fluffy socks for weighing today and I’ve been sitting next to them working in excel and singing … they haven’t contacted their union rep to complain (yet) and two of them ended up using the litter box right next to the wall of the kitten tent while they could see and hear me. ? Maybe…

05/31/2026

Kittens eating in front of you is a milestone (or so I’ve heard)… Ash made a go for it first and Cinder went for it second… Ember observed but did not partake in front of the human staff 🥰

05/31/2026

Does anyone have peanut butter????

No, seriously… Bradshaw Animal Shelter needs peanut butter!

Call for Peanut Butter!

At Bradshaw, peanut butter-stuffed Kongs are not just a treat for our dogs, they're an important form of kennel enrichment which helps to reduce some of the stress that comes with shelter life. We also use PB in making frozen “popsicle” treats. It’s a simple thing, but a really big deal to our dogs! Any brand of PB will work, just be sure it does not contain xylitol (an artificial sweetener that can be deadly toxic to dogs!). Donations can dropped off or sent to us at 3839 Bradshaw Road, Sacramento, CA 95827. Our dogs thank you!

05/31/2026

Morning 3:
31-May-2026
6am

Cinder investigating treats while I scoop their litter box. Ash & Ember keeping and eye on me stealing the 💩 they so thoroughly buried