About a year ago, as you may recall, Nighean Dhonn came home from walking Poppy the Brave and reported that she had seen a small kitten running around. We went out and caught him after a bit of chase and, after a bit of negotiation with the Internal Powers That Be, kept him.
A- After a few days of being a little alarmed and grumpy - came to adapt to being one of us.
Over the last year, he has learned to observe the world:
Make friends with siblings:
Try to find commonalities with those different from him:
He is still a kitten in a lot of ways: for example, it was an unfortunate decision to buy new furniture this year, and he still insists that 0400 in the morning is a perfect time for everyone to wake up. But, on the whole, we are very glad he is here.
We are about two weeks in introducing a young kitten into a three cat household. A little hissing and growling from the old cat, but curiosity from the younger cat. They appear to be future fast friends, at least we hope so.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - We have talked - perhaps a bit idly - about getting a second cat. He misses someone that plays like him: he is a bit tough rough for the rabbits and although Poppy the Brave will play with him, she can overwhelm him with her size.
DeleteCongratulations on the new addition!
The best one I saw was, “Cats don’t spread Covid, but would if they could.”
ReplyDelete😂👍
Indeed Glen. Or "How do you know the world is not flat? If it were, cats would have pushed everything off it."
DeleteAs it is with most felines I have known, it looks like he owns the place.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly thinks he does. Poppy goes along with it. The rabbits, however, have other understandings...
DeleteAwww... what a great post for starting out my Monday. We have many dogs, so I only have grand-cats.
ReplyDeleteKelly, we had cats for many years but after our last old man passed away right after we moved in 2009, we have not had one since. In this case it was more of "someone needing a home" rather than a choice per se - like most locals, pet shelters are flooded (for a brief time we were worried he was feral, which would have made his chances worse). However, he had a couple factors going for him: He was cute and (by the time The Ravishing Mrs. TB got back from her trip) rather friendly, and he was already house trained.
DeleteHe's so sweet! I'm so glad he gets along with the rest of the pack! :)
ReplyDeleteHe is sweet Rain - or rather, he can be sweet. By far, he is the biggest creator of issues around here.
DeleteI forgot about this little guy! He has grown into a beautiful cat. So nice to see him happy and feeling at home.
ReplyDeleteThank you Leigh. Overall we could not ask for a better cat companion, although his early morning "knocking" and furniture experimentation drive us to distraction some time.
DeleteYou did a good thing, but I must ask why did you put a collar on him? I have a small ceramic plaque hanging in my dining room that reads "Cats always know just how you are feeling. They don't care, but they know"
ReplyDeleteTewshooz - Three reasons really:
Delete1) It has proved helpful in corraling him (he has gotten out once or twice and, like Poppy The Brave (also known as Poppy the Runaway Artist), it helps;
2) It has a bell to let us know where he is. Especially when he was younger, he tended to get underfoot easily because he was silent.
3) In the (unlikely) event that we have to actually put his rabies tag on, we have a place to put it.
It is a breakaway collar (in fact, it broke away yesterday evening and we got it back on).
I agree with your plaque. I will say that he is one of the more affectionate cats (again, when he wants to be of course...).
I expect you have already neutered him? Have you tried trimming his claws? You do have several scracthing pads and posts? This will often deter them from furniture.
ReplyDeleteAnd when that doesn't work, double stick tape often does as they don't like sticking to it.
Of course that's water under the bridge now, I suppose.
He is a good looking cat. :)
Sorry if you get this twice. It said it was published but I never hit send...
Linda - He is in fact neutered.
DeleteWe try to trim his claws from time to time and yes, he has a huge scratching structure and a catio with carpet, but still likes the furniture best of all - maybe from the reaction he gets if nothing else. The Ravishing Mrs. TB got some plastic things for the side of the couch, so we will try that.
Thank you. He is a rather dashing.
The power of napping is one of the lesser superpowers.
ReplyDeleteJohn, my Brother in Law has that power. He has the power to sleep in the middle of a family gathering. Immediately and deeply. Me, I hear the spiders crawling across the bird feeder 10 feet away...
DeleteWe used to have shredded furniture until we discovered that cats leave leather furniture alone. It was all the justification we needed to go that route. In the long run it paid off (sigh)
ReplyDelete