owlmoose | more on kitties

We got the kittens home around 2pm. Spent some time hanging out with them in the downstairs bathroom. By the third time I was in, they were both out of the carrier, wandering around, and boy kitty was already asking to explore some more. So we opened the bathroom door. They are both quite nervous, and a bit skittish around us if we move too quickly or make too much noise, and they are cautious about venturing too far into the house. But I think they are getting used to us and settling in. They both arch up and push into my hand when I pet them, rather than shrinking away. Boy kitty is rather bolder than girl kitty. He's also more vocal -- he has a high-pitched squeak which seems to pass for a meow. Girl kitty occaaionally makes this weird rumbling noise that sounds rather like a growl, but her body language doesn't indicate unhappiness when she makes it.

This shoelace is a big hit.

The litter box may be an issue; I caught girl kitty peeing on the bathmat, when the box was only few steps away. I dumped her in the box with minimal trauma, I think, but I don't want to set up bad patterns. They're spending tonight shut up in the downstairs bathroom, just for everyone's peace of mind, but we can't do that forever. T is already worrying; I say let's see how tonight goes before we flip. They've just been through a serious trauma, after all, despite how well they seem to be holding up. Being taken suddenly from the only home you've ever known is bound to disrupt anyone's toilet habits.

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Gently placing the little one in the box when it is misbehaving is unlikely to cause any trauma. One note - did you supply them with the type of litter they are accustomed to? Sometimes wee ones do not recognize a different texture as litter. There are so many kinds these days.

Have a happy day with the newbies. :)

It's not exactly the same brand but it's very similar in texture and type. There are an awful lot out there now, aren't there?

I'm sure I will enjoy my day with them. :) Thanks!

MC is trying to use me for a mouthpiece too. LOL He has asked I remind you that you are in effect the mama cat now and the little ones will look to you for both discipline and guidance. He has raised so many litters both with and without the assistance of an actual cat mama, he knows his stuff. Discipline must be applied immediately and should be firm and reasonably gentle. Real cats usually slap their misbehaving offspring across the nose. The human approximation of this technique is to squeeze two or three fingers together and use that to lightly strike down across the tip of the nose. Like most human children, your feline infants will feel more secure and happier if they are firmly shown right from wrong. We watched Prudence train Charity and it was a joy to see how the little one tried to follow the instructions of her teacher. How is your meowing and spitting? ;-)

It is perilously easy for a doting human to become a kitty toy and lose that position of leader and chief disciplinarian. This can readily lead to cat who are obnoxious, who scratch and behave in various unsocialble ways. Not all cats are prone to this but it is hard to tell which is which until they are grown and it is too late. Remember, you de mama! An' if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

One last tip from MC - not before the children are six to eight months old, you might try catnip. He believes the only brand worth buying is Cosmic Catnip. It is very strong and appeals to most of the felines with which he has lived. OK - that's enough. Brace yourself, though. He just purely loves to hand out advice. LOL

Thank MC for me; some of this I knew, but not all. I can meow pretty well, but I may have to work on the spitting. :)

Brace yourself, though. He just purely loves to hand out advice.

So I surmised. ;) Maybe he needs his own account!

Maybe he needs his own account!

He says he does not have that much to say. Hah!

I was going to suggest that maybe she was too small to get into the litter box, because I had that problem with Taisha when I got her years ago. I had a dome litter box and the entrance was too high for her so she piddled everywhere else.

Then again, they look like they are big enough to get into the litter box. When I got these three, I used a phone book as a step for them so they could get in better and I had no trouble.

I know this probably didn't help, but good luck! I love that grey one, the markings are so pretty on her!

Actually, I hadn't thought of that. Black kitty is certainly big enough but gray kitty is borderline. She *can* get in the box but it might be a it of a challenge for her, so why make it difficult? I'll try the phone book thing. Thanks!

And I agree, the silver tabby coloring is really lovely. :)

Sure! Having raised three kittens, each with quirks of their own; I would like to help in any way that I can. When I first got Bailey, this other woman from work got two kittens about the same age at the same time, and we basically fed off of each other and compared notes on the different ways we handled things. It's always nice to have people around that know. You seem to have many here, that is a great thing! ;)

The type of litter might definitely be the problem... Jazzi refused to use the litter box for several days when I changed they type of litter when they were kittens.

Also, I am sure you have hear this, particularly from me, but don't use clumping clay litter for kittens. The one time I tried it, my guys ate it and were sick for a week.

They used clumping litter in their foster home, and I used it with Nadia when she was a kitten. So I think we're okay there.

The litter isn't the exact same brand, but it's similar. That's a change they should get used to, right? If giving her a stepstool or changing a few other things doesn't fix it, though, I'll see if I can find out what exact brand they had before.

Find out the other brand now. Don't wait. You don't want to start bad patterns. And they can be really sensitive. You don't have kitty paws or nose, so you won't know what she's confused by/objecting to. If it's not one you want to stick with, slowly start mixing in the brand you want to move to.

T actually wrote the foster father last night and he got back to us with lots of good suggestions. Turns out the litter brand he was using is one of the types we used to use for Nadia and we still have most of a box. So we'll mix it in together, see how that goes.

So here's the complicating factor. Kitty boy is using the box quite happily, no issues. What if we turn everything upside down in order to get the girl to use it and turn him off in the process?

If he's happy with it now, he's less picky than she is and should be fine.

If she keeps it up, you may also want to try getting her her own litter box. It sounds as if they were sharing happily before, but perhaps in a new place she needs a little more security/ independence.

There will definitely be two litter boxes eventually, one upstairs and one downstairs. Just so they don't have to travel.

I just noticed that every single userpic in a comment to this entry is a picture of an animal. (I almost said "a cat", but then I looked again and saw the a spider upthread.)

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