Well, it's official. We went back to the animal shelter and completed the rest of the process to officially adopt Charlotte. We had already left a check, now they'll cash it. We have the paperwork from her first vet visit (kitten vaccination & spay) and we'll take it with us when we take her to the vet we've been with since 1992. We also have a certificate for her first rabies vaccination, ultimately covered by the sheriff's department.
We told to call us when they get a batch of kittens that need socializing. Kittens need to be socialized to humans before they're 8 weeks old or they may not adjust to them.
When we go to the vet on Thursday, it will be a double appointment. We want to have the vet check Max. He's pretty deaf, Now, he seems to be losing his sight. And his hips are getting weaker and weaker. But, he still stands up when the car is moving, and he fully expects a ride by 10 or 11 each morning, getting more frantic the later we delay getting out & about. We still have time with him, bit the clock is running down.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
She's a talker
Charlotte is very good at letting us know she wants something. If you're petting her and she meows, it means stop. If you're not petting her, it means she wants some petting. She hasn't yet learned how to differential her meows to mean different things, but that will come.
She has learned that when we've been gone and the garage door opener operates, we will be coming in the kitchen door soon. She meets us there meowing if we don't get in fast enough.
She will also meow to tell us we need to move faster. This is usually when we're coming back in the house, carrying food to her eating station, and so on.
The only really annoying communication method is the early morning wake-up call. Instead of meowing, she pounces on our feet or anything else she feels will get at least one of us out of bed and available to entertain her.
She has learned that when we've been gone and the garage door opener operates, we will be coming in the kitchen door soon. She meets us there meowing if we don't get in fast enough.
She will also meow to tell us we need to move faster. This is usually when we're coming back in the house, carrying food to her eating station, and so on.
The only really annoying communication method is the early morning wake-up call. Instead of meowing, she pounces on our feet or anything else she feels will get at least one of us out of bed and available to entertain her.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
She IS growing
I weighed Charlotte the morning after we got her. She was a whopping 2.8 pounds. This morning she weighed in a 3.2 pounds. That's 0.4 pounds in 2 weeks. As far as I can tell, that's abut right for her stage of development. She's spending more nights with us than not. Most nights she might take a snack/potty break, but comes back. Wake up time, though, is relatively consistent - within 15-20 minutes either side of 7am, but more likely to be before rather than after.
The collar has gone well. The first night I took it off because it wasn't adjusted quite right yet, and it was really bugging her. Last night we left it on and she's just fine. Next step will be the harness.
On "good" mornings, she goes out for a snack/potty break then comes back to purr us awake. On "bad" mornings, she starts pouncing on our feet, shoulders, heads, attacking the curtains, anything on the nightstands, or whatever it takes to get one of us to get out of bed.
Once she's got one (or both) of us out of bed, a frantic, fast-paced romp with a thing-on-a-string-on-a-stick toy (toasoas), or toasoas alternating with laser toy, gets her ready for a snack followed by a nap on a chest or lap. After a bit of time on a person, she'll move to the top of the couch or the table between our seats. After all, she's got to rest up for another exercise session.
She's working her way up to interacting with Max. She's progressed from hissing in the "Halloween cat" position to just assuming the position to sometimes actually touching him on purpose. She still tends to assume the position when he moves or comes close to her. But then, I'll see her touch noses with him at another time.
We've had to change a bathroom habit. We've left our shower curtain closed so it dries nicely and won't develop any moldy spots. It's a heavy clear plastic and Charlotte thinks it's one of her toys. That makes a lot of noise, especially when she wants to play with it at bedtime or early morning. So now, once it's dry we flop it over the rod to keep it out of her reach.
I keep having to remind myself it's only been 2 weeks.
The collar has gone well. The first night I took it off because it wasn't adjusted quite right yet, and it was really bugging her. Last night we left it on and she's just fine. Next step will be the harness.
On "good" mornings, she goes out for a snack/potty break then comes back to purr us awake. On "bad" mornings, she starts pouncing on our feet, shoulders, heads, attacking the curtains, anything on the nightstands, or whatever it takes to get one of us to get out of bed.
Once she's got one (or both) of us out of bed, a frantic, fast-paced romp with a thing-on-a-string-on-a-stick toy (toasoas), or toasoas alternating with laser toy, gets her ready for a snack followed by a nap on a chest or lap. After a bit of time on a person, she'll move to the top of the couch or the table between our seats. After all, she's got to rest up for another exercise session.
She's working her way up to interacting with Max. She's progressed from hissing in the "Halloween cat" position to just assuming the position to sometimes actually touching him on purpose. She still tends to assume the position when he moves or comes close to her. But then, I'll see her touch noses with him at another time.
We've had to change a bathroom habit. We've left our shower curtain closed so it dries nicely and won't develop any moldy spots. It's a heavy clear plastic and Charlotte thinks it's one of her toys. That makes a lot of noise, especially when she wants to play with it at bedtime or early morning. So now, once it's dry we flop it over the rod to keep it out of her reach.
I keep having to remind myself it's only been 2 weeks.
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Charlotte meets the collar and the laser
Yesterday we went to town. While we were down there, we went to a pet store to get a few things for Charlotte. One of them is a carrier - we have a loaner from the animal shelter, but that goes back when we finalize her adoption. We wanted a soft one so it will fold and take up less space in the motorhome when not in use (well, other places too, but we'll spend weeks in the RV again next summer). We also wanted to get one big enough for when she grows up so we don't buy a series of them.
That was the important item, but we also got her a kitten sized collar (the one from the grocery store was beyond too big). I did have to shorten more than once to get it down to her size, and we'll have to keep a close eye on it and adjust frequently as she grows. She went a bit nutso at first, as expected. It was her first experience of having something around her neck for more than a minute or so. She tried to run away from it. She tried to fight it. It still needed a bit of adjustment (still too big) and we didn't want her to get her jaw stuck in it, so we took it off for the night. This morning I tightened it up just a bit more and put it back on her. She only fought it for a couple of minutes, then settled. I think we're OK now. We'll wait a few days before introducing her to the harness.
And ... the laser pointer! Her interest waned after a while, but we really had her going with the new laser pointer toy. If she doesn't decide to ignore it, we'll try it to wear her out before bedtime. Last night we (actually, Tom never got a chance to play with it) played with it too soon. She chased it like crazy, then took a long nap. Big mistake. When we went to bed she'd gotten a second wind and was ready to attack toes, climb the curtain over our heads, hang from the edge of the mattress near our heads, and so on. I even had to go back into the bathroom and flip the shower curtain over the rod to keep her from tearing it to shreds (and keeping us awake). Eventually, she did settle, but it took a while, and she was so wound up that moving her off the curtain/mattress/quilt resulted in some scratches and bites, one of which was sort of deep. So, tonight, whether it's the pointer or the thing-on-a-string-on-a-stick, we'll try to exercise her closer to our bed time.
Now, of course, she's on the table between the seats on our double recliner, napping to be ready for the next wild spell.
That was the important item, but we also got her a kitten sized collar (the one from the grocery store was beyond too big). I did have to shorten more than once to get it down to her size, and we'll have to keep a close eye on it and adjust frequently as she grows. She went a bit nutso at first, as expected. It was her first experience of having something around her neck for more than a minute or so. She tried to run away from it. She tried to fight it. It still needed a bit of adjustment (still too big) and we didn't want her to get her jaw stuck in it, so we took it off for the night. This morning I tightened it up just a bit more and put it back on her. She only fought it for a couple of minutes, then settled. I think we're OK now. We'll wait a few days before introducing her to the harness.
And ... the laser pointer! Her interest waned after a while, but we really had her going with the new laser pointer toy. If she doesn't decide to ignore it, we'll try it to wear her out before bedtime. Last night we (actually, Tom never got a chance to play with it) played with it too soon. She chased it like crazy, then took a long nap. Big mistake. When we went to bed she'd gotten a second wind and was ready to attack toes, climb the curtain over our heads, hang from the edge of the mattress near our heads, and so on. I even had to go back into the bathroom and flip the shower curtain over the rod to keep her from tearing it to shreds (and keeping us awake). Eventually, she did settle, but it took a while, and she was so wound up that moving her off the curtain/mattress/quilt resulted in some scratches and bites, one of which was sort of deep. So, tonight, whether it's the pointer or the thing-on-a-string-on-a-stick, we'll try to exercise her closer to our bed time.
Now, of course, she's on the table between the seats on our double recliner, napping to be ready for the next wild spell.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Every other night
Charlotte seems to be developing a pattern of spending every other night with us. Where she sleeps on the in-between nights is anyone's guess. On those mornings she tends to come in some time around 7, give or take about 15 minutes and either perch on a neck and purr loudly or start attacking feet. As soon as one or both of us is out of bed, she seems to feel she's done her job and the next thing on her agenda is a wild game of thing-on-a-string-on-a-stick, interspersed with snacks. She likes it even better if we run the toy up on the couch, the stairs, the piles or anything else above the floor level. Once she's had enough of this, she's ready for one more snack, then a nice long nap on a chest. In all honesty, most of that long nap is on my chest. Tom does get some of her nap time.
As I write this, her head is tucked along my chin & cheek and she is draped down my chest and belly. This is one of her favorite sleep positions. Almost always, she's got some part hanging low. At lease she's learned how far she can hang without falling off her perch. But, when she's on or next to one of us she likes her face near ours. And what a purr machine.
As I write this, her head is tucked along my chin & cheek and she is draped down my chest and belly. This is one of her favorite sleep positions. Almost always, she's got some part hanging low. At lease she's learned how far she can hang without falling off her perch. But, when she's on or next to one of us she likes her face near ours. And what a purr machine.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Crazy Kitten
Sometimes Charlotte is the quiet, loving, lap warmer kitty. Other times she's the wild & crazy streak of gray from one end of the house to the other and back again. Which is to say ... she's a kitten. We got her one of those "Pull n Play" toys. You pull a string off the main treat and thread it through the "ears" of the "Wobbert" toy. You also put some dry treats in the bottom so they will fall out when the toy is tipped over correctly. In just a few days she's learned that when it rattles there might be treats. The sound will stop her in her tracks.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Charlotte
I've decided to restart posting on this blog. I doubt many will check it, but, what the heck!
A week ago we adopted a kitten from our local animal shelter. It had been a little over 2 years since we had to put down our previous cat, Charlie. I was more than ready to have a kitty and I had apparently worn down Tom. He tends to refer to Charlotte as "Debbie's kitty". Not to say she isn't, but she does spend time with both of us. That was something Charlie didn't do for a long time.
Charlotte is one of 2 survivors from a litter of 5 kittens that were found in the corner of a greenhouse. At the shelter they think the kittens had distemper. If that is true (they didn't test for it), she's immune. We'll make sure she gets all her shots, regardless. We'll also get her chipped so we have the best chance of getting her back home if she strays. It's all the more important since she'll be a traveler with us. We'll have to arrange a tag for the summer, as we did with Max last summer.
She's all smoke gray at first glance. But, when the light is right she has silver accents from her under coat. And she has amber eyes. Other times, the light will show her nearly invisible stripes, which are a little darker than her main dark gray. We've not found even one white hair on her. Her nose is dark gray and her lips are almost purple since they have a gray tint to them.
In her week with us, she has slept through the night, mostly on our bed. She is beginning to learn her name. She eats small meals many times a day rather than bolting large amounts of food. She's never missed the litter box. She's learned to pull in her claws when she knows she's going to contact skin. She's learned the sound of the garage door opener means we're either leaving (we suppose) or (we're sure) that we've returned. She meets us at the door, crying softly to remind us she doesn't really like being home alone.
A week ago we adopted a kitten from our local animal shelter. It had been a little over 2 years since we had to put down our previous cat, Charlie. I was more than ready to have a kitty and I had apparently worn down Tom. He tends to refer to Charlotte as "Debbie's kitty". Not to say she isn't, but she does spend time with both of us. That was something Charlie didn't do for a long time.
Charlotte is one of 2 survivors from a litter of 5 kittens that were found in the corner of a greenhouse. At the shelter they think the kittens had distemper. If that is true (they didn't test for it), she's immune. We'll make sure she gets all her shots, regardless. We'll also get her chipped so we have the best chance of getting her back home if she strays. It's all the more important since she'll be a traveler with us. We'll have to arrange a tag for the summer, as we did with Max last summer.
She's all smoke gray at first glance. But, when the light is right she has silver accents from her under coat. And she has amber eyes. Other times, the light will show her nearly invisible stripes, which are a little darker than her main dark gray. We've not found even one white hair on her. Her nose is dark gray and her lips are almost purple since they have a gray tint to them.
In her week with us, she has slept through the night, mostly on our bed. She is beginning to learn her name. She eats small meals many times a day rather than bolting large amounts of food. She's never missed the litter box. She's learned to pull in her claws when she knows she's going to contact skin. She's learned the sound of the garage door opener means we're either leaving (we suppose) or (we're sure) that we've returned. She meets us at the door, crying softly to remind us she doesn't really like being home alone.
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