Kitty's thread

[sheilarose]

BTW, if Sly tailgates it into neighbours cat flap, does he get trapped in there? 

No, these catflaps work on the basis of keeping the foreigner out (Huh - except for bright, cheeky tailgaters) but allowing free exit unless you deliberately put the lock on which is the same turny wheel physical lock as seen on catmate flaps. So unless Jo next door has hers set to lock, he can get out (once he's checked the place out, obviously!)

Thankfully we have lovely neighbours who appreciate our rescue efforts (the ones they know about anyway)

Our microchip catflap has worked well to keep the neighbours' cats and strays out, and our inappropriate spraying has all but stopped as the boys felt much more secure knowing "Big Spike" can't get in. This was also enhanced when I fox-proofed the back garden. But then we haven't (until now) had a softee gurlie cat to test out the tailgating possibilities (Pursley's a toughie and won't have anyone THAT near her hind quarters  )

Sly was crying to get in here with Kitty this morning so I've relented, given him a good ten minutes runaround with the laser toy, and a handful of Dreamies and he seems quite happy to sit quietly with me now. Kitty has had her breakfast with him looking on and is currently sitting on the floor looking for something to play with. An improvement on yesterday already and its not even 9 O'clock yet.

She doesn't get the laser toy at all. Just stares at it. She likes Dreamies one at a time, but her favourite thing is Valerian. We have tools with which to pull this together, then. 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Am also one who finds boy cats "easier" than gurl cats.  I think all girl cats have a bit of Diva in them somewhere, whereas I think Sheila hits the nail firmly on the head when she says boy cats are happy if the fud turns up and they've somewhere comfy to snooze away the days.     We wimmin are a tricksy lot. 

[Rosella moggy]

Have to agree with Gill.  Boy cats? Pah; eazy peazy  but  watch out for the gurlees 

Poor Sly and Beau   Locked cat flaps aren't appreciated here either 

You'd think, having 8 here, I'd be of some use in offering advice but they've all been so different.  You wouldn't have known Bobby lived anywhere else after a few days and Boris took about a week to wrap everyone around his paws.  He just took no notice when they bashed him on the head; he just mooched up a bit closer    The girl twins however are still spraying at the least minor incident 3 years after they arrived (including the recently well documented FIL's 2 night stay over Christmas)

Spose I'm just saying, tiz early days yet     

BTW, if Sly tailgates it into neighbours cat flap, does he get trapped in there? 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Oh dear this does not sound good and thought Sly was starting to like her................have to say I find boy cats easier than girl cats 

[sheilarose]

Rosella - always more to learn  I'm better with boycats than gurlcats - the boys usually don't give a monkeys where the fud comes from as long as it arrives! Can't be doing with high maintenance females 

Kitty/Puss/Diva/Sue (OH doesn't like Sue, or Suzie or any derivatives thereof, so still no name) has been credited for revealing a new side of Sylvester da Sly - Mr Territorial 

Last night Sly jumped up onto her perch on the hi-fi cupboard and chin marked everything then lifted his tail to squirt! I grabbed him just in time (I managed to step in the litter tray - ugh) but this suggests he is NOT APPI and is expressing his disapproval of the intruder.

Beau also expressed his disgust by peeing on a cushion directly in front of me. This is quite likely to be his disgust at the catflap being locked (sitting room door was open as OH wanted her to have more freedom, remember? So, I'm back in charge of class  ) but whatever the reason, the furry equilibrium is shot to pieces so I'm taking these early negative signs on board and re-thinking.

Therefore, we're back to isolation for a while then will begin the introductions again from scratch - Kitty is much more relaxed when its just us humans in the room, although she didn't seem to be bothered by the antics yesterday - just a guarded alertness, so well done Kitty. At least this initial round of encounters has given me this much

Kitty is pretty bomb proof and happy to stand her ground.
Beau is non-agressive towards her (he's usually Uncle Beau, let's see if he's as good with gurl cats as he is with other boys)
Theo is ambivalent.
Sam wants to chase her up a tree (he chases all gurlcats up trees - it's his only hobby).
Pursley is interested but keeping a demur distance.
Tufty doesn't even notice her.
Chubby may never meet her, he's very remote.
Sly needs careful handling and constant attention - I feel trouble ahead if we don't manage Sly correctly here - I have had reports from my neighbour that he bullies their gurlcat, so much so they had a microchip catflap installed (he's since learned to tailgate her  )

I've opened up the spare bedroom for the residents to spread themselves out while Kitty's monopolising the sitting room. Seems to be a popular move as Chubby and Beau have set up home in there and Sly has taken the power position on the landing carpet over the heating pipes (much disputed piece of ground, this as whomever controls the landing, controls the house!).

Comments, hints and advice always welcome 

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode... 

[Rosella moggy]

Blimey Sheila.  I thought you were an experienced cat slave   

Can't believe you didn't know she'd insist on a red bowl 

Glad to hear of the nuggets arrival.  It's always an excellent sign 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Sounds like Kitty/Puss/Diva/Su is doing very well 

[sheilarose]

OK, feeling a bit better now - that poor dead cat I found yesterday hit me quite hard. My first thought was that it was Tufty - same markings on the body, and she was within his "patch" but she was much smaller and very young. RIP. 

Anyway, Kitty (aka Puss) has had a good 24 hours since I last posted on here. 

Her appetite is back, but only for Felix pouches, must be mashed up and served in mouse sized portions in a red bowl.
Think I'll start calling her Diva. 

She's peeing plenty and yesterday WE GOT NUGGETS so all is well at that end. 

Kitty came to me in the night for headbutts (I was down here on the computer for a while, still upset about the cat from earlier) and she seems to have got over her need to lunge and display aggression, as long as its on her own terms. Sly came in for a while and they've started taking notice of one another. At first not making eye contact, then Sly moved around and she followed him, growling softly, then he pinched a bit of her dinner and she growled a little louder until he stopped eating (I think at her insistence) when she relented. A short game of hide and seek followed which was all very "teenagerish" so I think Sly's charms are working. He does just love those Gurl cats.

Sly let me cuddle him nicely and Kitty was fascinated, so hopefully she's taking notes. I need Sly to know he's still my baby so I'm letting OH be Kittys best Hooman slave 

Think OH is quite enthusiastic now, although he still refuses to call her anything but Puss (he doesn't like the name Kitty either - too impersonal he says    ) he wants her to have a little more freedom in the house, and is talking about introductions to the rest of the gang. He was upset by the dead cat too, he got us a Chinese take-away so I didn't have to cook 
He claims Kitty's been on his knee but I want to see the proof! zx\ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssa67ytu87uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuJ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~89

Thank you for that,  Kitty. I think she might be trying to tell me something, maybe that her name is Su, not Diva or Puss. Anyone got ideas about computer based Cat messages? 

Just received a call from Celia's man, gave him the good news so far. He can't find Kittys card details at present so is going to have another person dig them out for me, now were talking about long term adoption. I need to know her jab dates etc. I'm sure everything is in order but I like to keep these things in check for everyone's sake.

Tata for now.

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

She's gorgeous Sheila  Hope by now you've managed to get her to eat.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Oh she's a beauty, Sheila.     Laughing at your OH though.      (Clever girl, Kitty)

was going to suggest the Felix oddly enough, as it often works to get the eating started, even if it subsequently falls by the wayside..... 

[Anka]

ha ha - lovely little madam with french manicure.....

the look on Kitty's face - "I will get you ALL wrapper around my paw in no time at all and show you who is the BOSS here"

LOL

[funkiechicken]

  what a pretty little thing!!  (give her a white mustache and she'd look like Peanut!)

I m glad she is slowly settling in and showing some signs of affection 

Perhaps like you said, her "handing in" story to CP was not realllly wholllyyyy the truth, do you think?  bless her x
either way, she sounds like she's coming on in leaps and bounds with you all  cant wait to hear how she's doing 

 

[Tiggy's Mum]

What a beautiful girl, I love her nail varnish! 

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

Kitty is gorgeous.    Sounds like you're making excellent progress Sheila.

[emmmy_lou]

She is gorgeous shiela! 
It must be stressful, but seems like its going a lot better now - at least 2 cats got new homes in the end! 

[Rosella moggy]

Oh Sheila.  What a lovely girl    So glad she has eaten.  All sounds extremely encouraging 

Your OH sounds a wee bit like mine.  All gripey grumps at initial suggestion of another puddintat but soft as putty as soon as new set of paws set foot in the house 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

She is very pretty and am sure the Sly will love her 

[sheilarose]

Hello Anka and all, yes I've been busy. Here's the culprit....

I decided to try her out with some cat company, if she's happy with other cats it occurred to me she might be missing furry company, guess what... (Yes Rosella, spot on!)

She's had a small snack tonight, having watched Beau (everybodies friend) pinch a bit of her dinner. Then she found a warm spot (as you can see) and settled down quite nicely.

Sly popped in to say Hello when she was under the cupboard last night and was very good  , he stopped by to have a shuftie tonight and sat quietly on the other side of the room, ate his dreamies then popped off to bed. Kitty's happy to move about the room with both OH and I in, and has headbumped both of us.

We've had no violence at all today, so much so she's allowed me to fit a collar and address tag on her tonight without any fuss at all (she's chipped but not registered to me as she's officially one of Celia's rescues). I don't usually do collars but just in case she gets out. This is unlikely with care, but these things happen even in careful households.

No poop yet, just relieved she's had two wees and eaten a tiny bit, so slowly does it.

Progress - yes, very pleased 

[Rosella moggy]

Very much hope Kitty eats a little soon Sheila.  Terrible worry if they won't eat. 

Just a thought but, if she likes other cats, you may find she will seek human attention if she can see the others enjoying strokes etc which is what our Billy is still like after 5 years.

[Anka]

OMG... I see... I was wondering where YOU are/what is going on..... I see... I see.....

(got a spare room for when your OH tries to put his foot down to any more cats,.. for you not for him - just so we clear LOL)

Photo of Kitty??????

[Dawn F]

hope she settles down soon 

[Tiggy's Mum]

You should know better Sheila, new cat and no pics 

 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

so strange that she isnt eating at all but that should change very soon hopefully.

maybe its just the big upheaval in her little life.

[sheilarose]

So, this morning I find OH has not had a good night's sleep. No, he's been downstairs half the night with Kitty.

Kitty has shown she has an affectionate side, been curled up on his feet while he tapped away on his computer, played with her valerian knotties and was generally sweet as pie for him. Still won't eat, though. OH reports she performs jumping headbutts, same as our other female Pursley, but he is of the opinion she's not much older than a kitten (I think she may be older - much older, maybe even 6 or seven, although she's reported by CH to be around two - still awaiting confirmation from them of her card details).

This morning she's pee'd in the litter tray (Worlds Best multicat litter) and shown how she loves to dig - and dig, and dig. Still won't eat. Has now turned her nose up at:

Whiskas complete (apparently her food of choice from before)
Whiskas Oh so smelly fish
Whiskas chunks in jelly
Applaws dry chicken
Tinned tuna
Cooked fresh chicken
Whiskas milk
Fresh water
WEbbox stick (pink)
Dreamies 

Kitty is constantly focused on getting out of the room into the rest of the house, and she's quick - very quick, so we've employed the services of evil blanket to fan her away from the door when we need to pass through.

Alone with me she's been non-aggressive this morning, but when OH was stroking her back she turned and took a little run at him, didn't make contact but the warning was there. OH reacted correctly by withdrawing hand and ignoring her. This was closely followed by a half hearted lunge at me, but she was successfully distracted by Goldfish onna stick - good toy and valuable training aid. So as far as handling is concerned, little and often seems to be the way forward for now.

She's adopted a vantage point on top of the corner cupboard and seems to be settling for the day. I'll bring her a Felix pouch later (again, another old staple) and see if she'll take some of that, leaving her whiskas complete dry and whiskas oh-so-smelly down so she can eat later if she gets the urge.

Not allowing contact with the gang at all, other than playing footsie under the door, for now. Let her get their scents first, then we can start swapping her blankets and toys with theirs. I'm aiming for introductions later, albeit she's officially here on foster terms, but if the psych evaluation is to hold any water I need to see her reaction to other cats as well, so I intend to do this by the book.

Hope this diary isn't too dull, but it's the best way I have of capturing her behaviour contemporaneously.

Feel free to chip in with advice and observations. 

[sheilarose]

Just so I don't lose any of my observations, I'm opening this thread by way of a diary for Kitty, so this bit is copied from the A Team listing yesterday.




Quote from: sheilarose on Yesterday at 20:35:33

Kitty is here. OH not impressed. She's currently behind the TV. All other furbs have been expelled from the room to enable proper introductions, if appropriate, later on (like next week later).

Apparently she's fine with other cats.

However, need to establish if she's going to like me (and him), as her history has been a little, erhem, violent towards women and kids. Hmm. She's very pretty, and very feisty!

Must go now, scrabbling sounds...




She's come out now OH has gone to bed. She has a huge pink tongue: she licks her nose when she catches me looking at her. Quite a little cat - my smallest by far - probably no more than 3.5 kg at a rough guess. White rear paws, white "fingernails" on her front paws and the tiniest white fleck on her chest, otherwise black as night.

Man from CH was so chuffed I agreed to try her out, she's been taken off their adoption site since the previous owner reported she had been attacking the wife and kids, as she needs to have a psych assessment which CH are just too busy to get underway. The tale goes that she was always Hubby's favourite, but Hubby went away for a few days and when he returned Kitty had gone Postal: ambushing the kids and attacking the Mum - Kitty never recovered her previous good temper. I suspect abuse, or at best a bad reaction to her pining for Hubby.

Her first reaction to me was positive, very positive in fact, but once CH man had gone she went into recluse mode and had a bit of a stab at me when I attempted to move her upstairs to the spare room I've designated for her. So I'm allowing her one night of luxury downstairs she will be amongst the strongest scents of all the family but be least able to damage anything or injure herself if she does go off (and she shouldn't wake OH by scrabbling around in the bedroom next to ours all night).

She's dug a valerian knottie out from under the couch (a bit hairy but never mind) and has discovered catnip Good Girl drops in my slippers. Thought she'd like to get to know me through my clothing first. Let's see if she's wee'd in them by morning.

She's been playing footsie under the door for the last five minutes - think it's Sly on the other side - but it's now preventing me from going to bed - so apologies for the length of this post (and my camera is on the other side too dammit)! Gill, who knows what the others will make of her? That's why I've asked for three weeks with her before making a decision, there's a lot to get over in a short time, but at least she's got half a chance of getting half a psych assessment with us.