About two weeks ago I looked out the window by my desk and noticed a new addition to the menagie in our walled garden at work, a small, gray tiger cat. Not a kitten, just small. When I went out to feed the squirrels later, he ran. A few days following that he reappeared on the second floor porch where a co-worker feeds our two yard cats. Again, he ran.
One day, she was out so I fed them. He was sleeping in the shelter so, food in hand, I told him to come say hi. Wow was I surprised when he did. I stayed out with him while he ate. He kept taking breaks for more petting. The next day I introduced him to my co-workers and ever since he came every time one of us opened the door.
The thought of him possibly getting hit in the street broke my heart. After much soul-searching and debate, not to mention consultation with my boys, I decided to offer him a home, after a stop at the vet for a check up and neutering of course.
I'll post better pictures later when things calm down enough for me to take some but this will give you an idea. I've included one of Harry, standing guard.
One day, she was out so I fed them. He was sleeping in the shelter so, food in hand, I told him to come say hi. Wow was I surprised when he did. I stayed out with him while he ate. He kept taking breaks for more petting. The next day I introduced him to my co-workers and ever since he came every time one of us opened the door.
The thought of him possibly getting hit in the street broke my heart. After much soul-searching and debate, not to mention consultation with my boys, I decided to offer him a home, after a stop at the vet for a check up and neutering of course.
Sounds good, right? Wrong. That simple trip to the vet was the beginning of high drama in my household that is still being resolved. First, the kitty had a bite on his paw. With no way of knowing if he'd ever had shots there's always the risk, no matter how slight, of rabies. Problem - no place to quarantine him in my house and, due to Mouse's seizures, no current rabies shot for Mouse. Mouse, under much protest from him, now has a current shot. The seizure trigger is more from the distemper vaccination than the rabies so after discussion with my regular vet instead of the mean associate (that's another blog) I opted to have him get it. Now I'm the only one we have to worry about but I had a quick lesson on what to watch for so I'm not overly concerned.
Now for the real problem...Harry. I hadn't anticipated his reaction. Harry is generally mellow, silly, easy going, playful. You get what I mean. He's an overgrown kitten. Apparently, he likes being the kitten in the house. As soon as Quinn, that's the new baby's name, Quinn was released from the carrier, Harry started making these noises that I had no idea he even knew how to
make. He kept poor Quinn pinned to the front door for two hours until I finally chased Harry away long enough to show Quinn where the litter box and water dish were.
With much growling from Harry and hissing from Mouse because Quinn smelled like the vet's, they had a snack, all at the wrong spots but I'll worry about explaining to Quinn that he has his own set of bowls some other time. Then Harry went back to growling. And yowling. And I don't even know how to describe the sounds other than to say he closely resembled the sounds made by a hump-back whale during mating season. Mouse, who I expected to be the problem spent the evening on the sofa next to me, watching this performance. I swear I heard him laughing several times.
It was quiet when I got up this morning. I think Harry lost his voice somewhere after the women won the volleyball game. Oh and Bixby? He tried to say hello but Harry got so upset that he gave up trying and went to take a nap.
Now for the real problem...Harry. I hadn't anticipated his reaction. Harry is generally mellow, silly, easy going, playful. You get what I mean. He's an overgrown kitten. Apparently, he likes being the kitten in the house. As soon as Quinn, that's the new baby's name, Quinn was released from the carrier, Harry started making these noises that I had no idea he even knew how to
make. He kept poor Quinn pinned to the front door for two hours until I finally chased Harry away long enough to show Quinn where the litter box and water dish were.With much growling from Harry and hissing from Mouse because Quinn smelled like the vet's, they had a snack, all at the wrong spots but I'll worry about explaining to Quinn that he has his own set of bowls some other time. Then Harry went back to growling. And yowling. And I don't even know how to describe the sounds other than to say he closely resembled the sounds made by a hump-back whale during mating season. Mouse, who I expected to be the problem spent the evening on the sofa next to me, watching this performance. I swear I heard him laughing several times.
It was quiet when I got up this morning. I think Harry lost his voice somewhere after the women won the volleyball game. Oh and Bixby? He tried to say hello but Harry got so upset that he gave up trying and went to take a nap.
I'll post better pictures later when things calm down enough for me to take some but this will give you an idea. I've included one of Harry, standing guard.
9 comments:
"...long enough to show Quinn where the litter box and water dish were."
More importantly does the cat understand? if so can they be trained to clean the house? Think of the potential. You would have a pet and a cleaner
Oh such a cute cat.
Humpback whale? Funny that is what my cat sounds like while driving in the car. Must be a
secret code of some sort.
Kim
He's adorable.
What you describe sounds normal. After a bit, the older cats will calm down and they'll probably become the best of friends.
Very cute cat. We need another cat. Ours is over eight years old and is slowing down. My wife says we need a transition cat so if something happens to Chang we won't be without a cat. We've had at least one cat since we moved to Virginia.
Once we were given a cat by a realtor who found her in an empty house in our neighborhood. Our cat was from the same litter and both of them looked alike. I don't know if the people who moved out just left the kitty or if she just found a way in and couldn't get out.
Ray
Ahhh Quinn is darling. Hope Harry gets over this.
He's a beauty, Barbara. From the pics he looks nice and healthy. Thanks for posting. One of my buds introduced a kitten into the household that had been only her and her dog for seven years. The first 24 hrs was hell now the dog and cat are best of friends. The dog even uses the litter box:)
Good for you in taking Quinn home!! He needed a home where someone understood kitts.
ROFLMAO! ..."closely resembled the sounds of a humpback whale during mating season."
We went through this when my kids brought home 'Fluffy', a tiny, quiet, undernourished kitten that no one claimed. So we kept her. But after some food in her system, and a lot of love, our Alpha Female, Gizmo, barely tolerated her, and raised the same issues as Harry! Giz was 6 years old and preferred to be the only girl in the bunch, not to mention since we'd added a dog six months earlier. She tolerated Shadow, but tried to bully Fluff-Puff. And when we moved to the country two months later, Giz demonstrated her unhappiness by refusing to use the same litterbox. And nine months later, both she and Fluff mysteriously disappeared. We wondered if the boys had sent them outside to solve their problem or to see if the rumors regarding the mountain lion in the woods was true. Since they failed to return, the 3 boys stayed close to home, and lived to a ripe old age of 14, 13, and 12.
Harry looks so PISSED. LOL.
I'm glad everything worked out with the vet. See, I told you that wench didn't know what she was talking about.
Quinn looks fantastic. I'm so happy you got to bring him home.
XoXoXo
D
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