HARMONY
Photo by Fleming
Showing posts with label kitten. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kitten. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Intermission: Kitten Report
For those who took an interest in the kitten, Star, here’s a report. The story began with the April 28 post, “A New Life”.
The hope that Star would become a companion for lonely Lovey was happily fulfilled, as you can see from the progression of pictures. (Click to enlarge.)
FROM HERE
TO HERE
Star is definitely still a kitten although she has grown from 1 pound to over 3 pounds. She still runs squealing to her humans wanting to be picked up and held, but now she also rubs against legs in passing and arches her back if stroked.
As always, she’s constantly in action except when she’s asleep – which is more than she used to be. She disappears in late morning and sleeps for two or three hours. In early May she would fall asleep often, but not long; she would be playing wildly and then her eyes would start to droop and fifteen seconds later she’d be sound asleep – for about 10 minutes.
Only in the past few days has she begun to lie down wide awake and just watch things.
Her body seems to grow one part at a time – looking one morning as if her front end has been jacked up overnight, and the next day as if her hinds legs have grown longer to keep up with her front legs, bringing her noticeably higher off the ground than she was a couple of days before. Her body then catches up by lengthening from nose to tail. Sometimes you can almost watch her head growing bigger too, and her little kitten eyes looking more like cat eyes.
I think her sequence of behavior changes are all instinctive: She began licking a paw and cleaning her face with it for the first time a few days ago, and then she began grooming her fur with her tongue, “giving herself a bath”. Only in the past week has she thought of pulling her claws on rugs and discovered chasing her own tail.
When she was very small she spent most of her time biting on things and exploring. Now batting and chasing balls, wads of paper, a hair curler, anything that skids or rolls, has become a major occupation. Several of her toys were found in her food dish, others lined neatly up at the base of a wall.
One of her longer term projects has been to get up on things she couldn’t attain before. Originally she depended on squealing to humans and jumping onto their ankles to be elevated to higher places. Her first attempts at climbing were without much success. She used to dangle from the sides of chairs kicking her hind feet uselessly, but with a little more growth she has managed to scramble all the way up, and now she jumps from the floor right into a chair or a lap.
The biggest recent development is her interest in climbing the palm trees by the pool and using the little palm tree trunk as nature's scratching post. It has already been well worn down by previous cats.
FIND THE KITTEN
Meanwhile dear Lovey watches her with endless fond fascination and has revived some kitten antics of his own. He spends a lot of time playing peek-a-boo and wrestling with Star . . . while her specialty is ambushing him from behind chairs or doors. I think he usually knows where she’s lying in wait, but he indulges her and pretends to be caught unaware.
Star remains the star of the house. The pleasures of living with her as she grows from a tiny kitten are among the greatest of my life.
PHOTOGRAPHER'S ASSISTANT
YAWN
PEACE
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS by FLEMING except "TO HERE" by Julia.
The hope that Star would become a companion for lonely Lovey was happily fulfilled, as you can see from the progression of pictures. (Click to enlarge.)
FROM HERE
TO HERE
Star is definitely still a kitten although she has grown from 1 pound to over 3 pounds. She still runs squealing to her humans wanting to be picked up and held, but now she also rubs against legs in passing and arches her back if stroked.
As always, she’s constantly in action except when she’s asleep – which is more than she used to be. She disappears in late morning and sleeps for two or three hours. In early May she would fall asleep often, but not long; she would be playing wildly and then her eyes would start to droop and fifteen seconds later she’d be sound asleep – for about 10 minutes.
Only in the past few days has she begun to lie down wide awake and just watch things.
Her body seems to grow one part at a time – looking one morning as if her front end has been jacked up overnight, and the next day as if her hinds legs have grown longer to keep up with her front legs, bringing her noticeably higher off the ground than she was a couple of days before. Her body then catches up by lengthening from nose to tail. Sometimes you can almost watch her head growing bigger too, and her little kitten eyes looking more like cat eyes.
I think her sequence of behavior changes are all instinctive: She began licking a paw and cleaning her face with it for the first time a few days ago, and then she began grooming her fur with her tongue, “giving herself a bath”. Only in the past week has she thought of pulling her claws on rugs and discovered chasing her own tail.
When she was very small she spent most of her time biting on things and exploring. Now batting and chasing balls, wads of paper, a hair curler, anything that skids or rolls, has become a major occupation. Several of her toys were found in her food dish, others lined neatly up at the base of a wall.
One of her longer term projects has been to get up on things she couldn’t attain before. Originally she depended on squealing to humans and jumping onto their ankles to be elevated to higher places. Her first attempts at climbing were without much success. She used to dangle from the sides of chairs kicking her hind feet uselessly, but with a little more growth she has managed to scramble all the way up, and now she jumps from the floor right into a chair or a lap.
The biggest recent development is her interest in climbing the palm trees by the pool and using the little palm tree trunk as nature's scratching post. It has already been well worn down by previous cats.
FIND THE KITTEN
Meanwhile dear Lovey watches her with endless fond fascination and has revived some kitten antics of his own. He spends a lot of time playing peek-a-boo and wrestling with Star . . . while her specialty is ambushing him from behind chairs or doors. I think he usually knows where she’s lying in wait, but he indulges her and pretends to be caught unaware.
Star remains the star of the house. The pleasures of living with her as she grows from a tiny kitten are among the greatest of my life.
PHOTOGRAPHER'S ASSISTANT
YAWN
PEACE
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS by FLEMING except "TO HERE" by Julia.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Continuing Story of Star and Lovey
Not long ago they were strangers. Now they are inseparable.
The setting needs a little explanation: The living room of our home is separated by a glass sliding door from a glassed-in back porch. Beyond the porch is the screened pool area separated from the porch by sliding glass doors and a cat door. Although we eat lunch on the porch and swim in the pool, that area is the Kingdom of Cats. There they roam, eat, sleep, and have their litter boxes.
Once there were four felines in the Kingdom of Cats. When only Lovey remained, Star, five weeks old and motherless, was brought to be his companion. She had to live and grow mainly in my computer room for two weeks, gradually being introduced to Lovey and the rest of the house.
As you can see from previously posted pictures, once she and Lovey became friends their favorite sports became “Peekaboo” and “Ambush” under and around the striped sheet draped over the lounge chair on the porch. It soon came to pass that Lovey would be sitting on the porch side of the glass door at dawn, waiting for Star to be let out. Sometimes he wailed. Star would station herself on the living room side of the door. Star would mew for Lovey when she saw him through the glass. When the door was opened, “Peekaboo,” “Ambush” and wrestling instantly began and might continue for a couple of hours nonstop.
Star seems to grow in sections. First she suddenly got higher off the ground as her legs became longer. Then she seemed to gain about an inch in length overnight. Then it was the turn of her legs again. In the time she’s been here she has doubled in size and weight (almost 2 pounds now) and has progressively manifested cat behavior which no one taught her: From running and biting and wanting to be held all the time to leaping sidewise, arching her back, batting things around the floor and off my desk. The desire to climb everything became more and more obvious, and then jumping -- leaping longer and longer distances, until within the past 48 hours she has jumped onto things and off of things that were previously way beyond her range. No table top is safe now. Lovey no longer has high refuges from which to look down on her. Star simply jumps and scrambles until she is beside him, no matter where he goes.
Only very recently did she begin to clean and groom herself as adult cats do – licking her paws and washing her face. I suppose that until now the mother cat would have done the kitten-cleaning jobs, but now, at eight weeks, Star is becoming independent. Bets are being placed as to how soon she’ll overcome the last obstacle to freedom – discovering and learning to use the cat door which leads from the porch to the pool deck. She has been on the pool deck and has explored the potted plants, but only if the sliding door is opened. Her obsession with the water has, hopefully, been dampened since her precarious explorations of the deck’s edge led to her rear legs dropping momentarily into the pool.
Star has, for the first time, spent the last two nights on the porch with Lovey instead of shut in the house. They’re both very happy about that. It didn’t take her long to get into his food and his litter box and prove she was old enough to handle both, and so today my room ceased being a nursery and became my den and computer room again as Star’s things were placed on the porch and a major cleaning took place. Star still comes into the house when she pleases, taking naps on a Julia’s recliner in the living room or playing on the shiny kitchen floor, but she is moving more and more toward a life on the porch and pool deck with Lovey.
Here are a few choice pictures of the little beauty taken by Julia Lee, copyright 2007.
The Art Critic
Those toes are made for bitin'
And that's just what I'll do.
One of these days those toes
Are gonna come right offa' you!
All photographs copyrighted 2007 by Julia Lee, who also wrote the toe-biting song.
The setting needs a little explanation: The living room of our home is separated by a glass sliding door from a glassed-in back porch. Beyond the porch is the screened pool area separated from the porch by sliding glass doors and a cat door. Although we eat lunch on the porch and swim in the pool, that area is the Kingdom of Cats. There they roam, eat, sleep, and have their litter boxes.
Once there were four felines in the Kingdom of Cats. When only Lovey remained, Star, five weeks old and motherless, was brought to be his companion. She had to live and grow mainly in my computer room for two weeks, gradually being introduced to Lovey and the rest of the house.
As you can see from previously posted pictures, once she and Lovey became friends their favorite sports became “Peekaboo” and “Ambush” under and around the striped sheet draped over the lounge chair on the porch. It soon came to pass that Lovey would be sitting on the porch side of the glass door at dawn, waiting for Star to be let out. Sometimes he wailed. Star would station herself on the living room side of the door. Star would mew for Lovey when she saw him through the glass. When the door was opened, “Peekaboo,” “Ambush” and wrestling instantly began and might continue for a couple of hours nonstop.
Star seems to grow in sections. First she suddenly got higher off the ground as her legs became longer. Then she seemed to gain about an inch in length overnight. Then it was the turn of her legs again. In the time she’s been here she has doubled in size and weight (almost 2 pounds now) and has progressively manifested cat behavior which no one taught her: From running and biting and wanting to be held all the time to leaping sidewise, arching her back, batting things around the floor and off my desk. The desire to climb everything became more and more obvious, and then jumping -- leaping longer and longer distances, until within the past 48 hours she has jumped onto things and off of things that were previously way beyond her range. No table top is safe now. Lovey no longer has high refuges from which to look down on her. Star simply jumps and scrambles until she is beside him, no matter where he goes.
Only very recently did she begin to clean and groom herself as adult cats do – licking her paws and washing her face. I suppose that until now the mother cat would have done the kitten-cleaning jobs, but now, at eight weeks, Star is becoming independent. Bets are being placed as to how soon she’ll overcome the last obstacle to freedom – discovering and learning to use the cat door which leads from the porch to the pool deck. She has been on the pool deck and has explored the potted plants, but only if the sliding door is opened. Her obsession with the water has, hopefully, been dampened since her precarious explorations of the deck’s edge led to her rear legs dropping momentarily into the pool.
Star has, for the first time, spent the last two nights on the porch with Lovey instead of shut in the house. They’re both very happy about that. It didn’t take her long to get into his food and his litter box and prove she was old enough to handle both, and so today my room ceased being a nursery and became my den and computer room again as Star’s things were placed on the porch and a major cleaning took place. Star still comes into the house when she pleases, taking naps on a Julia’s recliner in the living room or playing on the shiny kitchen floor, but she is moving more and more toward a life on the porch and pool deck with Lovey.
Here are a few choice pictures of the little beauty taken by Julia Lee, copyright 2007.
The Art Critic
Those toes are made for bitin'
And that's just what I'll do.
One of these days those toes
Are gonna come right offa' you!
All photographs copyrighted 2007 by Julia Lee, who also wrote the toe-biting song.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Kitten Meets Pool Monster
That is Elegant Twinkle Star on the left, but that is not big cat Detective Inspector Lovey on the right. Never mind who that is on the right.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Feline Philosophy
STAR WITH JULIA A WEEK AGO
If you’ve kept up with this blog at all, you know that it focuses on philosophical, spiritual, psychic, and psychological questions, most of which can’t be answered but are important to many people and interesting to speculate about. Things like “What is the ultimate Source or God?”, “What happens when we die?”, “What is the nature of time and our perception of it?”, “What is ‘reality’, and is there more than one reality?”
Questions like that are constantly barging into my mind even if I haven’t invited them. I’ve always had a great thirst to know the ultimate nature of things – not so much how things work, but rather origins, first principles. My mother said that when I was a small child and she was reading to me, I kept interrupting her with, “Why?”
Well, last weekend I suddenly realized, with real surprise, that for once I was not asking those questions, even when I was lying in bed at night or at dawn. It became apparent that my mental processes had changed: Those riddles and speculations had quietly folded their tents and disappeared, leaving me with a strange feeling of lightness and freedom, like a general going to the top of a hill in the morning and finding the opposing army gone.
Why did that happen? (Note that my first reaction to an absence of questions is to ask a question!) After a few hours the answer came: It was due to the furry mite you see in the picture above. The then 6 week old kitten had made my computer room her home since we brought her from her rescuer, and I had been with her there during most of the daylight hours for a week. Her food, litter box, toys, and bed were in my room, to which she was restricted until it seemed safer for her to explore the whole house and meet the big cat.
Naturally she saw the nearest human as her mother, as well as a substitute for her brothers and sisters, and so I was treated to endless antics as well as number of minor puncture wounds on my hands, feet, ankles and legs. She cantered, galloped, bounced across the room sideways, charged things, batted things, chewed things, and displayed her ferocity in rampant poses. Whenever I walked into what had once been my room she would come tottering toward me squeaking loudly, clambering onto my bare foot, demanding to be picked up. If I merely stroked her without lifting her, and sat down in my computer chair, she would try to climb my left leg as if it were a coconut palm. When I winced and removed her, she would get on her hind legs and stretch to grasp my left hand with her front paws and claws and insist on my lifting her on my palm to the level of my chest. I would lean back in my chair, hoping she would decide on a nap beneath my chin.
My chest was not, however, the ultimate goal. From there she launched an exploration of my nose and chin and lips and ears, led by her insistent nose and nibbling teeth. If I forcibly rescued my physiognomy from involuntary plastic surgery, the kitten would add some letters to my email by walking across the keyboard (usually leaving a long trail of xxxxxxx’s or wwwwww’s) which was her pathway to my L-shaped desktop. The big desk offers not only a computer and a printer and a small TV/video/DVD recording area, rich in wires of all kinds, but also a telephone and a couple of headsets, a coffee warmer, a pen container, and a camera . . . all of which were explored and most of which came under attack. Of the larger devices only a headset was knocked to the floor, but Star created a veritable avalanche of video cassettes, CD cases, pens, and post-it pads.
There was no end to the fun, and it really was fun. Except for an occasional brief nap on my chest, her activity never ceased. It was as if the whole Life Force of the universe had arrived in my room in a tiny, blue-eyed concentration of limitless energy. It was pure Source in newly minted physical form, untaught, untamed, uninhibited, completely spontaneous. To say that she was more alive than I, more one with Consciousness and creation, would as much an understatement as to say that fire is livelier than stone.
A line from my children’s story THE LAST FIREFLY came back to me, where the firefly, no bigger than a grain of rice, says to the huge bloated bullfrog, “My head may be tiny, but my thoughts are just as big as yours."
The kitten silently informed me,“My body may be small, but my life is just as big as yours.”
I know that it was somehow because of my absorption in the kitten that the writhing questions about life and consciousness and reality slithered away and freed my head at least for awhile. Beyond that I can’t explain what happened, and I know that I should not try to explain it.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Lovey and Star: Progress!
Since their first meeting. Star and Lovey have been together several times, closely watched, at first in the screened pool area, and then indoors, and each time has been better than the one before. (Most of the pictures are video, but I'll post some still pictures soon.) It's really interesting to watch the different stages in which the big cat and the little cat interact with one another more and more closely over a couple of days.
Initially it was Lovey running away when Star approached him. Next they began staring at one another from a safe distance, and then from closer distances. Next, Lovey walked up to the kitten and sniffed her briefly and she tried doing the same.
Things became more relaxed. Lovey demonstrated that he was casually superior by lying down near Star and pretending to be indifferent. He became more and more likely to walk from a distance to be near Star, while she dared get closer and closer to him, even touching his fur.
The greatest moment came when they cautiously touched noses. Apparently nose touching is very important in cat relationships, because it then happened several times. The whole atmosphere began to improve. The sniffing became, one might say, more intimate, and the cats began accepting one another's presence as more interesting than worrying. They show they're aware of one another but don't make a fuss about it. In fact one of the things that surprises me -- who expected them to devote one hundred percent of their attention to one another -- is that they so often seem genuinely uninterested in one another in spite of the novelty, and go their separate ways.
The latest and most promising phase I would call play: Star began making kittenish advances right up to Lovey's whiskers, tapping him flirtatiously on his cheek before prancing away. She bounced toward and away from him sideways. She batted his tail. She rolled onto her back and waved her legs in the air. Lovey didn't know how to take all of that. He stared and tapped her with his paw gently a couple of times. I think he hasn't figured out how to play with such a small creature. Only once did he become annoyed and hiss and give her a swat that knocked her over . . . but she was right back at him again a minute later.
His supremacy established, Lovey became more accepting, until now he has begun seeking Star out and gingerly initiating interaction. Of course Star is always interested in interaction and play. We're waiting for Lovey to catch up. I think that in another day, maybe even today, they'll be playing together like old pals and Lovey's mourning period will come to an end.
In my last post I mentioned two controversies but neglected to describe the second.
The first was about the kitten's breed appearance; a new vote has been added in favor of Birman over Siamese.
The second was about the kitten's name. Even before we saw her I announced that her name would be "Star". . . as in the sky, not in Hollywood, although both meanings could apply. Julia wanted to expand that with "Sparkle" or "Twinkle", and settled on "Twinkle", and so we had "Twinkle Star". Then we read (right or wrong) that it's traditional for breeders of Birmans to name them starting with the certain letter that applies for a whole year. It seems that this is an "E" year, and so "Excellent", "Exquisite", and "Elegant" were explored, with "Elegant" the winner.
So now she is "Elegant Twinkle Star" . . . which I think is enough names for any cat.
Initially it was Lovey running away when Star approached him. Next they began staring at one another from a safe distance, and then from closer distances. Next, Lovey walked up to the kitten and sniffed her briefly and she tried doing the same.
Things became more relaxed. Lovey demonstrated that he was casually superior by lying down near Star and pretending to be indifferent. He became more and more likely to walk from a distance to be near Star, while she dared get closer and closer to him, even touching his fur.
The greatest moment came when they cautiously touched noses. Apparently nose touching is very important in cat relationships, because it then happened several times. The whole atmosphere began to improve. The sniffing became, one might say, more intimate, and the cats began accepting one another's presence as more interesting than worrying. They show they're aware of one another but don't make a fuss about it. In fact one of the things that surprises me -- who expected them to devote one hundred percent of their attention to one another -- is that they so often seem genuinely uninterested in one another in spite of the novelty, and go their separate ways.
The latest and most promising phase I would call play: Star began making kittenish advances right up to Lovey's whiskers, tapping him flirtatiously on his cheek before prancing away. She bounced toward and away from him sideways. She batted his tail. She rolled onto her back and waved her legs in the air. Lovey didn't know how to take all of that. He stared and tapped her with his paw gently a couple of times. I think he hasn't figured out how to play with such a small creature. Only once did he become annoyed and hiss and give her a swat that knocked her over . . . but she was right back at him again a minute later.
His supremacy established, Lovey became more accepting, until now he has begun seeking Star out and gingerly initiating interaction. Of course Star is always interested in interaction and play. We're waiting for Lovey to catch up. I think that in another day, maybe even today, they'll be playing together like old pals and Lovey's mourning period will come to an end.
In my last post I mentioned two controversies but neglected to describe the second.
The first was about the kitten's breed appearance; a new vote has been added in favor of Birman over Siamese.
The second was about the kitten's name. Even before we saw her I announced that her name would be "Star". . . as in the sky, not in Hollywood, although both meanings could apply. Julia wanted to expand that with "Sparkle" or "Twinkle", and settled on "Twinkle", and so we had "Twinkle Star". Then we read (right or wrong) that it's traditional for breeders of Birmans to name them starting with the certain letter that applies for a whole year. It seems that this is an "E" year, and so "Excellent", "Exquisite", and "Elegant" were explored, with "Elegant" the winner.
So now she is "Elegant Twinkle Star" . . . which I think is enough names for any cat.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Together At Last!
The pictures tell the story. This morning Detective Inspector Lovey met his new companion, Twinkle Star, face to face for the first time. There was a certain amount of caution on each side, and a lot of staring, but almost no hissing.
After about half an hour the pair decided to part company for awhile. The kitten rolled over and fell asleep while Lovey sniffed the deck for a minute and then went lizard hunting. It surprised me how, following their momentous introduction, the six week old and the three year old went their separate ways with almost no transition. Maybe they were playing hard to get.
(Click photos for closeups.)
I'LL HAVE TO THINK THIS OVER
After about half an hour the pair decided to part company for awhile. The kitten rolled over and fell asleep while Lovey sniffed the deck for a minute and then went lizard hunting. It surprised me how, following their momentous introduction, the six week old and the three year old went their separate ways with almost no transition. Maybe they were playing hard to get.
(Click photos for closeups.)
I'LL HAVE TO THINK THIS OVER
Monday, April 30, 2007
Good News
The vet’s tests show that Star is completely healthy! The quarantine is lifted.
Home from the Vet. That Wasn't So Bad.
The only disappointment of the day is that she was given a vaccination which the vet said would make her “grumpy” and “lethargic”, but which I say has made her “miserable” and “frighteningly lethargic”. Witchdoctor’s advice after rattle shaken and poisons administered, “She won’t feel like meeting Lovey till tomorrow.”
On Second Thought, I Need a Nap
And she doesn’t feel like meeting Lovey, in spite of his evident eagerness for a new companion. When Star got home, after a period of normal frenetic play she got sleepy and sleepier and sleepier. She cried some, licked her lips a lot, seemed feverish and to have a stomach ache, and had me thinking of the emergency room, but Julia comforted her while I had a nap, and now the kitten has actually tried to play a little and before falling back to sleep between my feet.
Inspector Lovey Informed That His First Date with Star Is Cancelled.
Along with the good news, I’ll get a report of two typically human controversies out of the way.
One is about Star’s breed. As soon as I saw her I said, “Siamese!” Never to be satisfied with my opinions, much less my wise counsel, Julia did some research and announced, “Birman!” Now, to me Star looks about as Birman as a lion, but an unbiased eye would see the similarity. Like the Birman (which nobody around here had ever heard of until yesterday), Star has white feet along with the “points” that Birmans and Siamese share. On the other hand, Star has shorter hair than shown in the Birman photographs. When, this morning, I asked the vet what breed she saw in Star, she innocently threw herself into the fray with a prompt, “Siamese.” When put to the rack, however, she confessed, “there could be Birman characteristics”. Her concluding words were, “Leave me out of this.”
To the above opinions we have to add the judgment of the internationally noted animal expert, Link of Australia, that Star is an “Alley Cat”. (See Link’s comment.) “Alley Cat” is a breed with which I’m not familiar. It’s probably well known in Australia – perhaps the only cat breed they have there – but I need more information from Link before I’m going to back away from “Siamese”. Anyway, I want to emphasize that Star was discovered next to a gaily painted U.S. Postal Service box on one of Lake Helen’s finest boulevards, and not in an alley.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
A New Life
Star, with Fleming in supporting role.
`“Lovey has to have a new companion!” Once that was declared, and when the debate over the joy of pets versus the sorrow of losing them had been concluded, the search for a feline companion began, “for Lovey’s sake”. At least that was the excuse.
You would think, with all of the homeless cats in the world, that it would take about an hour to find one, but that’s not the way it was. The orange cat advertised in the paper had already been given away. Vets had no current leads except for a veterinary center called FloridaWild, which specializes in rescuing wild animals as well as cats. I had conceded that I would not insist on a Siamese cat (Siamese cats have been big in my life), but I did demand a very young cat. . . which eliminated all but two at FloridaWild, across whose polished wood floors a fashion show of nine different shapes and colors strolled, observed by a parrot and a cockatoo. “Panther”, a tornado orphan, would have been a possibility had he not eliminated himself from consideration by frantically fleeing down the hall as a streak of black as soon as he was displayed. My favorite was a kitty who had lost half his tail and had a hip replacement after he was hit by an automobile, but we were concerned about his long-term health. The only suitably young cat was a few months old, very lively, but not particularly appealing. Choosing a cat to live with for years is like choosing a wife. You don’t just go out on the street and grab the first woman that comes along. If the feeling’s not there, it’s not there. We reserved judgment.
Later that day FloridaWild called and told us about a woman who rescued cats and dogs. We phoned her. Yes, she had some kittens. In fact she had just received two litters of very young kittens – one abandoned at a bank, and the other left by a mailbox in nearby Lake Helen. Our lack of experience with kittens resulted in unconditional jubilation. Kittens! Perfect!
As we turned into the driveway of Donna’s country home we spotted at least a dozen cats on the lawn, on the walkways, in the flower beds. They slept, they strolled, they ran. More cats nonchalantly emerged from the garage to have a look at us, while inside the house scarcely a piece of furniture was unoccupied by a furry body.
I was amazed at the incredible cleanliness of the spacious home, and the patience and good humor of the woman whose home it was – who I sensed must once have been on a university faculty. In her library/computer room were two ladies from the bank with about eight tiny kittens tumbling all over the floor. Cuteness compounded, needless to say. Then Donna took us to another room and opened a bathroom door, and the Lake Helen brigade tottered out. The choice was made almost immediately: One of the Lake Helen kittens was a Siamese. The siblings resembled other pure breeds, but there was only one who stood out as Siamese.
We arranged to pick her up the next morning. I impulsively volunteered my computer room/playroom to be the kitten nursery needed to keep her separate “for a few days” from the older cat. All was prepared – litter box, kitty bed, kitten bottle with nipple and special milk, food dishes, toys. (Just think: Donna bottle fed sixteen kittens at least twice a day, along with everything else!)
What we did not realize was that an adopted kitten is usually a fully weaned little cat of at least eight weeks old which has lived with its mother and siblings and learned a lot about living and playing from them. Our kitten was only five or six weeks old, not weaned, and had lived with its mother, if at all, for a couple of days. We didn’t realize that she might have more to learn from her brothers and sisters – in particular how hard to bite and scratch without hurting.
So, last Friday, April 20, we brought “Star” home. Her name is still subject to debate. I liked “Star”, while Julia added “Twinkle”. Star was no more than a ball of fluff, and yet she quickly proceeded to take over my hitherto sacrosanct playroom and show me who was boss. Teeth and claws like little needles assisted with the invasion. She soon realized that human hands and bare feet were improved versions of the sparring partners who had been her brothers and sisters.
That first day she never stopped racing around the room and playing. Her nightly bedroom is a bathroom because of my concern that she might chew on the snake’s nest of wires at one end of my room. My time alone with her is 90 percent delight, 5 percent worry (“Where is she? Where is she?”), and 5 percent pain.
She was too young to be tested for feline leukemia as would usually have been done, and so she has to be segregated from Lovey until this coming Monday. She has, however, been introduced to him. First we set them down to view one another from a few yards apart in the living room. Donna had predicted, “I know what the reaction will be. Kitten will run up to Lovey saying, ‘Mommy, mommy, it’s been so long!’ and Lovey will knock her over with one swat . . . but she’ll keep coming back.” Is it happening? Kitten is tottering over to Lovey. But wait – something’s wrong. Instead of swatting, Lovey is wide-eyed with horror, turning tail, running away in such a panic that he knocks over some shelves. He doesn’t stop until he’s out of the main house and on the far side of the pool deck. He’s not much better on the next day, when Star is displayed on one side of the screened deck while Lovey crouches in the ferns on the other side. All that can be seen of Lovey are two gigantic golden-green disks where once had been his eyes.
But in the following days the relationship improved. Lovey cowered and stared from closer and closer distances, and later he actually made an effort to approach the kitten. Now, after a week of tentative introductions, he seems calm and ready for the big moment next Monday after Star comes out of quarantine. When she finally is standing free in front of him, will the traditional welcoming swat be administered? Emergency vehicles will be standing by.
. . . To be continued, replete with boring philosophical ruminations . . .
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