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Post by Natalie on May 30, 2019 14:10:37 GMT -6
So, Monday night my pastor's wife calls. They have found a tiny kitten alongside a road. Would we want a second cat? My husband said ok, and so we have been busy this week with a tiny fluff ball named Buster. He is about six weeks old, had a few fleas, a few ticks and is underweight. However, he is so adorable and loves people. He was dropped off at our house on my daughter's birthday, so she wants to learn how to take care of him.
Our other cat is slowly accepting him. He's about 10 and pretty laid back, so I was hoping it would go well. This morning they shared a window for a couple of minutes. I am really happy with how well they are doing because I have heard stories of how it could go. Bruce, the older cat, has bopped Buster on the head a couple of times today, but then he leans over and grooms Buster's head. We are keeping them closely supervised. Bruce mainly likes to just sit and watch the kitten. And to a kitten everything is a toy! So much energy!
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Post by sawdy on May 30, 2019 14:32:03 GMT -6
I am glad things are going well between the two cats so far. After having a couple of cat standoffs between cats I've owned or passed along, I have learned that cats don't necessarily get along.
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new kitten
May 30, 2019 15:02:52 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Natalie on May 30, 2019 15:02:52 GMT -6
Our older cat had interacted with my mother-in-law's cat and done ok otherwise I probably wouldn't attempt adopting a kitten.
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Post by yardstick on May 30, 2019 22:37:28 GMT -6
Cats are territorial. If you start a new one off in a small area, like the bathroom, then slowly allow their territories to overlap; the older cat will begin to accept the new one more readily.
The 'bopping' is to show the new one who is boss. Teach manners, so to speak. Grooming is acceptance into the 'pride'.
Assuming they are fixed, you are less likely to have squabbling over food and breeding territory.
Oh, and... good name for a cat.
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Post by Natalie on May 31, 2019 6:49:00 GMT -6
yardstick , we have the kitten a sanctuary in our main bath. Figured that was Bruce's least used room. Bruce sleeps most of the afternoon so that's when we have allowed Buster a lot of freedom. Then we have also been letting Bruce do lots of sniffing in the bathroom. I read that it can take 2-4 weeks for an older cat to accept a kitten. My son wanted to name him Wayne.
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Post by boraddict on May 31, 2019 8:02:30 GMT -6
We had 2 cats and now we have 4. The first 2 were obtained from the local shelter as kittens and the second 2 were found as newborns in a bush on a freezing rainy day. The first 2 are perhaps 5 years old now and the second 2 are two years old. The older 2 had a difficult time adjusting but they all get along now.
For me they all have the name "Meow" and my kids have their own names for the 4 cats. One boy calls the long hair cat "Cally" and the other boy calls the same cat "Scratch." Thus, each cat has multiple names and we pretty much know all the names. I remember my dad called all cats "Scat." I suppose I call the cats "Meow" so that I do not have to decide which kid gets to name what cat.
They are great companions and fun although 4 is 2 to many; but my kids will not let me ship some out the door. Who would it be: Long-hair, Short-hair, Grey, or Black & White. I guess I did give them names so in total each cat has perhaps six or seven names and they do not respond to any of them.
Natalie, your kitten is so cute.
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Post by yardstick on May 31, 2019 22:46:58 GMT -6
yardstick , we have the kitten a sanctuary in our main bath. Figured that was Bruce's least used room. Bruce sleeps most of the afternoon so that's when we have allowed Buster a lot of freedom. Then we have also been letting Bruce do lots of sniffing in the bathroom. I read that it can take 2-4 weeks for an older cat to accept a kitten. My son wanted to name him Wayne. 2-4 weeks sounds about right from my observations. also, kittens are more readily accepted than adults, i think.
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Post by yardstick on May 31, 2019 22:54:15 GMT -6
We had 2 cats and now we have 4. The first 2 were obtained from the local shelter as kittens and the second 2 were found as newborns in a bush on a freezing rainy day. The first 2 are perhaps 5 years old now and the second 2 are two years old. The older 2 had a difficult time adjusting but they all get along now. For me they all have the name "Meow" and my kids have their own names for the 4 cats. One boy calls the long hair cat "Cally" and the other boy calls the same cat "Scratch." Thus, each cat has multiple names and we pretty much know all the names. I remember my dad called all cats "Scat." I suppose I call the cats "Meow" so that I do not have to decide which kid gets to name what cat. They are great companions and fun although 4 is 2 to many; but my kids will not let me ship some out the door. Who would it be: Long-hair, Short-hair, Grey, or Black & White. I guess I did give them names so in total each cat has perhaps six or seven names and they do not respond to any of them. Natalie, your kitten is so cute. I started a fun naming convention, though my cats often have more than one name. The naming convention started by naming them after food, so in reverse order from current to previous: Cookie Oreo Carrot Nutterbutter (Butter for short) Kitkat the newest one is always 'baby kitty' unless the previous one had that name, then its 'the kitten' descriptively. They are all called 'meathead', 'dummy' and 'nitwit' (affectionately, of course) the naming convention has morphed (since Oreo) into naming the next one such that there is a continuity of names from the prior one. So the next one will probably be 'Monster' or 'Pudding' or some name that goes with cookie as an adjective. Thus, I have: Oreo - Cookie Cookie - Pudding/ Cookie - Monster maybe 'Zencreem' after cookie... idk yet
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Post by Natalie on Jul 2, 2019 9:42:01 GMT -6
So, the cats are doing well. It did take about two weeks. I think Bruce still finds the kitten annoying at times.
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