The patter of tiny feet

[Speicher]

Frankie Boyle on Mock the Week last night said "I would love to shag a kitten!"
"Imagine, shagging something you'd want to cuddle afterwards!"

Mr PC2K, would you take your helmet off, so we can see what you really look like?

 

[ArDee]

I would like a dark grey kitten. I have a very large completely white cat, called Leo. I do not know what he will make of it all yet. He is about nine years old, a rescue cat. He is very friendly, but will not sit on my lap for more than about one minute. I thought a kitten rescue cat would get used to be handled, which Leo obviously was not.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I had forgotten about the danger of house plants to tiny mouths, I only have a few.

We had a Russian Blue for 12 years, lovely dark velvety grey/blue colour. When we got him I wanted to call him Edward Wellington Mouse-Ripper; but, I was over ruled, so he got called Eugene.

 

[wafflycat]

I would like a dark grey kitten. I have a very large completely white cat, called Leo. I do not know what he will make of it all yet. He is about nine years old, a rescue cat. He is very friendly, but will not sit on my lap for more than about one minute. I thought a kitten rescue cat would get used to be handled, which Leo obviously was not.

Thanks to everyone for their advice. I had forgotten about the danger of house plants to tiny mouths, I only have a few.

Don't assume any new cat, even a kitten, will learn to love sitting on a lap. Some do, some don't. My Marble, for instance, a rescue kitten now an elderly gent has *never* been a lap cat. He will sit alongside, but not on a lap. He will be cradled like a baby, but he won't sit on a lap. Waffles and Francis, on the other hand, have distinct lap fungus tendencies

 

[Speicher]

One of the CPL's near here, has a fostering system. Where the cats are kept in people's homes as opposed to a "cattery". If someone has fostered a cat, would they know more about how the cat reacts in a domestic setting? (As opposed to a cat in a "cattery".)

The advantage of that is if my cat, Leo, does not get on with the new cat, and the new cat has to be returned, then I know that the cat is going back to a house, not a cage, admittedly a very large one, but still a cage.

 

[Maz]

Any cat behaviourists here? When I was a kid we used to have a cat. Before it settled down to sleep on my lap it used to lick my jumper for about 10-15 minutes. It was really weird.

 

[wafflycat]

One of the CPL's near here, has a fostering system. Where the cats are kept in people's homes as opposed to a "cattery". If someone has fostered a cat, would they know more about how the cat reacts in a domestic setting? (As opposed to a cat in a "cattery".)

The advantage of that is if my cat, Leo, does not get on with the new cat, and the new cat has to be returned, then I know that the cat is going back to a house, not a cage, admittedly a very large one, but still a cage.

The fostering system is one the CPL is fond of. I like it - it helps socialise cats well and those doing the fostering can tell you about the personality of cat you're getting. I've got a friend who does fostering for the CPL. You'll need to give Leo and the new kitten *time* and lots of it to adjust to each other. They may never be best buddies and may end up only tolerating each other, or they may become inseparable. There's no way to tell in advance. As an example - my three.

Waffles first cat acquired
Francis second cat acquired
Marble third cat acquired.

Waffles gets along with Francis
Waffles *loathes* Marble
Francis gets along with Waffles & Marble
Marble tries to get along with everyone except when it comes to food, when he's a huge bully and he will literally shove any other cat out of the way (hence why Waffles loathes him).
Waffles keeps Marble in his place with periodic growls and swats of paw when required.
Francis just loves everyone.
Marble doesn't take the hint of when to leave Waffles alone, as he is dim, and as a result, acts all miffed when he gets thwaped on the nose.

The key is patience, space and TLC to all so none feels left out of the picture. But there is no guarantee they'll get along. When Marble first arrived as a kitten, Waffles ignored him and Francis took him under his wing so to speak. Waffles is very happy to ignore Marble but he won't take the hint, even to this day. So periodically Waffles has to remind Marble that he needs to bog-off

 

[peanut]

One of the CPL's near here, has a fostering system. Where the cats are kept in people's homes as opposed to a "cattery". If someone has fostered a cat, would they know more about how the cat reacts in a domestic setting? (As opposed to a cat in a "cattery".)

The advantage of that is if my cat, Leo, does not get on with the new cat, and the new cat has to be returned, then I know that the cat is going back to a house, not a cage, admittedly a very large one, but still a cage.

I'm sure Leo will take it in his stride.
Older cats can sometimes feel threatened by kittens because they move so quickly and erratically .
If you rub your palms under your armpits and stroke the kitten it will help .I know it sounds disgusting but cats like most animals act on sense of smell first, not sight. If the kitten smells like you, Leo will assume the kitten is part of your `pack'

 

[Night Train]

I got one of my cats from the CPL cats home. It was raining and all the other cats had dissapeared into the backs of their cages and curled up to sleep. The one I took was sitting in a puddle in the rain meowing for attention. My then wife said she was a stupid cat. I think she was really bright given that she was the one that got a home that day.

Some time afterwards, she got accidently shut out in the garden and the heavens opened for a major downpour. Again she sat in the middle of the garden, soaking wet, meowing to be let in rather then seek refuge in the shed. It got her let in out of the cold.

One really hot summer, I came home from work and found that she had opened the fridge door and curled up to sleep in front of the cold down draft. Hmmm, clever!

One cold winter she went into the bathroom at night, jumped up and pulled the cord for the infrared heater twice, so that both bars came on, and then went to sleep under 1800 watts of heating all night! Very clever given she wasn't the one paying the electricity bill!

 

[Noodley]

Tonight there are four less paws pattering in the Noodley household Our 16 year old handsome boy is no longer with us, we have all had a cry and remembered him.

Glad to here the patter of tiny paws starts afresh in the Speicher household.

 

[fossyant]

Shame that noodley ! Will you get another, or do you have other cats ?

We have 3 - two 11 year old sisters, and a big fluffy 1 year old Tiggy Terror ! The 'old' cats are still quick enough and far smarter than Tiggy !!

 

[longers]

Sorry to hear that Noodley .

 

[Noodley]

Shame that noodley ! Will you get another, or do you have other cats ?

It's a bit early to say, we have another cat and a dog who are best of mates. Not sure if t'other cat will be okay with her doggy pal or miss Hamish big time...

I miss him, as he's usually sitting on my lap when I am on the forum.

 

[wafflycat]

Tonight there are four less paws pattering in the Noodley household Our 16 year old handsome boy is no longer with us, we have all had a cry and remembered him.

Oh Noodley, how sad. Condolences.

 

[fossyant]

I miss him, as he's usually sitting on my lap when I am on the forum.

Brought a smile that..... Belle (one of the older cats) is usually stood in front of the screen (laptop or desktop) and Tiggy, when younger, was chasing the cursor......

 

[Noodley]

Brought a smile that...

It feels strange. He was never "my" cat but as he was Mrs Noodley's cat before I met her 13 years ago. But he and I got on well...he would usually lumber up onto my lap and sit there as I typed onto the computer which is balanced on the arm of the sofa...or cuddle up against me on the sofa.

I keep looking down to see where he is.