h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi hun! I'm very excited for you! Good luck to you and the new kitty! (But you know, they may BOTH keep you up at night now, hahahaha)

To be honest, that's more or less what I'm expecting.

When a new cat have moved into the Lair, there has been someone at home at least for a few days. Hence why all but one kitty have moved in during the summer - Her Supreme Catesty move in during the autumn, but she was first and both princess and DJ were still in high school so they spent a good deal of the day at home. Don't they have lessons in school nowadays?

Hopefully Herman is not such a sour puss as Her Supreme Catesty, but it's not unusual with a little hissing and growling in the beginning. A "Herman safe spot" might be useful. had a den in princess's wardrobe the first weeks he lived here. He came out when he felt like it. He was a stray adopted from the shelter, so he needed a place of his own before he decided that other cats and humans were not that bad after all. Nowadays he sleeps on top of me most nights. I'm glad he only weighs three kgs!

I'm sure we can work out a Herman safe spot. He's gotten along so well with other kitties in the past, so I'm hopeful he'll be fine now, but we will try to have a place he can go that she won't follow, if he needs some alone time when we're not here. If over the course of the weekend it looks like there might be some swatting or something, we'll get one of those doorway gates designed for houses with small children.

For the rest of the weekend, K and I intend to remain home and able to watch them interact.

I hope I'll have something good to report soon.

Her Supreme Catesty sounds like a fantastic cat. I kind of like sour pusses. Their grumpiness is endearing.

Well, the kitten has been delivered. K's taken her to the vet and I am brushing and snuggling Herman. When he first noticed her, he sat upright and watched very closely, but without going into stalking mode or anything. K needed to leave just a few minutes later. (Both the lady and her little girl, who's probably 2-3 years old, cried when they left). I sat on the couch with kitten in one hand to stick her in Herman's carrier, and he sat up and hissed at her. She put her little ears back, hissed, and then growled at him. Tiny little thing can barely even meow yet, and she growled at him good. So of course he growled back and has been sulking since.

But no one has tried to eat anyone else as of yet.

I'm another one having a bad reaction to the "kitteh" spelling. Every time I see it I can't help hearing it in Eric Cartman's voice.

That's exactly how K and I say it. That, and words like "here".

If it's any consolation, K usually talks to me in James Hetfield speak, with the heavy metal "ee-yah" at the end of any word that ends in a vowel or an "r" sound. It drives me absolutely nuts.

So, how's the two cat household doing? Everything goes well?

Not yet.

The kitten is like a little gray bullet filled with razor-sharp teeth. She bites the hell out of me- hard enough to break the skin- at every opportunity. I'm assuming this is because she is teething, was taken from her mother before being properly socialized, and also that previous owner must have condoned or encouraged such rough-housing. It's a bit of a trial, as even ignoring her doesn't discourage it and bites aggravate my allergies a bit more than my meds can muster as of right now.

Herman's occasionally curious as to what she is doing- especially about her kitten food, which we serve in the bathtub as it's the only place he can't get to that we can allow her access to. I refuse to put her on the counter or anyplace like that, because we'd never be able to untrain that behavior.

Most of the time, she is running at him and pouncing on him. He in turn tries to run away. She knocks him over. He goes into a defensive pose and swats at her (occasionally making contact). this goes on for hours until he finally goes and hides and she's distracted by something else. There's much growling and spitting on his part. He's finally started acting like himself again otherwise, though, after a few days of hiding in our bed.

One night this past weekend, I woke up at 3am (that was the first night kitten let me sleep for more than 3 hours without waking me with an all-out bite attack) and they were both sleeping in our bed. Of course, as soon as I stirred, they both woke, realized the other was there, and a fight broke out.

We're going to give it another week and a half or so, and if they're not getting on better and she hasn't stopped biting me so much, we may send her to live with the other person who wanted her. A baby cat might be a little too much for us all to handle. We haven't given up yet, but we have feelers out to see if any friends would take her- we know a few people well who have lost kitties over the last couple years and are looking to adopt another. If she made a good match with someone we know and trust, we'd also have the added bonus of seeing her sometimes.

I feel really awful about it, but I don't know yet how well this is going to work out. Poor little scamp.

My parents have a dog and a cat (Oirish setter and huh?whatever) and the two of them have a complete love / hate relationship. The cat is female and older than the dog, both in years and in the family.

They look for each other in the house to try and annoy each other, and then curl up together and every now and then clean each other a little when they're friends.

The dog knows her name and can be told to go find the cat and he also knows the sound of her bells (she's a vicious baby bird catcher in spring and wears _several_ bells) so goes in the direction of the sound when he hears her. When he finds her all hell breaks loose for a few minutes and then they separate and go do something else fun.

If your baby cat can stand up for herself, that's great. Does Herman do the same?
The scratching and biting will stop for the most part (some cats do it as a response to rough playing) and then hopefully you will have two cats that enjoy being together.

Herman doesn't really stand up for himself, no. He's always been fairly docile and a bit timid, so he's not used to doing so. I guess he'll have to learn.

Now if only I can figure out how to stop the kitten attacking me. And trying to climb the woodwork, cabinets, etc. We may need a kitty condo for her to climb?

Canned air- the kind you use for dusting electronics- seems to closely enough resemble the sound of a momma cat hissing that when she's getting into something she shouldn't (chewing electrical cords, trying to get onto the kitchen stove or table, climbing the v ery narrow bathtub pipes, etc) and we spray some, it definitely sends her running. I hope it starts to sink it. We've had to shut her in the bathroom all day while we're at work, every day, because she just won't stay out of everything, or leave poor Herman alone.

Our biggest concern is the increase in my allergy/ asthma symptoms, which I'm hoping will subside once she's not gnawing me to shreds. She scampers up to me, does that silly sidweways leap with her back arched and her tail all puffed out, and attaches herself to me with all claws and teeth. Pointy and painful!

Lemon juice squirter filled with water and a plastic pop bottle with a handful of rocks in work for the dog whisperer - and my Sam. Worth a try, after a consult with a more knowledgeable cat person than moi?

Water squirter doesn't work- she likes water, the little scamp! In fact, we feed her breakfast in the tub while it's still wet from our showers, she comes out with paws, tail and ears soaking wet and could care less. I still have the squirt guns handy just in case, but they don't seem to deter. Rattling things- it may work eventually but at the moment she seems to think that's all part of the game.

She really is a little nut.

Thanks for all the good suggestions, though- and keep 'em coming!!

I have a small plastic bottle with a spray thingy on, which is supposed to be used for flowers. None of the Lair cats likes to get sprayed with water, so usually it's enough to show it to get things to calm down - or get Lynx leaving the dinner table.

>>Water squirter doesn't work-

Something ultrasonic? Can't you get wee gun thingies?

Sounds cruel, maybe - but kind in the long run. Better than a cattle prod, leastways.

Plus...she will eventually grow out of the pwning stuff - although you will need to stop the biting thing.

Yeah. I realize the vet said she'd quit teething and will bite less in a few months, but some of this does seem behavioral. Last night she got into something and I gently picked her up and carried her to one of her favorite toys... on the way there, she bit me on the face, drawing blood. Not amusing.

I'm at a total loss as to how to keep her from climbing on the bathroom pipes- they are just thin copper ones and won't be able to hold her weight once she gets a bit bigger. I don't want to use sounds or Fel-away, because her litterbox is in the bathroom so we don't want to make her avoid the room entirely.

K's pissed off enough about her biting me in the face (not the first time) that he's just about decided we'll let her go live with another friend of the friend who referred me to the kitten's former owner. It's quite possible this isn't the best home for a bouncy little kitten- maybe she'd be better off at the other home with two other (younger, and "normal") cats and a house with more space to play.

Shame. I've seen the consequences of untrained pussies. My Grandpop got one after my Grandma died, and it was a vicious wee bugger that stole food off the table. Also - my sister has one that scratches anyone that tries to stroke it.

It's fun watching a mummy pussies train kittehs, though. They'll tolerate quite a lot of horseplay, but then suddenly...WHACK!

I think that taking on a kitten that was never properly socialised (it was definitely taken from its mother too early!) will be difficult unless you have an older cat that can take on the role - one that will show the kitten what the rules are. It's probably too much for poor Herman.

I know, and it makes me so sad, because she's actually very sweet and cuddly when she's not attacking and biting- and half the time she's doing that either to play, or because she wants food, so she doesn't *mean* to be a wee vicious bugger. We'd hoped that because Herman is older he could show her the ropes, but he just runs away. It's clear that at least to some degree, he's not entirely uninterested in playing with her.

Yeah, and it makes me sad, because she's actually quite sweet and cuddly when she's not biting or attacking. And I'm sure most of the biting and attacking is meant to be play, and she just gets carried away. She'll also bite when she wants food- she doesn't know any better, the poor baby. I'm at a loss. It's quite possible that if she goes to a home with "normal" older cats, they can show her the ropes- Herman isn't up to that. Though it's quite clear, at times, that he's not entirely uninterested in playing with her, but she's a little too wild for him to keep up.

I'd love to think that continuing to move her away from things or using the canned air would be enough, but I don't know how much more biting I can take.

But I'm afraid, in a way, to give her to the other lady... it's very likely she'll be happy and well cared for. But I worry. And I feel like I've failed everyone- Herman, the kitten and K.