Cat/Kitten Integration Update
Posted on December 17, 2015 Posted by John Scalzi 17 Comments
Folks have been asking how Sugar and Spice are getting along these days with Zeus, and vice versa. I’m happy to say at this point it looks like integration is fairly complete. Zeus stopped automatically hissing every time he saw the kitten some time back, and now the kittens go up to him on a regular basis and do the nose bop thing. They are not as chummy with Zeus as they are with Daisy, but then, Daisy feels very maternal toward the kittens and that has an influence. Be that as it may, I think we’re on the downward slope of the acclimation hill. Zeus knows the kittens are here to stay.
Peace in our time.
That is really really cute. I’m glad Zeus is getting friendly with them.
My older cat still hasn’t gotten used to our rabbits and we got them 1.5 years ago. She’ll still slap them if they try and sniff her. *oh well*
Spice, at least, looks like she enjoys playing Daisy’s puppy. Has Zeus’ paling around with Daisy been impacted by Daisy’s love for “those things?”
two quadrupeds = 1 furry octopod.
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Metasonnet: “School-to-Prison Pipeline”
by Jonathan Vos Post
.
Superindendant
Ramon Cortines met
Felix Frankfurther IV
at a Furry Con–
to close the School-to-Prison Pipeline
.
I sit in a white
plastic lawnchair
Cobalt dog nips shrubbery leaftips
Cafe au Lait dog rests his chin
on the big dog
.
Small dogs
have smaller dogs
upon their backs
to sniff them
==================
Tuesday 15 Dec ’15
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2 Tankas + 1 Quatrain = 1 Sonnet
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“Day 43: I wake to the same tedium; I am surrounded by morons. I alone feel this torment. The 15 hours a day I sleep have no effect. –HenriLeChatNoir
Thank you for the update!
Zeus’s body language in that photo (tail curved up, ears at neutral, no ridged or fluffed-out fur showing) indicates that he has concluded the hyperactive little interlopers are there to stay, and while he may not be enthusiastic about it, he’s clearly decided to acknowledge the permanence of the situation. My guess is that he will move into the role of Senior Curmudgeon Feline relatively easily, ignoring them when he can, delivering a well-aimed smack when needed, but otherwise pursuing a policy of live-and-let-live.
You’re actually quite lucky, you know; not all cats are that accommodating. One of ours goes on marking sprees all over the house any time an unfamiliar feline comes for a visit, which is seriously annoying.
Pretty soon you’ll find them curled up together and that will be that.
One big furry family.
I think the fact that you introduced kittens rather than cats was a large factor. Adult cats put up with doofiness from kittens that will quickly earn a full-grown cat a hiss, a swat, or both. When we got a refugee from the local library, Zorro made it quickly known that there was going to be an ongoing cold war with Junior, punctuated with skirmishes.
Glad to read it’s gone well. We’re about to start a similar process here (two kittens, one older, established cat).
I was going to comment, but my feline supervisor walked across my keyboard (again) and typed: gtu8, which Safari thinks should be “guts.” Now I’m not sure what he was trying to tell Zeus and Sugar and Spice, or perhaps Jake on the mothership, but I could guess that was something like, gato tactical unit 8, or maybe just Gato 8, or use stargate 8. Or possibly he was putting in an order for more gfi. Though he could’ve done that when I was visiting Cherryh’s blog. So possibly he’s trying to make some important mission report to your three (and Daisy?).
Has Zeus hissed at them the customary 437 times?
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4Sn91t1V4g)
I’ve been fostering kittens for a rescue group for about a year, so we go through regularly in my house, since I have 3 adult male cats (all fixed). One of my cats is very good with kittens, befriends them quickly, plays with them, and is patient with them. The other two always take longer, so there’s always a period of hissing, growling, running off in a huff, etc. Since we’ve had 4-5 turnovers of foster kittens in the past year, the process is getting shorter and they’re adjusting faster as they get more-and-more accustomed to finding STILL MORE unfamiliar kittens in the house. Only lasts a few days now–but it was several weeks long a year ago.
There was also a foster puppy form a service dog organization here at the same time as one set of kittens, and like Daisy, she was very maternal toward the kittens. Almost all my pictures of those kittens include her, since she was always with them–playing, napping, hanging out.
“The nose bop thing” is the name of my next band.
Sugar has the nicest coloring. I hope she keeps it as she gets older.
Tail straight up in the air; that is a content and happy kitty. Domestic cats may be the only species of cat to use the posture of their tails to signal their emotions, although I cannot remember where I read/learned that.
“I’m outnumbered again.” thinks Zeus. “And they’re both female this time, thereby reversing the Scalzi household feline gender balance.”