Kitten Craziness - Days 3 & 4 - You Mean I Have to Play Nice?

Monday and Tuesday this week were days three (3) and four (4) of Purrcy's integration into the household. While all this craziness is going MUCH more smoothly than Rumba's arrival two (2) years ago there are, of course, issues.

Day 3 - Monday: Purrcy Sees the Vet & Meets Grammy. In the morning Purrcy decided he hates car rides and thus whined about it all the way to the vet's. Once there he charmed everyone in the place including Dr. Joe who scooped the little guy up and showed him off to the staff including Dr. Wendy who commented on how big he would end up being (big feet) as well as how cute he is (and she's more of a dog person so this praise is significant). Everyone was surprised that he was a shelter kitten, having not known that there were any kittens at the shelter. 

Mama came home for lunch and let the little stinker out of the bathroom for a while. Bedlam ensued as usual.

Mom stopped by in the evening and met her new "grand-kitty" and promptly fell in love with the little charmer. She tends to get upset with me over taking in strays because she worries about the vet bills. Well the largest bill is for spay/neuter and when you adopt a shelter pet that part is already taken care of and your adoption fee is far less than the actual cost of the spay/neuter surgery.

While everyone human is charmed, Honey remains unconvinced that Purrcy is anything other than another burden to her existence. Bon and Rumba both have invited the little guy to play and then can't quite figure out how to play with him, they almost seem afraid of him. It is amusing to watch to say the least. 

Purrcy loves to jump and slide across the coffee table still and lately has been trying to eat the water bottle commonly used to deliver the disciplinary burst of long-range water onto kitties who go where they shouldn't or do things they shouldn't. Other things that seem to cry out to be eaten include one certain ink pen (the rest in the container are left alone), various electrical wires (most cats do this the hum of the electricity is the attractive element) and books. Books are apparently very yummy. Now I myself "devour" books as a reader not as a literal part of my diet... although the fiber might be helpful.

Day 4 - Tuesday: Rumba Wants to Know Why She Has to Play Nice. Rumba very badly wants to play with Purrcy however Rumba plays rough. She has ALWAYS played rough, it is part of why her integration into the household was difficult. Just ask Lucky whom Rumba bit in the butt ending up causing an abscess resulting in surgery. Oh boy that was fun. And expensive. Poor Lucky. 

So Purrcy starts the paw slapping around the corner of the couch and Rumba returns slap about eight (8) times harder and can't figure out why Mama yells, the squirt bottle launches water at her and Purrcy goes into cowering mode. She looks at him as if there is something wrong with him, one ear turned sideways.

Mama was not able to come home for lunch. In fact Mama had to get up at 4:00 a.m. in order to get to a client's by 9:00 a.m. But at least there was a bit of cuddle time (about thirty minutes worth) before breakfast. So by the time Mama did get home for the day Purrcy was beyond hyper. Opening the bathroom door found Purrcy at eye level hanging off the bathrobe that was on the back of the door. 

The evening was spent running about in kitten crazy mode with occasional nap attacks in Mama's lap. The interesting thing was how the "big kitties" reacted. They were fairly nonchalant. Lucky sniffed him then pretty much ignored him. Bon sniffed him all over while the little one was eating, showed him how to play with a scrap of paper then ignored him for the rest of the night. Rumba was fascinated and followed him around. Once pouncing at him and taking off, an invitation to play chase that he wasn't interested in having been distracted by a ball she launched into motion during her sprint. Honey kept the snarling to a minimum but still spent a majority of her time in basement cat mode. 

True peace reigned as everyone (even Honey albeit briefly) spent time with Mama on the couch at the same time.