Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 4

I tried last night to catch the remaining two kittens but was unsuccessful. I intuitively felt it from the start. They remained under the safety of the grate and didn't venture out while I was by their side.

In the meantime, it has been 36 hours since I caught the two others and I was beginning to worry because of a failure to explore and possibly a failure to thrive. I couldn't find them when I did the initial sweep of the room on my first visit back. For a few moments I thought they had escaped, but then I knew that was close to impossible unless they were strong enough to push their way through a barricaded mesh door. It turned out they were both hiding under the treadmill – in the dim light I had not seen the black kitten in the shadows and it had been obscuring the little white patchy one. I checked in every two hours or so for the entire day but they still hadn't moved. They also hadn't used the kitty litter tray or eaten any of the food I had left by their side. 

Last night I gave them a whole bunch of boiled chicken, which I expected to be gone this morning – it had barely been touched. It has been very hot so I was wondering whether they kittens had become dehydrated and were okay. I realised I needed to prod the issue slightly so I brought in reinforcements in the form of my ex-feral tabby cat Samson, who is coming onto ten months old.

Samson is one of the sweetest cats I have ever known. He sidles up to the rest of the cat coterie and the dogs with a big heartfelt purr. I have never seen him aggressive or territorial so I gave him the moniker of "Big Brother" or the "Transitioning Cat'. I have never used this technique before and just made it up on the spot, but I figured if the kittens could see me interacting with another cat, then they would relax and be more likely to trust me. It turns out I was right. I hasten to add that if you are going to use a "Big Brother" or "Big Sister" cat then make sure you do not assign the role to any hissers and spitters who just want to protect their turf. 

Samson played his part beautifully and helped me transition the two little ones to the next level. In fact, he was an absolute champion! The first thing he did was go and eat out of their cat bowl and then sniff them through the underside of the treadmill. I then added another element to the mix by lifting up the back of the treadmill in order to send them running to another hiding place (ie. getting them out of their comfort zone). The little white one scooted behind the half open gym door, and the other to the opposite side of the room behind some boxes. The white one started to cry pitifully after a few moments because she/he (I haven't found out the sex yet because I haven't been able to look under their tails) was alone. The little black one responded and ran to be with its sibling. 

I then sat down on the floor in their sightline and began playing with Samson – firstly with a ping pong ball and then with a long plastic plant leaf. I swept it side to side and Samson pounced and rolled over. The kittens were fascinated. Occasionally Samson would get up and sidle up to the kittens and then he'd be back in full play again. I realised after a few minutes that the black kitten was the lead or dominant one in the relationship between siblings. If I could get the black one to respond then the other would follow, so I started sweeping the plastic plastic plant leaf in front of them. Their little eyes darted side to side in sync with the movement and the little black one ventured out with its eyes focused on the leaf. He/she then went to the mesh door and peered outside, prodding the flyscreen with its paw to test the barrier. Three of our other cats (all ex-ferals) were on the other side – Savannah hissed, Sasha stared and Sihri tried to get in.

After a few minutes our dogs Belle and Jake turned up and sat right outside the door looking in with excitement and with their tongues hanging out and their ears up straight. The little black one instantly went into survival mode – its hair stood up on the nape of its neck and its tail ballooning to twice its normal size and it hissed at the dogs. I could see the dogs looked threatening in stature merely because they were large and filled the gap, although in reality they were excited and fascinated to see these two new cats and wouldn't have harmed them. But they were a bit of a nuisance. In the end I had to place a mobile phone call to one of my family members who called the dogs away so I could continue undisturbed with out breaking the momentum of what was happening.

Samson's presence relaxed the cats. They began exploring the room with me sitting in the middle of the floor. The black one was the front runner – modeling on Samson's behaviour and climbing up on the window sill to look outside, climbing down and through some boxes I had set up for them to create another hiding space, and then using the kitty litter tray which I thought was absolutely fantastic.

I then set up a fresh bowl of canned cat food on the floor. Samson ate a little (they may think of him as the food tester!) and then the black one came and started eating too. The little white one soon followed and before long the bowl had been licked clean. They then started cleaning themselves and I breathed a sigh of relief – it was going to be okay. They had taken the first step.

Slowly but surely I need to gain their trust. It will be interesting to see how long this takes.

In the meantime, if there are any loving people living in the Sydney district or surrounds who ADORE cats, RESPECT their complexities and who are interested in adopting these cats in the next couple of weeks once the socialisation process has been completed, please contact me by email: julie@blackmermaid.com.