On the homefront, the four kittens I recently caught are entrenched in our gym. According to my sister whose digital camera I have been using, I have taken 82 pics of them during the last week. She is giving me a disk this weekend so be prepared to be flooded with images. Here are three to whet your appetites. That's Samson, our ex-feral Tabby who is now 10 months old, playing out his calming role as "Big Brother" to the others. The other two are the ones I caught about two weeks ago (see previous post). I interact a lot with them now but they will still unwillingly to let me touch them. I have tried to stroke them on the back with various degrees of success but they are still giving me a little hiss each time to warn me off. The reaction is not hugely aggressive compared to several weeks ago; nevertheless, I still have to make final contact and get them responding positively to my touch.
They are engaging, inquisitive, playful, and exceptionally smart. I am having to up the ante with them and am adding some new skills to my socialisation repertoire. The little black one is the leader of the two – I love the white heart shape on her chest. I'm pretty sure "she's" a she but am not 100% positive as I still can't get close enough to inspect hers or all the others' private parts. My auntie is enamoured by the red and white colouring of the second one. These two are a bond pair and should not be separated.
Another good sign of their development is that they are no longer slinking around close to the floor but are now climbing over all the higher levels in the room such as the top of the table and bar fridge, as well as the gym equipment in my presence. What's also interesting too is that they investigate the room with fresh eyes every time I watch them. They look into corners or in boxes, as if they have never explored them before – talk about living in the moment.
The second little black one is starting to come out of his/her shell. She does not interact with me yet but does play games with the other two. This morning the three of them tumbled over each other and ran through the cat tunnel during a play session – sending it careening and rolling around on the floor. Just after lunch today they were huddled up closed to each other in and around the cat tunnel, and the second black one didn't scoot away on my approach.
Miss Tortie-and-White is also making some progress, albeit very slowly. She is at least a week behind the others, simply because I caught her only a few days ago. She is very wise. She in turn has bonded with the second black kitty. She has tested the boundaries in ways the others haven't. She knows the only escape route is through the screen door and she has even approached Belle (our cross border collie who sits on the other side with eyes wide with fascination). She also sits on the window sill and looks into the garden to see what's happening on the outside. I dare not open the window too much because she is quite likely to test the strength of the fly screen and figure out that if she pushes in the right way she could probably pop it and escape. If I walk into the room, she will instantly run and hide behind the bar fridge. She is quite stubborn, but if I start playing with the others, she gives it around 15 minutes and then creeps out to watch what is going on. I can see her mind absorbing everything. It will be interesting to see how she develops.
It has been very hot in Sydney the last fortnight, so even though the door to the room is open and fresh air is allowed to come in, I have had to run the fan for about three or four hours every afternoon to get the air circulating. The kittens are most active in the morning before 10 and in the afternoon after 4pm, so my play sessions have been based around this timing.
No comments:
Post a Comment