- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #21
@CatSnip404...it's love at first cat sight LOL...so sweet. I'll be trying that with Harley and the lil guy's intro (I still haven't named him yet lol) when that time comes.
Love this picture! It sounds like you are doing everything right and are getting great advice. It's been kind of scary for me too mixing an FIV+ and FIV-, but I have hope that it will work out. Mine seem to be doing okay together. Each day is a step forward.I tried to redo the photo since this one is a bit blurry but he wasn't having it. He jumped out and went into his bed in the closet. Ok so he doesn't like paparazzi. I'm learning more and more about him lol.
I get this, it's hard to swallow and makes my stomach hurt thinking about it but I get it.For every kitten born, another dies, simply due to a lack of enough homes for them all.
Haha! Actors in tuxes, that's a great idea. We've been coming up with a few names and I've been trying them out on him, seeing which one fits. Nothing yet so far. I love the name Julia btw, perfect name for a cat that loves home cookingHe is just gorgeous! Love the eyes, especially with his coat! Trying to think of names of some gorgeous actors in a tux with blue eyes....lol! Julia is named after Julia Childs because she begs when I'm cooking worse than any dog I've ever had.
OMG! That must have been so scary for you and thank you for the warning so I know to be cautious of this. We've traveled with Harley plenty of times and I'm just thinking about how scared I'd be if she got loose. Thank God Martha stayed close for you to find her, poor girl!Speaking of the window, it sounds like you only had it open a little bit, but be careful to remember to shut it while you're not in there. He might be able to push it open just enough to get at the screen and perhaps beyond. I was traveling 18 hours once with my cats and stopped overnight. I had to leave the cats in my vehicle but I put a litter box out and food and water, and cracked one of the windows just a little bit--certainly not enough for any to escape, or so I thought. Well the next morning Martha was gone. Thank God I found her out under a bush. I still can't fathom how she managed it but when there's a will, there's a way.
I experienced the same exact thing with Nero in the beginning. And that made me very nervous to deal with him, so I totally understand. In fact, I even mentioned it to my vet, that Nero seemed to pick up on my nervousness, and it's like a catch-22. I'm nervous, he reacts because he's nervous and sees that I'm nervous, and that makes me more nervous, etc. I didn't know how to get over the hump. My vet's advice was, it's not about how you feel, it's how you act. Probably good advice for many things in life.
He seems very loving and affectionate, and wants it badly from you.
His random swatting is sort of like when he is letting his guard down and getting in to the interactions then suddenly realizes he is still reserved and not confident yet and will swat.
This will fade soon actually.
Early on, I tried heavy gloves too and it seemed to make him more nervous.When you go to pet him, rather than going up over his head start from under his chin, let him smell and then go around to his back and neck area, much less intimidating.
If your gloves are more than say, knit winter gloves they might be intimidating too. Prolonged eye contact is intimidating, you can look at him but instinctively staring or locking eyes is what predators do.
Later on down the road once trust is there it's fine though.