New kid on the Block: Pimenta

lucho

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Most of you are quite familiar with the current diva Pantera, and her friend Pingo ; now, as of 9 days ago Pantera has a new friend.


Pimenta was living with a small group of cats living on the property of a nearby school- I don't want to say ferals because they live off of the food people leave and are accustomed to being around people (although in general appropriately wary of them!). Pimenta was especially sociable, leading us to believe that she might have been abandoned there; she had no fear of people. Our best guess, looking at teeth etc. is that she is between four and five months of age. She is very skinny, but not in a scrawny/underfed sense- it seems that she is going to be a long and lean adult. She seems healthy, and certainly has the energy levels and appetite of a kitten! Next week, she is already scheduled for her first trip to the vet for de-worming, exam, and first shots.

What about Pantera? Well, there's the rub. Pantera was notorious as a kitten for being a barraqueira (Portuguese for drama queen/ troublemaker. Someone who makes a scandal out of everything). A tiny little kitten that tries to bully three adult cats at once is cute; a fullgrown adult exhibiting the same behaviour is not. Although she's had ample opportunities to attack little Pimenta, Pantera has prefereed to just sit and complain as loudly as possible whenever she can and constantly bully the little kitten. This isn't aggression, this is jealousy pure and simple :livid::( Over the first week things are calming down, but Pantera still never misses any chance to remind the newcomer who's in charge. Conversely, we've already seen that Pimenta is a sly little critter. She's already fooled Pantera a couple of times, and although displays a submissive pose when necessary is clearly not intimidated by the jealous queen of the turf.

I'm still trying to get some photos of the two together, but no luck so far.

 
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lucho

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What a beautiful kitten pimenta is. Thankyou for looking after her and taking her in :rock:
It was about time that Pantera got a playmate :tabbycat::blackcat2:

Here's another photo: I'm not completely satisfied, as it makes her look older than she really is. When she first arrived we thought she was three months old or less because of her little 'kitten face'. The colors are accurate though; her eyes are an interesting shade of brown, no yellow or green at all.

 

Mamanyt1953

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She's a darling! And don't worry overly much about Pantera, it's her job to teach this new littel upstart her place in the Grand Scheme of Things! That's what queens do, after all!

WELCOME, Pimenta! You are a precious baby!

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lucho

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So, today marks two weeks since Pimenta arrived. Yesterday's trip to the vet confirmed that she's 16-18 weeks of age, weighs 2.1kg (less than Pantera at the same age, although by a smaller margin than I expected), and has a clean bill of health except for worms (de-worming treatment has started).

Pimenta is gaining confidence: she now sprawls in the middle of everything; before she only relaxed under the bed or sofa. I fear she is beginning to emulate Pantera: Pimenta is definitely playing more aggressively than before and from time to time she deliberately provokes Pantera (who tolerates the little upstart better than before, but still mercilessly bullies Pimenta almost every chance she gets). At the same time she now comes to us looking for pets and belly rubs.

Last note: I find it interesting that the two have very different playing styles. Pantera loves to chase things (this is a problem for little Pimenta: the kitten is at a disadvantage vs such a seasoned runner), while Pimenta is a pouncer- she has already demonstrated notable leaping ability.

 
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