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Today in the storage room:
Chaucer with the last remaining kitten.
AWWW how darling is that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too sweet. :rub: Chaucer - what a great, great cat. I adore his personality and his desire for love and friendship.Why in the storage room is Henryetta only accepting of Chaucer? She was eating with her back to them when this picture was taken.
I danced in your other thread but this is even BETTER to see a picture !!!!!!!!!! :high5: I LOVE THIS and am really, really happy. I knew it would happen, btw. :lol3: You have the touch, you know.But......later today .there was a big storm where I moved recently and that seemed to hurry the progress a little because I was worried about them in the storage room and brought Henryetta and the kitten inside again until it passed. Look what happened during that time. They were okay for a little while.
:lol3: LOVE THIS !!!!!!!!!! Everything is going SO well. I bet Chaucer is enjoying having the entertainment of the kitten too.Thank you! Today I brought them in for a little while and let the kitten run around in the den with Chaucer and Henryetta there. The kitten would run up to Chaucer and at one point jumped at him and he jumped up in the air and over her to get out of her way. I think when the kitten goes to her new home next month that it will be easier for Chaucer and Henryetta to get to know each other. Chaucer wants to play. Henryetta walked down the hall and he ran in front of her from another room and was doing the leaping sideways bounce but was not fluffed up.
AWWWWW - Henryetta is really beautiful and looks to be very loving. :heart3: I love this picture and do you see a little face peering in the back right corner??!! A cute Miss H. What a doll. I do understand you being upset over that interaction between the two but try not to be fearful of Henryetta, and let me explain. Since, I have had years and years and years of experience with bringing and rehoming many feral and stray cats I can say with great confidence that you won't have to worry about her attacking you in any way. IF she were going to be human aggressive, you would already know. This will take more time for her to adjust and she sounds like a typical girl kitty to me. She does seem a bit moody but I really think it is because Miss H is still living with her in the storage room. Then you bring the two into the house, or just Henryetta, and than back to the storage room. Right now, till Miss H. gets picked up, I would just leave them in the storage room together. Once the kitten is gone, then bring Henryetta into the house permenantly and not allowing her access to the outdoors or the storage room. In a few days time, she will settle in, feel secure and safe. She already knows you and trusts you, she already knows the house and she already knows Chaucer, so the transition will be so much easier for her. Right now she is living in limbo and she sounds like a sensitive girl to me who needs stability. That will come once Miss H. is gone and her motherly instincts will go with her. Miss H is still quite little and needy and mom feels that energy and is going to reactive to outside stimuli because of it. :nod: HANG IN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :cross: And, more than anything, try to trust her because she really wants that and will know otherwise.
Thank you. AND you are now becoming the master of cat behavior !! Yes, unlikely she would allow Chaucer to play with MIss H. She may want that herself - Chaucer - but doesn't know how to go about it..... yet......Thank you so much again for your support, Feralvr. It's invaluable. Your insights are very helpful. She really doesn't seem to distrust Chaucer. If she did, she wouldn't have let him roughhouse with her kitten. . I hope so. I don't want them to physically hurt each other.
Must be a female kitty thing because I have had FOUR female cats in my lifetime that would sit on the back of the sofa at night while I watched TV or worked on the computer and groom my hair and take a little bit. Have you seen other cats groom each other that way? Mine do it all the time and I have no clue what that means in cat language BUT they lick each other, allogroom, and then one will take a gentle hold of the other. And, yes, I don't allow this at night and make it quite clear with any who attempt by tossing them to the foot of the bed. :anon: :lol3: Perla will do it on the back of the sofa and I allow it there only.I'm not sure why I am a little distrustful of Henryetta except that her reactions are kind of iffy and I don't want to get bitten.
She also likes to get on the sofa out there behind me and "comb" my hair with her claws or teeth and once put her teeth on the back of my head (not hurting or breaking the skin but not something I want to happen again). My guess is that this is a loving gesture because my Himi did that the first couple of nights I had her. I stopped that somehow with her as it hurt and woke me up in the night.
I am sorry that Chaucer can't play with Miss H anymore. :shame: But, in reality, Miss H is not permanent either so I guess it would be for the best to keep them apart until Henryetta can come in the house full time. I don't have all the answers either !!!! And, I think you are doing a really, really, REALLY great job with all you have been dealt.Miss H is 4 months old now and will be 5 months when her new family picks her up. Chaucer LOVES to play with her and the feeling is mutual. He dances around at the back door and wants to go out to the storage room despite Henryetta's behavior. However, I will stop this to prevent any further stress for Henryetta and confusion for Chaucer and just let them work it all out when she moves into the house. I will have to contain her at night until they can get along, but maybe in the guest room instead of the laundry room for her. It's bigger with windows to look out.
Absolutely and wanted to quote you out on this! Feral, stray, hand-raised kitties all have that innate personality trait to be easily overstimulated during pets, scritches and kisses. Some have that breaking point and you have to know the signs. All kitties, feral or not, can behave this way. Good point and good job with Mia.I don't think you need to be afraid of her, either. Today is the one year anniversary of my taking in my feral Mia. She's come a long way, but she still swipes at me and scratches me sometimes if I pet her for too long, or when she's wound up from playing with me and the wand toy. She has sometimes nipped at me, too, but not hard enough to break the skin. Cats, even domestic ones, will swipe or nip as warnings to let their human know they don't like what their human is doing.