On Thursday, when I took the kittens for their testing and rabies shot, I told Fred that if he wanted to, he could introduce Livia to the rest of the house, and see how that went. He reported that it went fairly well, with some hissing on her part and from some of the permanent residents. Of course, once Livia realized that there was a rest of the house to explore, she didn’t have much desire to spend all day in the upstairs with her kittens, so from Thursday on she’d climb over the barrier at the end of the hallway and check out the rest of the house.
I think she got a little overwhelmed, and she pretty quickly took a dislike to Alice and to Miz Poo. She mostly glared at them, didn’t really try to start anything, until Sunday morning when she’d had ENOUGH of Miz Poo, and did some hissing and smacking. She didn’t actually make contact with Miz Poo, but going after Miz Poo is a HUGE no-no in this house. It’d be like someone slapping your wheelchair-bound 98 year-old grandmother. NOT ALLOWED. So we shooed Livia back upstairs and discussed our options. I didn’t want to shut her back in the foster room with all of those kittens, so what we ended up doing was putting the baby gates up at the bottom of the stairway. (When we had Kintaro (Fred’s sister’s cat) here for three weeks, we talked about putting a screen door up at the bottom of the stairs. The problem is that we can’t permanently mount anything there, because we are forever moving furniture upstairs and then back down again. I think what we’re going to do is make a screen door that can hang from hooks when we need it, and then be stored in the closet when we don’t.)
A little while later, after Fred found Adriana trying to squeeze through the space at the top of the bottom baby gate (we “stack” them to block the whole doorway), he suggested that we move the bottom baby gate up just enough for the kittens to squeeze through but not enough for Livia to squeeze under. We tried that, and all 7 kittens came out into the downstairs and raced around like wild things. Eventually they all went back upstairs, one by one, until Silvio was the only one left downstairs.
Silvio, it seems, had NO intention of ever going back upstairs again. There are new (to him) TOYS downstairs, there are cat beds everywhere, and by mid-afternoon he was curled in a cat bed with Stefan. It was utterly adorable. He is one confident little man, and I only saw his tail floofed once or twice.
So for now, I guess we’ll keep the baby gates up at the bottom of the stairs during the day so that the kittens can roam. I was worried that Livia would be freaked out by not being able to get to her babies, but she doesn’t seem at all concerned. She gets her last vaccination today, so we’re just waiting for room to open up at Petsmart for her. I believe she’d be just fine in a home with other cats, just maybe not TWELVE other cats.
Most of the pictures this week will be of the kittens still upstairs (I’ve got a lot of pics in the queue), but here’s one I couldn’t wait to share (some of you already saw it on Facebook last night, but here it is again!)
Silvio and Stefan. Twoo wuv.
Six sleepy kittens on Fred’s bed (Meadow is the missing kitten.)
It appears that Carmela and Tony don’t wake up happy.
Sweet Miss Melfi.
Tired Tony.
Pretty Paulie.
Five of the seven. Melfi’s smile over there on the far right is killing me dead.
At this point, I know that when I see this look on a kitten’s face, it can only mean one thing: there’s a yawn on the way.
Like I said.
“YOWza! Now THAT was a yawn!”
Livia and the Ears of Annoyance.
Carmela would like to know just what I think I’m doing.
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When he’s not snuggling with kittens, Stefan likes to be the head Office Cat in Charge. He spends a large portion of the day curled up on this blanket in Fred’s office.
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Previously
2012: No entry.
2011: No entry.
2010: “I was restin’ my eyes, lady.”
2009: He might not be paying attention to me, but he still doesn’t like it when I leave!
2008: If I could knit, I’d knit a duster-type coat with big pockets in it, so I could load a cat or kitten into each pocket and they could keep me warm all winter long!
2007: “I vant to be alone.”
2006: No entry.
2005: I think Mister Boogers thinks he’s Sugarbutt’s Momma. He’s always grooming him like crazy.
So glad you and Stefan found each other.
Awwww Livia and her babies have gone exploring but not too much! LOL! The pic of the kitties on Fred’s bed is too adorable!!
Hope gorgeous Scuro finds his forever family soon! Take care
x
Re handsome Scuro, if the breeder is reputable, the adoption contract will dictate that he/she will take the cat back. Meanwhile, here’s hoping that this boy will find the perfect family. And I strongly second Noelegy’s comment: Stefan is such a wonderful boy! And every day in every way, Silvio makes me love him even more.
Awww… Scuro is gorgeous. I’m in Toronto but have two furballs already (one of which HATES other cats), and I’ve already filled the homes of friends & family with rescues, otherwise I’d be on top of it because I loves me the older kitties! I hope he finds a family soon!
🙂
I have to admit, there are times I seriously consider putting up a screen door at the bathroom….allow some air in there with kittens and them to see in/out without direct contact. We shall see
Another Challenger’s House foster mom has a screen door on her foster room and says it works great for her! I was trying to convince Fred to do that for our foster room, but he was less than interested in the idea. 🙂
Molly at Mythicbells has both a dutch door in the kitten room, a screen door, and a tiny kitten door cut in the wall so that kittens can go in and out and older cats can’t follow. You can see her on youtube.
that is why I put a window in my kitten room.. so I can look in with out opening the door.. it has been a life saver several times. When I have kittens that want nothing more than to bust out I deploy the window decoy.. my husband and i go down and one of us distracts at the window while the other slips in and puts food down so the other one of us can get in..
A TNR friend has tamed several ferals thru an indoor mounted screen door. All ferals stop & stay in that room for several months. They can see and hear the family activity but don’t have to participate until they’re ready. She up to 7 now, all with full house privileges. Took a long time and a screen door.
Ah, food. The best way to distract cats of all ages! 🙂
Stefan is one smart cat who knows he has it made!! And I think his alter ego Chefan needs to make regular appearances over at DCEP…I’m sure he has a lot of opinions about your cooking that he needs to share with us! 😉
This is not a scientific pronouncement but it looks like Silvio’s paws are as big as Stefan’s. He’s got Hulk forearms!
Melfi’s such a smiling little beauty. She she get a show on the Price is Right.
Scuro is a stunner. that long coat, that mixed color fur. In fact, I wonder if his full name is ,Chiaroscuro. I had a beautiful black/white smoke and named her Chiaro, short for chiaroscuro.
Yes, that is his full name 🙂 That was the name given to him by the breeder. When we adopted him at 6, we thought it best to keep his name.
Scuro is gorgeous! I hope he finds a good new home soon.
Um, so, Fred’s office isn’t cat free any more? Snort.
Now that the kittens have free reign of the house he’s keeping his office door closed. They get a little rambunctious in there. Stefan, on the other hand, just lays there and sleeps all day, so he’s welcome. 🙂
Um, how many pillows does Fred sleep with? 😀
ALL the pillows! 😀
Ahem, waiter. Would you please ask Chefan to make me a special bowl of Soprano Kitten Soup? Thankew.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
+1
ROFLOL! (and spilling soup)
Maybe this type of screen would work for you. It would be out of the way when not in use but conveniently there when needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-UyKLhcdeo
I’d be concerned about that holding up to kittens trying to climb it, I wonder if it’d be sturdy enough.
I picked up a screen door at Home Depot for twenty bucks and hung it on the door frame of my foster room. I’ve put it up/taken it down now so many times (depending on the foster situation), I can do it in about thirty seconds. And you can pick up some heavy clear plastic at a fabric shop and staple it to the frame to stop the wee ones from shredding the screens.
This is what I get for assuming – I just assumed that once you hung it, it would have to stay in place!