Herd your cats here

[OneMoreYear]

Youngest evil cat has decided to pause in her destruction of the Universe and sit on the electric blanket with me.

Well, you might as well be comfortable when you are plotting the next act of destruction, right?

[FishProf]

She is absorbing excess heat to power up the eye-lasers

[Puget]

I think my cat clock is broken-- the Little Calico hand has stalled out on the couch, while the Panther Boy hand is zooming erratically around the house, out to the catio, and back.

[the_geneticist]

After my (neutered, I thought) young male cat continued to "anoint" my old tube amplifier (shorting it out, finally), I asked the vet how that could happen.

"Actually," the vet said, "sometimes the little tiny bits of the plumbing are so small the surgeon misses something and their systems still produce hormones. They're no longer fertile, or a danger to the ladies, but certain instincts don't go as completely extinct as you'd expect..."

M.

I suspect that was true for my childhood cat!  He had a big head and thick muscle on his shoulders like what you see in unaltered males even though he was neutered as a tiny kitten.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

She is absorbing excess heat to power up the eye-lasers

Most likely. She's 4 and still acts like a kitten.

[nebo113]

Don't know if this is behind the paywall, but it's an interesting perspective on felines and boxes:  https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/05/cats-climbing-into-boxes/618858/

[OneMoreYear]

Ricochet, who is frequently confused by such concepts as "what is treat? it is poisonous? should I eat it?" and "what do I do if there are 2 humans in the same room?",  is apparently a hidden computer genius. Today, she walked on my computer keyboard and in a matter of seconds, she 1) deleted 1 file; 2) turned off the computer microphone; and 3) turned the computer screen 90 degrees. Of course, she managed to do this 10 minutes before my next meeting.  She then jumped in a box and showed me her tummy because, well, cat.

[smallcleanrat]

Ricochet, who is frequently confused by such concepts as "what is treat? it is poisonous? should I eat it?" and "what do I do if there are 2 humans in the same room?",  is apparently a hidden computer genius. Today, she walked on my computer keyboard and in a matter of seconds, she 1) deleted 1 file; 2) turned off the computer microphone; and 3) turned the computer screen 90 degrees. Of course, she managed to do this 10 minutes before my next meeting.  She then jumped in a box and showed me her tummy because, well, cat.

I feel like Ricochet needs to be a character in a comics series.

[Larimar]

Ricochet, who is frequently confused by such concepts as "what is treat? it is poisonous? should I eat it?" and "what do I do if there are 2 humans in the same room?",  is apparently a hidden computer genius. Today, she walked on my computer keyboard and in a matter of seconds, she 1) deleted 1 file; 2) turned off the computer microphone; and 3) turned the computer screen 90 degrees. Of course, she managed to do this 10 minutes before my next meeting.  She then jumped in a box and showed me her tummy because, well, cat.

I feel like Ricochet needs to be a character in a comics series.

I like that idea.

[mamselle]

Was it a real box or a virtual box?

M.

[OneMoreYear]

Was it a real box or a virtual box?

M.

:)  A real box. We are those cat people. We keep a box on top of another box in the living room because it is Ricochet's preferred box at preferred height.

I love the idea of turning Ricochet into a comic book character.  I'm going to need a plan b pretty soon, so cat comic book series writer sounds good. Do I need artistic talent for that?

SCR, maybe we can start a writing group as you are turning Maestro's exploits into an adult graphic novel co-starring his teddy.

[mamselle]

More on cats and boxes:

   https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/05/cats-climbing-into-boxes/618858/

M.

[smallcleanrat]

!!!

Got notification of an opportunity to take in an 11-week old kitten, male.

According to the neighborhood cat-watchers, there's a very good chance this kitten is a full sibling to Maestro. Apparently, there is an extremely evasive mama cat who regularly produces litters, and often associates with the same tom (presumably the father).

I am so very tempted to adopt a sibling for Maestro and to raise another kitten. But also nervous about the responsibility of taking on a second cat.

SO says the main hurdle will be to introduce the two kitties gradually and hope to get Maestro to accept the new kitty as a friend, not a rival. SO also thinks *if* we are going to get a second cat, now is better than later, when Maestro still has the playful energy of a young cat and is more likely to find fun in roughhousing with a kitten. Older Maestro might be grumpier about the whole prospect.

Any type of change makes me anxious, so going with my gut instinct isn't always helpful.

Thoughts?

[mamselle]

Keep them mostly separated at first, with tiny moments of supervised interaction to see how they do together.

Keep any sense of anxiety or edginess out of your voice and actions so as not to arouse either of their suspicions, or plotting-to-destruct-the-world mechanisms.

Increase the amount of time together, still overseen by an all-wise human who stays more and more to the sidelines to allow play to develop, but able to gently separate any attack behavior on either one's part (tiny baby kittens have a fierce bite...as you probably still remember...Maestro will, too, all his life...)

Otherwise, as long as shots, quarantine, food issues, and equal cuddling time are managed well, it could work.

If it doesn't though, think through a Plan B before you start.

My 2 x 2 sets of cats never did get along and had to be separated by a locked room at all times, with separate litter boxes, food, etc.

That's also do-able, you just have to be prepared for it as a possibility and have the logistics figured out.

What we want for cats, as you may have noticed by now, only operates at a skewed relationship with what they want for themselves, the points of intersection having to do with food and the good spot in the sunlight on the floor under the window.

They'll have to figure it out, especially if there are enough sunlit spots, or if the sole spot that's there is big enough for two.

Hugs and scritches to the little one, in any case.

M.

[Puget]

!!!

Got notification of an opportunity to take in an 11-week old kitten, male.

According to the neighborhood cat-watchers, there's a very good chance this kitten is a full sibling to Maestro. Apparently, there is an extremely evasive mama cat who regularly produces litters, and often associates with the same tom (presumably the father).

I am so very tempted to adopt a sibling for Maestro and to raise another kitten. But also nervous about the responsibility of taking on a second cat.

SO says the main hurdle will be to introduce the two kitties gradually and hope to get Maestro to accept the new kitty as a friend, not a rival. SO also thinks *if* we are going to get a second cat, now is better than later, when Maestro still has the playful energy of a young cat and is more likely to find fun in roughhousing with a kitten. Older Maestro might be grumpier about the whole prospect.

Any type of change makes me anxious, so going with my gut instinct isn't always helpful.

Thoughts?

Can you try fostering him first and see how how it goes? Some cats love a companion and others are very territorial. If it works out a bonded pair is great though, especially when they're young and have lots of energy to burn.