See these babies? Guess what? They're scheduled to be the next residents of The Yellow House. The same house in which live Sophie and Skipper. The same dogs that go crazy if they even get a whiff of cat.
Who talked me into this? The grandson Jesse, of course. The fellow is a real cat person. He and his mom have lost three cats over the last few months and now, by a strange melding of circumstances and events, his mom now has five cats, including these two babies. So by virtue of his charm and good lucks (and nagging and pleading), Jesse talked me into letting him bring the babies here to live.
His plan is to keep them upstairs away from the dogs, with a gate separating the upstairs from the downstairs. Of course it sounds to simple to work! Of course it does. Sophie and Skipper are used to coming upstairs to the sewing room when I'm up here. And what do we all think is going to happen with the sweet smell of cat drifting all through their house, and them blocked by a gate. Goodbye gate, would be my guess.
But we're going to try it. If it doesn't work for five minutes, I for one won't be surprised.
I thought we were getting them yesterday, but I had not been apprised of their tender ages. They're only five weeks old and still nursing. They aren't coming anywhere near my house till they're past the baby stage.
WIsh us luck around here.
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On 09/07/2012, Ramey said ...
What you HAVE to do, for the first few days, is keep the babies inside a room with the door closed securely. The dogs can smell the cats, the cats can smell the dogs. They can bark and hiss all they like. They'll get used to that smell. You'll have to figure out how many days. Maybe a week. THEN put up the gate somewhere so they can actually see each other. That's the only way.
On 09/07/2012, Ellen in Oregon said ...
The good thing is that the kittens need to be with their Mother for at least another 3 weeks. The negative is that it will be impossible to seperate the cats and dogs for long. Jesse sure is shaking up your house and making things interesting. Who know's maybe the dogs will surprise everybody and get along with the kitties. Stranger things have happened. They may just need to communicate to the cats that they are in charge of the yellow house. Of course, cats could care less what dogs have to say.
On 09/07/2012, Lisa A said ...
They may be more tolerant of kittens than grown cats. Maisy barks at cats, too, but when my neighbor came to stay with her cat for two weeks a couple of years ago, Maisy got used to him.
On 09/07/2012, Cam said ...
Oh my, let the fun begin :) Actually we had cats first then got a dog and there was a lot of ignoring on the dog's part, but he soon relented and they started cuddling.
Cam
On 09/07/2012, Lynn said ...
Well, Spooky is sure excited that you will have some kitties to test your quilts! I understand your hesitation though. I have scratches all over my hands, arms, legs and feet from Spooky. She doesn't mean to hurt me, but at the kitten stage she hasn't learned how to control all her pointy bits yet. Poor Skipper and Sophie though. Spooky says that not all cats are bad and they should give these kitties a chance!
On 09/07/2012, Joanne said ...
I hope you can get used to the racket. Bet both doggies will bark themselves hoarse all the time. But maybe not.
On 09/07/2012, judi0044 said ...
Yes, Susan by all means let the little ones finish up the time with their mother. I've seen some leave the nest too early. I'm just afraid they'll polish their nails on your lovely furniture. I'm your age and we're down to one elderly female cat we inherited from deceased family who had ten when they passed away - really hard adopting that bunch out - plus two Papillon dogs (expensive so they went quick). Our own pets always tolerated each other so no problems there except feeding and cleaning. You're a kind and brave soul.
On 09/07/2012, Barbara Anne said ...
What cute babies, but (and I can say this as we have 2 cats) as has been written ...
"The trouble with a kitten is that
eventually it becomes a cat!" - Ogden Nash
Ramey has written some excellent advice. I have one thing to add. I have a screened door on my sewing room. It allows ventilation in and keeps our cats out.
I also have no quilts on our beds as a beloved quilt I made about 17 years ago for our queen sized bed got a few shredded places on it so I put all of the quilts away.
Get a scratching post or two or three. They'll want to scratch on something.
Hugs!
On 09/09/2012, Kai said ...
I WANT THOSE SWEET KITTENS!!!! OMG! I miss having a cat more than anyone can ever imagine. It's the one issue about which my sweet lil' landlady is not budging. Sigh. Her former tenant had 4 BIG dogs here in the house, a snake, AND a motorcycle she kept in the DININGROOM. What a mess. So while I DO understand, I am SO wanting a kitty friend. Yours (Andy's) are gorgeous & cuddly-fuzzy! The doggy people will, albeit grudgingly I'm certain, learn to live with them! And if they DON'T, you could always mail them to ME!!! LOL!
On 09/13/2012, Kristine Walker said ...
I think it's best to leave kittens with their Momma until they are 12 weeks old. By then not only are they fully weaned, but Momma cat will have taught I worry though that if your dogs truly detest cats that the result could be two dead kittens:(
The Crazy Cat Lady,
Kris
On 09/13/2012, Susan Ramey Cleveland said ...
We won't let it go that far, Kris. Whether or not they get to stay here depends on how the dogs act. I'm not sure they really hate cats or just think they're for chasing. I too think 12 weeks is best but 8 was all I could get out of Jesse. So tomorrow is the day.
Sent from my iPad
On 09/14/2012, sac longchamp pliage pas cher said ...
Su gatito es tan lindo, también me gustan los gatos, pero mi madre no le gusta la cría de animales, ah tan tristes···
On 10/22/2012, Mike said ...
I told my mom not to get a puppy because they will eat up the house. She gets a puppy and the puppy eats up the house. It was still fun to raise a puppy.
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