The Kittens Are Smarter Than I Am

The cat saga here is ongoing. There'd be more to tell had I been home the last few days. We got these super cute kitties with plans to have them stick around for a while. We've learned from our past mistakes, and are willing to change our ways.

Plan #1: acquaire 2 free male kittens.

CHECK

Plan #2: Keep kittens in a ginormous dog crate until they actually know who we are and are willing to come when called.

FAIL

We really do suck at this whole cat ownership thing. I've been raising puppies for 15 years, so you'd think I'd have some clue as to how to manage baby animals. You'd be wrong, though. Very and sadly wrong. I'm just out of my element with tiny balls of fluff. The thing is, puppies stay where they're put for the most part. Kittens most certainly do not. In fact, a kitten will climb the bars of it's cage and crawl out through the bars at the top. It took us a while to figure out how the ball of fluff was escaping, but vigilance on my part (2.5 minutes of watching from another room) revealed Merlin's secret. He was aptly named.

After we figured out how Merlin managed to magically escape, I draped a towel over the top of the cage. I also stated, out loud, that the bars at the top of the cage weren't any wider than the bars on the sides, and it was funny that he didn't just walk out through them. I then had a day-long event that I needed to be at, and when I came home I saw that Merlin and Fenway were living in a plastic crate with zero bars to walk through. Maybe I shouldn't have said out loud what I should have only thought inside my head.

I took the plastic crate outside again this morning before leaving for the day, because they have to acclimate to our outdoors, too, and being caged while seeing all the new sights seems like a smart idea to slowly integrate them. But really, what do I know? This may or may not be a good idea. I'm just making this up as I go. I did realize, however, that the Fluffy Brothers weren't excited to see me when I got home today, but instead were more like, "HUMAN, WE'RE OVER THIS ENCAGEMENT CRAP." Puppies never give attitude like that. I'm just not used to felines at all. Obviously.

So tonight Fenway and Merlin have free run of the basement, and I have mixed feelings about this. One part of me knows that this was my Plan #3: Allow kittens free run of the basement until they learn to come when I feed them. (Because I highly doubt kittens come when called for no other reason than to be petted.) (Dogs are way better at that.) Another part of me knows that they'll find some way to make me regret this decision. Will they scratch up all my fabric in the sewing room? Will they knock over things I have in storage there? Will they forget that they learned to use a litter box, and leave little kitty packages all over the place for me to find by smell? Will they do something that I can't even think about because I'm totally not used to having cats? I'm going with a yes on that one.

Plan #4: Move them outside, will probably be a welcome thing when it happens. I'm just not sure how to handle kittens, and clearly I'm in over my head.




2 comments:

Stephanie said...

Once the kittens find the litter box they'll be fine, just do not change brand of litter. One change to many them you'll have gifts. Soft,fluffy toys. Buy some catnip spray.spray on toys they'll go nuts. I trained Vincent to walk with a harness, not a collar, they'll slip out, and a leash. When he sees it he knows he's going outside for a walk.good luck🐱🐱😊

Preppy Mountain Farmer said...

I think kittens are way easier than puppies, but they did claw my leather furniture in our living room. On the other hand, they also catch unwanted mice on our farm, so that's the tradeoff, I guess. Best of luck!
www.preppymountainfarmhouse.com