Kitten Progress
Sep. 3rd, 2009 12:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreAs some of you know, we got a kitten over the weekend.
Kitten!
So, we had a reason for getting a kitten: Scruffy's now old enough that there are ground nesting birds in our yard. This would have never happened a couple of years ago. Worse, they're harassing him when he goes outside.
He's been getting random facial injuries for the past year. We think we finally figured it out: it's related to the birds harassing him.
He's old, he hurts, he's tired, he can't see well, he's got three legs.
To help change the balance of power in the yard, we got a kitten. I was thinking about one, decided I'd wanted an orange one, and one of the members in my writing group had an extra. Yay. So she and her wife brought the little tyke over.
His name was Milton, but he didn't seem to respond to it or recognize it, so we felt like it was okay to change it. Since cats have nine lives and Captain Jack (Harkness) can't die, Captain Jack seemed like a good name. He's an immensely competent purrer.
I feared introducing another cat as historically Scruffy has hated other cats, but he did make some kitty friends a few years ago, and he's definitely mellowed. He knows Captain Jack's around and has been up close near him, but Scruffy doesn't seem concerned. A little annoyed, perhaps, but he's been polite enough.
I've tried to make sure Scruffy's not left out. They get fresh food and water at the same time (in different rooms; Capt. Jack's still mostly in the bathroom and is let out for longer periods each day). Scruffy still gets our attention. If someone's paying attention to the kitten, someone else is paying attention to Scruffy.
And maybe, just maybe, the birds may choose to nest in someone else's ground. Heck, even the front yard would be better....
Kitten!
So, we had a reason for getting a kitten: Scruffy's now old enough that there are ground nesting birds in our yard. This would have never happened a couple of years ago. Worse, they're harassing him when he goes outside.
He's been getting random facial injuries for the past year. We think we finally figured it out: it's related to the birds harassing him.
He's old, he hurts, he's tired, he can't see well, he's got three legs.
To help change the balance of power in the yard, we got a kitten. I was thinking about one, decided I'd wanted an orange one, and one of the members in my writing group had an extra. Yay. So she and her wife brought the little tyke over.
His name was Milton, but he didn't seem to respond to it or recognize it, so we felt like it was okay to change it. Since cats have nine lives and Captain Jack (Harkness) can't die, Captain Jack seemed like a good name. He's an immensely competent purrer.
I feared introducing another cat as historically Scruffy has hated other cats, but he did make some kitty friends a few years ago, and he's definitely mellowed. He knows Captain Jack's around and has been up close near him, but Scruffy doesn't seem concerned. A little annoyed, perhaps, but he's been polite enough.
I've tried to make sure Scruffy's not left out. They get fresh food and water at the same time (in different rooms; Capt. Jack's still mostly in the bathroom and is let out for longer periods each day). Scruffy still gets our attention. If someone's paying attention to the kitten, someone else is paying attention to Scruffy.
And maybe, just maybe, the birds may choose to nest in someone else's ground. Heck, even the front yard would be better....