Catstravaganza. Crapstravaganza.

Obviously, I’m using the cel phone’s camera to take pictures. Crappy quality, but hey, it’s what’s here. And I’d hate to let Door’s first week go by undocumented. Add to the list: cheap but functional digital camera.
Ah, the joys of kitten-raisin’. The joys and the pains, as it were.
In the totally joyful column–Door is a great cat. He and kitten reached a quick peace agreement and have been gradually inching closer and closer. They run back and forth up the hallway, and it’s so cute it hurts to watch him imitate her lion pose in the sunshine. I catch them sitting together on the chair, or sleeping together on the guest bed. They eat together. He follows her every move.
For the first time since I’ve moved into this house, I’m sitting in the lab completely by myself. They’re asleep in the room next door. For a while, I’d see both of them flash by the doorway every few minutes. When they got quiet, I went to check and found them both passed out, just shy of touching, wrapped up in the blanket.
Door, boy, he’s a climber. He climbs the chairs, he climbs the bed, he occasionally climbs me if I don’t pick him up fast enough. Like AllCats, he’s a talker–only he hasn’t quiet found his voice yet. The first part of his meer-oooww is dead silent; sometimes he manages to make a little squeak where the ‘ow’ part should be. When I’ve walked out of sight and then returned, he finds some way to climb something to get level and bonk into me with his head. If there’s nothing to climb, he’ll sit on my feet and “talk” until I notice… or until he gives up and tries to gain purchase on my pants legs.
AllCats is really being a great sport. He’s like her tiny shadow, and she’s patiently stood by while he’s snaked the foodbowl, batted at her head and legs, and pounced on her tail. AllCats has reaped the benefits, mind you: new toys, kitten kibble as far as the eye can see, and an added playmate when Mom’s busy.

Fair warning: Graphic discussion of kitten digestive issues. You’ve been warned.
The only downside, so far, is the poop issue. Door’s either got a bit of a delicate tummy, or some kind of kitten bug. The cheap kibble I got from the foster was all he was getting, but he was still producing room-clearing diarrhea. After two days with no improvement, I switched his food over to one of the MaxCat kitten formulas–and instead of the canned wet suggested, cooked up some plain rice and chicken. So twice a day he’s getting microwaved rice and chicken with a bit of broth, and gets a cup or so free-fed hi-test delicate-belly dry food. So far after a day of that, he seems to be producing slightly less toxic waste with a bit more form to it.
Regardless, he’d lost a bit of weight (though doesn’t seem to be losing more), and he had a vet appointment for Tuesday anyway. So I’m going to call the vet tomorrow and get his appointment moved up so he can get checked out and any tummy troubles can be investigated and hopefully solved.
But even with a bad belly, he seems content and playful. He hasn’t yet gotten to go to bed in the big bed, but that’s only because he’s too rambunctious at night and both he and poor AllCats need to get some rest!
His Aunt S. will be looking out for him during the week while I’m at work. He thinks that’s a party. He’s probably right.
August 22nd, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Oh, dude. Didi & Gogo are also serious climbers. It’s common among cats that have some Russian Blue in their heritage. Trust me, he will climb all over everything, and then some. I think it’s awesome he and Allcats are getting along so well, though. A blue like him (all blues, regardless of breed or muttness) are very, very attached to their families, and tend to build extremely strong bonds, often building a specific pair-bond with one person or another in a multi-person household. If he bonds with Kitten, she has a friend for life.