Surprise mom!!!

[tollbaby]

alright, let's see if I can figure this picture thing out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31133557@N03/4668330294/

That's him on my son's very dirty bedroom floor *sigh*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31133557@N03/4668328794/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31133557@N03/4668327312/

And this is a VERY unhappy George watching and growling from across the room. *sigh*

(grumble... apparently I can't get it to post pics from my flickr account...)

[Fire_on_High]

Where the hell did I go wrong?

Your kids have compassion for small helpless things, if not quite the experience to know how to take care of them. I wouldn't say went wrong.

[georgie]

if i wasnt so terrified of my mum as a kid i might have done the same thing. we still ended up with 6 cats and 2 dogs at one stage tho since mum loved animals as much as we did.


dont be too scared of the older cat getting near the kitty. if kitty is picked up every time older cat gets near and hisses then older cat will get jealous. let older cat get near kitty and sniff (and hiss if it needs to). let older cat take a swipe at kitty. it'll show kitty who's boss and the dominant one. once that has been established then older cat might allow kitty to get close.
older cat has to show the kitty the pecking order in the house.


i miss having kitties in the house. mine are both about 10 now and too fat and lazy. they only give cuddles when they want food. when they were small they used to sleep on my hands, now when they do it my hands go numb

[tollbaby]

See, that's where I'm afraid we'll go wrong. My older cat doesn't LIKE being cuddled/picked up/petted... she bites the kids when they try to pet her. She bites me when she's done being petted on the odd occasions she comes looking for it... (nips, really. It doesn't hurt - she was neglected as a kitten).

This one? This one is cuddle city. He climbed up my pants and shirt earlier (I'm pretty tall to a 4" tall kitten) so he could sit on my boobs and head-butt my chin LOL I'm just afraid that if I cuddle the kitten, George will hate him forever *sigh* can't win. I've always wanted a cuddly, friendly cat. And now that I've got one, I'm afraid of how it will make the evil, anti-social cat feel. I even had to have George declawed (which I really try to avoid) because she was attacking the children and any male houseguest who walked in the door.

[Indigo]

Awwww

And while hiding the kitten from you was not right, at least you know their hearts are in the right place. I know my mom razzes myself and my younger brothers for constantly bringing home strays (4-legged and 2-legged), but she's as much a softie as we are once you get to know her.

[tollbaby]

heh part of son's new responsibilities is paying for the supplies for the new cat out of his allowance. New litterbox, food dishes, litter and food came out to about $30. Rather painful consequence, since he was saving up for an iPod touch LOL

[Indigo]

Yea.... that's always been part of my mom's rule too. You bring home the 4-legged stray, you pay for it. Could be why most of my allowance for many years went towards my dog, several cats, and three guinea pigs. Now one of my younger bros is responsible for his lizard, the other is partially responsible for his two dogs.

[AriGriffin]

When I got my new kitten, Smudge, my older cat, Molly, was not happy. She'd hiss and run away anytime he got near her. She still doesn't care for Smudge, but won't hiss unless he gets in her face. Fiona didn't seem to care one way or the other. Smudge and his long-lost brother from another mother, Mickey, hit it off after a bit of sniffing and licking.

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals...g_new_cat.html has tips on introducing a new cat to an old one.

[georgie]

See, that's where I'm afraid we'll go wrong. My older cat doesn't LIKE being cuddled/picked up/petted... she bites the kids when they try to pet her. She bites me when she's done being petted on the odd occasions she comes looking for it... (nips, really. It doesn't hurt - she was neglected as a kitten).

This one? This one is cuddle city. He climbed up my pants and shirt earlier (I'm pretty tall to a 4" tall kitten) so he could sit on my boobs and head-butt my chin LOL I'm just afraid that if I cuddle the kitten, George will hate him forever *sigh* can't win. I've always wanted a cuddly, friendly cat. And now that I've got one, I'm afraid of how it will make the evil, anti-social cat feel. I even had to have George declawed (which I really try to avoid) because she was attacking the children and any male houseguest who walked in the door.

dont stress about it too much. kitties have a habit of making some older cats less grumpy.

years ago we had a stray ginger cat decide to live with us. he was already older and set in his ways. you could pat him but he would bite you when he decided that was enough patting.

we'd just got another kitty called muffy who was still using a litter tray inside since he was too young to go outside. the tray was right in front of a sliding door. muffy had no problems with the tray. ginger on the other hand decided he wanted to use it too even tho he didnt need to. he go in and do his business but instead of covering it he'd end up swiping all the soil around it and his business onto the sliding door. he didnt have a clue how to do it properly. muffy got in there with him one day and actually showed him how to cover it all properly.
it was so lovely to see.

we all sobbed when ginger passed away a few years later. he was still the independant cat he started out but with a much nicer nature.



dont worry about picking kitty up when he needs a cuddle (or you want one). dont pick kitty up when older cat is showing who is boss unless older cat gets too nasty. hopefully tho over time that will settle down.

ahh crap. now i want another kitty kat

[tollbaby]

hehe well last night, the kitten was nuts, running around all over the place, discovering new toys and where to stay out of. He seems to instinctively know that the bathroom and my bedroom are George's domain, and he stuck to the kids' rooms and the kitchen. After a few stern "NO"s, he figured out to stay away from George's food and litter (he has his own, in a completely different room). Whenever he'd enter a room George was in, she'd hiss and growl, and he'd stay away, but be curious enough to hide behind something and try to get closer LOL This morning, he walked into the front hall while she was sitting on the windowsill, and although she watched him like a hawk, there was no hissing or spitting, so I decided to leave them to duke it out while we're at school/work.

I did spend a good fifteen minutes giving George some love and pettings this morning, even after she nipped me. She was actually purring (practically unheard of), and I bought her some of her favorite treats last night and very deliberately gave them only to her, so maybe she just needed a bit of reassurance that she wasn't being replaced. Her last owners replaced her with a smaller kitten when she was six months old. Makes sense, really. I think it'll all work out fine

[georgie]

ahhh poor george. i really hate people who replace nice cats with kitties coz kitties are cuter.

[tollbaby]

ahhh poor george. i really hate people who replace nice cats with kitties coz kitties are cuter.

Me too, that's why I took her (and kept her even though she was very bad-tempered and considers my children "prey" LOL)