Kittens!!

I am such a sucker for kittens. I remember the days when I delighted to roam around my parent’s great outdoors looking for that litter of kittens I knew was out there somewhere. I was cat girl and I loved it. I would spend hours in the barn, hiding from the frustrating realities of a 13 year old girl, and just sitting in the hay with the kittens. Since Operation Kitten at the Homestead a few years back, I am confident now is not the time in my life to have cats. I want barn cats some day. When I have a barn. Until then, I can ooh and ahh over the kittens at my parents house and be jealous without actually being jealous.

These kittens will be free to a good home in the coming weeks. So if you are totally mush over the cuteness and want one, you know where to find me and I can get you one (or 4). 

The Official End of Operation Kitten

I guess I haven't said much about it here in awhile but for anyone who is dying of curiosity (or makes the mistake of reading my blog) here's the story about Killian and my new friend.

I have a new friend. We'll just call her Katie for the sake of anonymity. She's very cool. Pretty quiet and laid back. It is still strange how we decided to become friends and then just suddenly were friends (I don't know how introverts like us managed that). Anyway, I'm a big fan and definitely enjoying my new friend. Anyway, I mentioned to said new friend that I needed to find a home for my cat. She casually mentioned that she's been considering getting a cat, but that her last experience of fostering 2 cats for a friend was not good- apparently these friends' fostered cats ran her life and were way too high maintenance for easy-going Katie. Not wanting to push my cat off on a new friend, I played it cool and didn't say much.

A few weeks later, Katie mentioned wanting a cat again. I mentioned Killian was up for grabs still. Katie considered it some more and asked if Killian is high maintenance. Uh oh. I get all panicky trying to answer that question. I mean, Killian isn't high maintenance at my house, she's bottom pet on the totem pole in fact, the other two high maintenance pets don't allow her to be even medium maintenance. But what if I tell new friend she's not high maintenance and then she takes her and she is high maintenance as an only pet?!? As you can imagine, these thoughts tortured me for days. I told Katie I didn't find her to be high maintenance, but that I have 2 high maintenance dogs, so I might not actually know. Katie agreed to take her on a trial basis, sort of a test run.

Killian left with Katie a few days after Thanksgiving. I was both sad and happy to see her go. Happy she's got a great new home and my home can be cat-allergy-free again. and sad because she was such a sweet little companion cat. At the same time, I've been a bit nervous... what if Killian drives Katie crazy? Would Katie really tell me? We haven't been friends that long. What if she has accidents in the house? (though she never did for me, who knows in a new place) What if she is high maintenance and Katie hates me now for making her so? What if the BOC and I created a monster of a cat?? The what ifs have been killing me, mostly just because I don't want to put my new friend in an awkward position or jeopardize said new friendship. Although I've gotten a few email updates on the cat transition and some funny pictures, I was still a bit nervous.

Today's email from my new friend makes my day and calms my fears (I asked her if Killian is high maintenance):

Killian certainly craves attention and playtime, but overall I don't think she's high maintenance. We're getting along swimmingly. She does run around meowing and chirping when I'm getting ready in the morning: "Wouldn't you rather play with me? How 'bout now?" She runs past the bathroom door into the living room an rolls around on the rug near her feather or ribbon until I come out and move it.

This morning I was making a call for work from home, and I had the laptop on the dining room table to review a website. Killian jumped up on the table and rolled around right next to the computer, purring up a storm. Then we spent a solid 10 - 15 minutes scritching behind her ears n such. That was lovely.

She's a keeper. I think you can consider her adopted.

(Pics of Killian from new friend's webcam)

Hurray!!!

As for the transition at the Nichols homestead: Maggie still races downstairs to check for a litter box whenever the gate is open. Suzie still occasionally checks under the couch. Favorite Aunt still thinks it is quiet around without a talkative cat and a lot of dog-chase-cat chasing or cat-pounce-on-dog's-face moments. All in all, I'm pretty pleased at how this has turned out thus far.

PS. I cannot believe you read all the way to the bottom of this, wow. Get a life already.

Lake Suzie and Maggie's Bush

Suzie is on prednisone (a steroid) for the extreme itching and, as the vet warned, it makes her drink a lot and pee a lot. The bummer about that is the peeing a lot... one day this week I didn't make it home at lunch, and found Lake Suzie in the kitchen. Oops, my bad. I cleaned it up and didn't even correct her since she looked so ashamed of the puddle. And twice this week I've come down in the morning to find Lake Suzie in the entry way. Sigh. I'll be glad when we're done with the serious drugs that are causing the accidents. Although I can't complain too much, at least she's had the good sense to have accidents on the tile or the linoleum and not on the hardwood floors. I definitely appreciate that!

Maggie is also itching a lot these days, nothing as full blown as Suzie's, but itching nonetheless. She's getting by okay on benedryl and doesn't have any bare batches or sores from the itching. Besides, Maggie does have her bush...

This is the spirea bush in the corner of the yard that Maggie loves so dearly because it scratches her back for her. As you can see, the bush does get rather deformed from all the affection, but Maggie sure does love her bush. She actually asks to be let out more than usual and then heads right to the bush for a good scratch. It's pretty entertaining although the bush gets more deformed every year.

I feel bad leaving Killian out of this post, and since you've probably stopped reading already, I'll add her in. Killian is not itching. I seem to have managed to get one pet who doesn't suffer seasonal allergies. Killian is still daring, sweet, impish, crazy, social, and awesome little cat.

Sadly I think I need to either transition her to being a garage and yard cat or find her a new home. Too many family members are allergic, and I can't handle having my house off limits. Sigh. Killian has done a fabulous job- Maggie and Suzie are now both cat friendly (although Maggie still enjoys a good chase - with friendly intent rather than lunch intent as before). And she's joined the BOC in her pursuit of eating all bugs and I assume she'd do the same for mice and other pesky rodents. Way to go Killian.

A Delicate Balance

I didn't realize what a delicate balance we have at the Nichols homestead. Little did I realize Maggie plays a very important part in protecting my many houseplants from a rambunctious kitten.

This past week Maggie went to my parents to stay Mon - Thurs while I had some out of town guests staying at my house with their 2 year old and infant. Since Maggie is scared of toddlers, I thought some time at Grandma's would be in order. My dad reported that she did quite well out at the Cous farm, never stopped running, and thorougly enjoyed her stay. Owen set up a couple extra drainage pipes that the kittens could hide in when needed, and I'm happy to say there were no reported kittens missing or injured! Maybe Operation Kitten was successful, maybe the current kittens at the Cous farm are just fast enough to escape, or maybe those extra drainage pipes did the trick- who knows. What I know is that it was a fun and safe visit for all concerned.

I was worried Suzie would be a wreck without her buddy Maggie, but she also surprised me. In fact, I think she liked not having her bossy opinionated big sister around and enjoyed getting all the attention for herself. Suzie did quite well with the visitors and was her usual charming self.

Killian, on the other hand, was really living up the freedom of Maggie's absence. In the past, she's definitely hidden in some of the large flower pots around the living room- usually as part of the hide and seek games she plays with Suzie. This time though, she's been digging in the dirt (making a huge mess), leaping at and chewing on the foliage, and generally not being plant friendly. (Let's see, so I have dogs that aren't cat friendly, cats that aren't plant friendly...)

Anyway, a few days into this I realized just how important Maggie is to our household balance. With Maggie around, Killian doesn't dare play in the plants- that's much too exposed for her safety.

Maggie returned home on Thursday afternoon, I cleaned up all the dirt on the floor and the chewed plant leaves, Suzie vacated Maggie's blanket, and balance has returned to the Nichols homestead. If only achieving balance in my own life was so simple...

For those of you who aren’t totally bored with the Killian vs Maggie saga…

On Monday night, when Owen was over, I’d let the gate down and all 3 critters crowded into the small bathroom. Suzie wedged herself firmly between Maggie and Killian and gave Maggie a fierce growl when she attempted to get to the cat. Wow. For a dog that usually has no backbone at all, I was pretty impressed that Suze would go against Maggie to protect her little friend. At that point, Maggie was acting much less carnivorous than usual… so I was hoping we were making progress. Killian hid behind the door, the toilet, me, Suzie, and Maggie just whined and tried to make contact. Again, seeming much more interested than predatory… it was almost too good to be true… and frankly, too coincidental to make me trust the old bitch.

Last night I arrived home from work to see the baby gate that protects Killian laying flat on the floor (apparently I didn’t close it right and it fell down). Gulp. Suzie greeted me at the door, excited and nervous – never a good sign. My first thought was that I wasn’t sure I was ready to go downstairs and find a kitty carcass. Gulp again. I moved the fallen gate and Killian ran up the stairs. Oh thank God she’s okay!! But Maggie… no sign of the bitch yet… I called her a couple times and she sauntered up the stairs. The whole thing was rather strange and it is still unclear what transpired between bitch and feline. I left the gate down while I was making dinner, and Maggie and Killian continued the game of hide and seek, beginning in the bathroom and eventually moving to the living room- Killian’s favorite spot for these games. There’s nothing quite so fun as a game of hide and seek under the couch and then popping out to surprise whichever bitch is looking for you.

Killian is wary of Maggie, but not terrified. If either Suzie or I were there, she’d come right out in front of Maggie, purring the whole time. Maggie’s not sure what to make of her, but there was no lunging, no biting, no eating of the cat, and mostly just a lot of whining and curious sniffing!! While I’m not willing to say Maggie is 100% cat safe yet, she’s actually making progress!! Maybe Operation Kitten will be more successful than I thought.

"Cheese"

My Killian

So I thought since my last post was talking about Killian's close brush with death, I'd let you all know that she is fine and still around. Saturday began our 4th week together. I haven't seen Killian climb over the baby gate since her little run in with Maggie last week so maybe she's learned her lesson.

No progress on the Maggie front. She nips at her anytime I let her get close enough. She just wants to eat her. I'm not sure how long I should let this go on... and I'm not sure how to improve her reaction. Sigh. Maggie liking cats for themselves might never happen, although I'm not quite ready to admit that yet. Although I'm disappointed that Maggie hasn't made progress, Suzie has been a brilliant success (50% isn't so bad). She and Killian are buddies, they chase each other up and down the stairs, behind doors, behind the toilet, and are generally friendly. Although Killian does hiss to get Suzie to back off when she gets too excited.

I really should take video of the Suzie and Killian game that happens whenever those two are together- it's highly entertaining.

8 lives left

Yesterday was mildly traumatic at the Nichols homestead. I did grocery shopping on my lunch break and just stopped home to drop the milk in the fridge. Of course I let the dogs out in the yard for a moment too. Killian, on seeing me arrive and the dogs exit, surprised me by climbing up and over the baby gate, purring and rubbing up against my ankles. Uh oh. Since I was running right back out, I petted her, set her back in her territory on the other side of the baby gate and walked over to let the dogs in the patio door.

As always, Maggie rushed right in for the baby gate to eat the kitten and as I followed I realized Killian had climbed over the gate while I was letting the BOC in. It all happened very fast, Killian was in Maggie's mouth momentarily, there was screeching, spitting, clawing, by the time I reached them, Killian was back on the floor and I picked her up. She had some dog drool on her leg, but no sustainable injuries. And this time while I saved her life, she had the good sense not to chomp my fingers. I put her back on the safe side of the baby gate and hoped she had learned an important lesson. I sincerely hope she is smart enough to not climb over it while Maggie is on the other side waiting to eat her. My gut tells me this is going to be a problem in the days and weeks to come...

Maggie vs. Killian Week 3

We're now done with counting days and on to weeks with Killian at the Nichols homestead. She's getting big fast and is still a sweetheart, purring up a storm whenever I'm around. She spends her days in the small bathroom and the basement, with the baby gate up in the doorway to protect her. She's litter trained beautifully, without a single accident!! This week I'm going to move her litter box out of the small bathroom and into the basement.

We've been doing regular Suzie and Killian meetings (while Maggie chills - or whines - in the crate)... and although I don't trust them alone together, so far so good. They are getting more comfortable together and I don't fear for Killian's life. Killian gets very brave and bats at Suzie's nose and tail, which is highly entertaining since Suzie doesn't know what to do with that. And there's still a lot of hiding behind the bathroom door and teasing Suzie by sticking her paws out the bottom or peeking at her through the opening. Anyway, I really think those two are close to being friends, so close.

Maggie, on the other hand, still just wants to eat her. Sigh. No progress has been made on that front at all. So we continue to live a separated life in the Nichols homestead. Never a dull moment.

Foreboding...

I can't help that sense of foreboding when the toilet runs all through my shower. I jiggle the handle, get dressed and come back... still running... I open the back, recognize the flapper has corroded and needs to be replaced, and most of the other innards don't look much better. Sigh. So that's my revised plan for the evening- go get new toilet innards, replace innards, clean up mess. And I've got another load or two of laundry I might remember to put in while I'm doing the toilet work.

In other foreboding, this weekend I'm chaperoneing the Stuebenville youth conference. I volunteered to do it and will have a blast with the kids once I'm there, but I do not relish losing another weekend... especially knowing the next two weekends are packed full with bridal showers and weddings... and then I'm camping the next weekend, will have one weekend at home, then more weddings for the duration of the summer. I wish I could say weekends are overrated... nope, they are pretty great when you've got them. Sigh.

*edit* I do not mean to sound as though I don't enjoy all that stuff - bridal showers, weddings, etc. That is all great fun and I will enjoy it immensely. I just wish it didn't all happen on Saturdays, my one productive day at home.

And last but not least foreboding, Maggie definitely has not given up the idea of eating Killian. She has a hungry and very carnal look in her intent gaze every time she sees the kitten. Killian and Suzie are getting more and more friendly. Last night I crated Maggie and let the other two roam without gates. Suzie enjoyed chasing Killian behind her bathroom door, and then Suze jams her nose into the crack, waiting for her to come back. Killian will come and look her in the eyes and even touched her nose as if to play a game. Suzie licked her, and scared her back behind the door. Nonetheless, I feel we are making progress with those two. Maggie, on the other hand, still looks at the kitten and sees lunch... so the saga continues.

Killian - Day 6

Just wanted to let you all know that my cute kitten is still alive and well! And that Maggie still whines like a moron 90% of the time because she wants access to said alive and well kitten. That part is getting really really old. I'm still not letting them out and about at the same time together, just lots of watching each other through the baby gate, and some sniffings while I'm holding one or the other of them. Slowly, slowly... but she's still alive and well, so I think it's a good plan!

Other great stuff:

-It's friday

-Strawberry picking early this morning with Cora (and watching a big storm blow in)

-My roses are blooming and are absolutely lovely

-Spring softball ended last night with a victory (we didn't have too many of those, so it was a great note to end on)... now on to summer church league.

-Some friends moving back into town this weekend

-Weds night dinner with friends and then a great play with lots of my LT kids- 7 brides for 7 brothers, quite well done and so very entertaining!

- I've got way too much to do this weekend.

Have a terrific day!

Killian Day 3

Killian arrived at the Nichols homestead Saturday lunchtime and it is now Tuesday afternoon- she has exceeded the 36-hours Mommy Mish bet she'd survive. Ha!

Last night Geno and Lucy came for dinner and a haircut (style for Lu) night. They definitely enjoyed Killian. I put Mag downstairs and Suzie was just around, then I had the kids go sit down for dinner and forgot Suzie was out and she definitely went to check out the kitten. Luckily Killian dashed behind the bathroom door hissing and Suzie didn't get to close. She was clearly fascinated. After the kids went home, I had Killian wandering and let Suzie out of the crate with my supervision. Again, she got reasonably close, but kept some distance because of the hissing. I'm thinking one dog at a time is a better way to introduce supervised contact since it keeps the pack instinct out of the equation. Maybe tonight we'll try some supervised Maggie time.

In the meantime, Operation Kitten continues...

Operation Kitten

Just in case anyone who reads this blog has any chance of thinking I am a normal, sane person, I'm going to explain my latest hair brained scheme "Operation Kitten".

So... you all know I have two crazy black dogs, Maggie and Suzie. I am also a cat lover, although when I moved to the Nichols homestead 5.5 years ago, I gave up my cats because I have too many family members and friends who are allergic to cats and my neighbors were complaining about my cats scaring their children. Anyway, my last cat went to live at my parents farm then and I've been cat-less ever since. That also means my dogs don't live with cats and do not have cat friendly manners. At my parents house, they typically scare the adult cats into the trees. And last spring, while the BOC were staying there for a long weekend, there was a tragic incident where several tiny kittens passed away (the details were unclear, but my 10 year old brother sobbing and telling me that my dogs killed his kittens was enough to break my heart). Anyway, when there are baby kittens at my parents (which is a lot of the time since they have fertile barn cats) the BOC can't come over because we can't risk another tragedy. Sigh. This sucks all the way around - my dogs love my parents house, I love that they can run around and wear out there, weekends away are easy if I can leave them there, etc. So this cat thing has to be solved...

What better way to train your dogs to be cat-friendly than to get a cat? Right??

Meet Killian (yes, named after the beer). She's the runt of a current litter at the Cousino farm (one of Owen's many kittens). I picked her for her adorable face, sweet and purring disposition, and because I'm usually mush for little fuzzy babies :D Anyway, she arrived at the Nichols homestead via Uncle Garrett on Saturday around lunchtime. I have a cozy haven set up in the downstairs bathroom - litter box, dishes, comfy box with rags, etc. The plan is to introduce the BOC to the kitty with a lot of supervision and a lot of time to get used to the idea to avoid any tragedies here at the Nichols homestead.

Saturday after Killian's arrival, Maggie wandered around whining a lot... actually, it's now Sunday night and she's still wandering around whining a lot. She doesn't like being kept out of anything and definitely doesn't appreciate that there is a new inhabitant that she has no control over. Suzie is dying to play with this new fuzzy baby, but I still don't trust her to know the difference between squirrel and kitten. Saturday I spent a lot of the afternoon working outside, so Killian slept in her cozy box in the bathroom, behind a closed door and gate, and the BOC napped on their patchwork pillows, with occasional whining bouts every time I peeked in on the kitten. Killian purrs every time she sees me, rubs along my ankles, and is generally winning my heart (which is tough, I know).

Saturday night I arrived home from a graduation party and figured we'd try a meeting between the two. I sat on the couch, kitten on my shoulder, dogs trying to get across me to the kitten. There was a lot of hissing from my shoulder and a lot of lunging and sniffing coming at me. After a few minutes, the hissing was subsiding, I kept the dogs a few inches away from the kitten, and I thought we were doing okay... until Killian jumped from my shoulder to the couch... and both dogs lunged forward for the cat... so, thinking fast, I grabbed the kitten, who sunk her sharp teeth into my finger several times, while scratching madly at my other hand. Awesome. I know she was just panicked because of the large scary drooling monsters coming at her... still it doesn't seem quite fair. Killian went back to her haven in the bathroom, the BOC settled down again, and I cleaned out my scrapes and bites.

Today for the couple hours I was home, Killian hung out in the bathroom with the door open but gate up so the dogs could observe. And other than a lot of whining from Maggie, so far so good. We're gonna take this nice and slow. Stay tuned...