Author: annagoebel

New toy: google-eye ball!

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We got a few new toys at MadCat today and are introducing them a couple at a time. Today’s introduction is googly balls! I’m calling them that because they are little super balls with google eyes painted on them, and a couple of feathers stuck into them. They seemed to me to have potential – and I wasn’t wrong.

We gave two to Mamba’s group, and they became instantly fascinated. They quite enjoyed batting them around and chasing after them. Quintus would pick one up by the feathers and carry it off to release it in a new location. Mostly two or three kittens would group around one and bat it somewhere and zoom after it.

Tiny was quite afraid of the google balls at first, so it took him a few minutes to get close enough to bat it and jump back. After awhile he got more comfortable with it.

…aand evening crazies

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This is Hazel’s group, enjoying their new jungle gym. That wasn’t what we intended it for, but that’s clearly what it is in their eyes.

The idea is to set the big dog cage up the way we had it when Hazel was pregnant, with a safe “cave” and all the necessaries (food, water, litter box). Then we hope to lure Hazel into it, so we can get her to the vet for spaying. I haven’t been able to get her into a carrier any other way, so she is the only mama who hasn’t been spayed yet.

Hazel, of course, recognizes the cage for what it is, and stayed a wary distance away as George set it up. The kittens, however, had fewer inhibitions. Puck had none! Predictably, he was “helping” from the beginning, and was inside it before the ends were up. The others soon joined.

We set it up with both doors wide open, and the kittens proceeded to have a blast!

Puck led the way, climbing the sides and swinging from the top almost immediately. Then a toy was added to the fun, and everyone joined in. Smudge is the best at walking on the top.
Puck is an incredible athlete!

Pushy children

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Hazel was semi-feral when she came to us, but I have hopes that she will become more trusting and tame enough to adopt. Working towards this, I sometimes give her a plate of food and sit near her, which she accepts.

This morning, I sat with a plate of food next to where she was. She hissed, but didn’t leave, and I put the food in front of her. She was eating with me close by, and I was pretty happy with that.

Then her kittens decided her food must be better than what they were eating, and one by one three of the four came and pushed in to eat hers – even though it was exactly the same as theirs! First Farley, then Charlie Pie, then Smudge. Puck just kept eating where he was – a paté in the paw is worth two … somewhere else.

Farley (tabby on the right), Charlie Pie (calico, behind him), and Smudge (smudgy one on the left) all decided it would be tastier to take mom’s food than eat the identical food I’d already put down for them. Hazel was pushed right out! There’s plenty to go ’round, so she will probably go and eat theirs.

Morning crazies

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This morning crazies are always fun to watch, and watching two or more kittens together is especially entertaining. It’s one of several reasons why 9 Lives Rescue recommends adopting two kittens together. They are happier – and they’re so much more fun than just one!

These are Mamba’s kittens, now 16 weeks old! They are so adorable, they would have been adopted long ago, but we couldn’t even list them until they fought off sickness that came with them from the farm. They are strong and playful now – and reaching peak cuteness!

Snippet (center) and his sister, Callisto, with Tiny to the left. This is especially rewarding for me, because Snippet has been fighting both a virus and an ear infection, and it’s so great to see him getting his energy back! These guys didn’t have an easy start in life, but they are almost all at full health. One more week of antibiotics to go!

Sweet kittens

Black Mamba’s kittens are so sweet. The whole family is very sweet-natured. Their favorite things are playing and snuggling and world-class purring!

Two of the snuggliest, with great purrs: Snippet (right) and his sister, Callipso. (Callipso is about the same size as Snippet – the camera angle makes her look smaller.)

Farley’s new trick

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Farley has learned a new trick. He showed it off this evening, but it was clear that he’d been working on it. He zooms up the cat tree, then leaps across to the grate of the Jiro Palace. He climbed up further, climbed down, then leaped back to the tree. The first time, he landed on the tree perfectly. The second time (video below), he miscalculated a bit and went all the way to the floor. I suppose back at the farm he would have been falling from the barn rafters or hay mow. At least here he has carpet to land on!

Farley is quite the athletic little dude. He often seems to want to act with some dignity, but then he will lose it and get totally silly!

Hazel starting to play

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Mama Hazel likes toys to play with, which will be very helpful in convincing her that humans have her best interests at heart. She is cautious, but tolerates me being closer if I have a toy.

She is so beautiful! She has a world-class scowl when she feels you’re invading her space, but at play she’s so cute! I think she’s between 2 and 4 years old. She has lived around people, but in a barn situation where it was never up close and personal. She seems to like her new life, and her kittens were born and raised here. Now that they’re older, it’s time to develop a better relationship between her and humans, and then find her a loving home.

One thing we’ve discovered with pretty much every single cat: just a stick is the best toy ever. This stick used to have something on the end, but the kitties are completely happy with it all by itself. Pull a stick along the floor, and you’ll have every cat in the area after it.

Always a good toy: the paper bag

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Every so often, a plain grocery bag is a great new toy for the kittens – not to mention adult cats! Because the handles pose a risk (if a cat gets their head through they can freak out and injure themselves), I either take them off or take off one end so it’s no longer a loop.

Callipso is on the bag, Blaze is inside it, Snippet joins in, and Quintus comes by but declines to join in.

Playing in the water

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Blaze is a menace with the water! As far as I could see, the light was such that he was casting a shadow into the bowl, and it seemed to him like something moving under the water. He tried really hard to get it! We have the water bowl on a shallow tray, but it was not enough – he splashed water two feet away! We’ll be putting the water in a bigger tray. We started putting the water in this big, heavy bowl because someone kept tipping the previous one over. I think I might know who!

This is Blaze, possibly descended from kitties who lived near water and fished!