Author: annagoebel

Magic, the mama kitty, has been very wild and shy. She feels safe in the Jiro Palace – the corner cage – so even though the gate has been removed, she stays there almost always when the humans are in the room. I think she’d live in a tree if she could – her favorite spot is the small, narrow shelves on one side. She lies on one of the top two shelves, where she feels safest.

Every so often she will come out even if I’m in the room, as she did this morning. She kept checking, to be sure I stayed in my chair and didn’t make any threatening moves, but she walked around, played a bit with the kittens, and looked out the big window.

I still hope she will become tame – confident that I don’t mean her harm. She takes treats, and sometimes will even let me stroke her flank with two fingers. It’s slow going, because she’s been a wild thing all her life. But on Saturday she stayed out in the cat tree when I came in, and she actually played with a toy – the wonderful Da Bird. It’s pretty irresistible, and she quite liked swatting it, and tolerated me swinging it around. Progress!

This morning I sat in the “safe chair” and got out the crunchy treats that three of the four kittens love. Cap’n Jack was left out, but he was still eating the canned food on the plate, so I didn’t feel too bad.

The friendly Little Gem was already in my lap. I gave her a treat, and – as soon as Midnight heard her crunching it, she rushed over and was soon in my lap too.

Then Princess came over by the chair. I held my breath, and decided my goal was to lure her to come up. She has been so shy, she’s leery of just being near a human. But she loves two things that humans provide: toys that move – and food. I showed her the treats, and then didn’t look at her. She did it! She climbed up and at first perched on my knees, but was soon pushing in with the other two for treats. A first!

Even better, she would sit down and look at me when she wanted a treat. We have been working on that. It’s hard for a wild cat or kitten to look into your face. So freakin’ scary for them! So whenever Princess would look up towards my face, I would click my clicker and drop a treat near her. After a couple of days, she got the idea, and decided that looking into my face wasn’t so scary after all! More than that, it gives her a way to ask for something that isn’t grabbing or meowing. I’m proud of her!

In the video you’ll also see Little Gem, who was settled very happily in my lap, gazing into my eyes. It seems to me every litter of kittens has a whole range of reactions to humans. In every litter I’ve had (unless they were born here), there were one or two kittens who were seriously scared of humans, but there was at least one in each litter who thought that humans were simply fascinating and not at all scary. In this litter it’s Little Gem.

Princess and Captain Jack should be adopted together. They spend a lot of time together, and seem to get confidence from each other. They also battle together furiously and seem to never hold a grudge.

Princess got her name by being rather dainty in many ways – although she gives as good as she gets when wrestling. She’s also pretty shy, but starting to be more trusting of humans.

Captain Jack Sparrow is a sweetheart, and quite loves petting and attention. He loves to play, especially with feather toys – or his sister.

They will be a pair of magnificent kitties when they are grown – with beautiful, long fur and pretty color and markings.

It’s amazing that Midnight and Little Gem are sisters, since Gem has short hair, and Midnight and her two siblings have long. Midnight and Little Gem are the two black kittens in the litter, but Midnight is a little fluffball and Gem is a kitten version of her mom, who is a sleek black panther. They hang out a lot together quite a bit.

I would love to see them go to the same home, because they’re buds.

Midnight is friendly, but a bit shy. She’s affectionate, and will be snuggly when she gains confidence. She will also be a magnificent kitty when she’s grown.

Little Gem is not shy. She is outgoing and curious and loves attention. She will mature into a sleek and affectionate house panther.