Web log for Dave's cats

 
"Kiss" and "Smack", as seen on the adoption website.

On February 17 I went to Helen Woodward Animal Center in northern San Diego County. I was going to look at a pair of young cats up for adoption that I had seen on their website. I had lost my previous cat "Maya" to kidney failure the week before, and I was looking to fill the void, this time with a pair of cats. I wanted a bonded pair so that they could keep each other company while I was away at work.

The two cats that I was going to see were called Kiss and Smack. They were littermates, both females, and about six months old. Their breed was described as "Domestic Medium Hair mix". Kiss is mostly gray with a white snout, bib, and front legs. Smack is mostly black (though it is more of a smoke/charcoal color from certain angles), with a little bit of white on the snout. The white snout is partially covered by an uneven black moustache, giving her a bit of visual personality.

Both cats had arrived at the center in November as small, sick kittens. They were almost euthanized by the prior shelter in Arizona that had them, before they were rescued by the Helen Woodward Animal Center. After about three months of aggressive medical treatment they were healthy and ready to be adopted. They had just been spayed two weeks before, and received all of their shots.

The photos on the website looked like they were cute, so I figured that they wouldn't be available for too long. I went up before work, and after going through the whole adoption process (which included an interaction session with the cats), I left with Kiss and Smack sharing my one cat carrier. They started to cry their soft little kitten cries, and didn't stop for the whole half hour trip. I could see that Smack had her mouth open as if she was panting, which I took to mean that she was getting stressed out. I tried to talk soothingly to them, to calm them down. Kiss eventually stopped most of her crying, and laid down in the carrier. Near the end of the trip she looked like she might actually fall asleep. Smack, however, just kept crying.

I arrived home with no time to spare before I had to go to work. I had a perfect attendance record at work (where we have to use timeclocks), but I knew that the cats needed to be taken care of more than I needed an unblemished record. So I let them out in the bedroom, set up two litterboxes, two food bowls, and some water. I also put out some cat toys, checked for hazardous or breakable items, and left the light on for them. After petting them and observing them for a few minutes, I left to go, closing the bedroom door so that they would have a safe (but limited) area to be in until I got home from work.

While at work I thought about new cat names (Kiss and Smack just didn't work for me). I wanted names that were two syllables long, and had no SSS sound in them. My previous cat had been named Maya, partly due to my interest in Pre-Columbian ancient cultures. In the same vein, I decided to rename Kiss as "Inka" (the true original spelling of Inca, the ancient South American culture that built Machu Picchu), and renamed Smack as "Moche" pronounced moh-chay). Unusual names for cats, but they sounded a lot better than Kiss and Smack. The Moche were a large South American civilization that pre-dated the Inka, and were known for their pyramids, tombs, and gold work. Click here for a picture of a recreation of a Moche king named the "Lord of Sipan". Moche royalty wore nose ornaments, and my Moche cat has her own little nose ornamentation.

When I arrived home, I immediately went upstairs to the bedroom to see how they were doing. When I opened the bedroom door, there was no sign of them. The litterboxes had not been used, and I could not tell if they had tried the food or water. I soon saw two little faces peek out at me from the three inch gap under the dresser. I called to them, and they both came right out. I sat with them, petting or brushing them, beginning the process of having them get to know me. Within just a few minutes they had both used the litterbox, started eating and drinking, and playing with each other. Once I had cleaned the litterboxes, however, Smack took to lying down in the litterbox as a resting spot, or something to hide in while she looked to pounce on her sister. I put down a padded "cat cube" for them to hide or sleep in, and Smack would hide in it occasionally, but never for very long. Both cats would also spend time in the cat carrier, but mostly they played with their toys or chased each other around the room.

When I went to bed that night the cats were of course closed in with me. I turned on a nightlight so that they could find the litterboxes at night. I also removed their collars, as their dual tags were making a lot of noise as they ran and jumped around the room. They continued playing unabated, and this went on for hours. As they were jumping on and off the bed and bouncing off the walls as they ran around, it was almost impossible to sleep. The only way I could get them to slow down was to turn off the nightlight, which removed about 98% of the light in the room. I figured they wouldn't run around as much if they couldn't see where they were going (besides, I sleep better that way). That seemed to work somewhat, though they kept up their play off and on during the night.

Moche, the friendlier of the two, liked to come up and kiss my head seemingly about once an hour. She also found that she liked to give my hair a tongue bath as she laid next to or even on top of my head. Sometimes she also liked to wrap her paws around my head and hold on tight while she washed me. This was something I obviously tried to discourage, though I appreciated the sentiment.

With all of this going on, I didn't get much sleep. I considered locking the two cats in the guest bathroom with their litterbox and food just so I could try to get a few hours of sleep. However, I'll try to adapt to them as they adapt to me, and hopefully we'll meet a decent compromise while we wait for the rest of the house to be made available to them. Once they have the run of the house I can lock them out of the bedroom at night if need be, or perhaps they will settle down enough at night to make that unnecessary. In the meantime I have a weekend coming up soon, so maybe I can catch up on my sleep then.

The first order of business will be to "kitten-proof" the downstairs. I am used to having senior cats, who did not jump up on things or knock things over as they went about the house. Kittens, on the other hand, are rambunctious and will jump up onto everything in sight, so all breakables and valuables will have to be put away until they settle down (probably years from now). Once that is done, I'll start to let them out of the bedroom. They'll have to have their collars and tags on once they leave the bedroom, in case one somehow manages to slip out the front door and gets outside. Even though they are microchipped, I don't want them outside at any time. The exception to this will be the balcony, which I will let them onto once I can build a chickenwire enclosure for them to go into and out of through a cat door in the patio door. That way they can get some fresh air and lie out in the sun, without worrying about them getting away or getting near other animals. That is someway off in the future, however.

February 19, 2004

Last night was much easier. Once I turned out the light to go to sleep, they calmed down and didn't move around much (probably because it was too dark to see). When morning came, however, there was enough light coming in around the windowshade to give them the visibility they needed. So they began to play, which mostly meant chasing each other around and around the room, usually in a circular pattern. Unfortunately, part of the pattern lay right over my head, so they raced over me again and again. I decided that if they stayed in the bedroom the next night that I would put up a barrier (a 5 foot high large piece of cardboard will do) to break up the pattern and hopefully preserve my face from the racing feet.

They seem to be getting into the habit of sleeping next to my legs during the night. They don't sleep together, but apart. Moche will get the closest to my head, sometimes lying down right next to it. Moche has also proven to be a fanatic about pouncing on anything moving under the covers (like parts of my body). Luckily the bed is covered with two thick comforters, so no nail or tooth is capable of penetrating and doing harm.

They are continuing to eat, drink, and use the litterbox just fine. They also like to chase cat toys around, and fling them up or carry them around in their mouth. This seems to be Inka's specialty, and it is really cute to see her pick up one of the little fake furry mouse toys, and stand up high on her back legs while she holds the toy between her front paws. I tried to film some of their actions today, but they had just woken up when I came in, and they weren't quite as energetic as I have seen them be.

While I was sitting cross-legged on the floor Moche came up and climbed into my lap, where she curled up and settled down. She didn't look like she was interested in going to sleep, though, as she kept an active lookout for her sister at all times. Moche is still in the habit of licking my face or washing my hair whenever she gets a chance, but she only tried it twice last night instead of 8-10 times.

February 22, 2004

This weekend I let the cats out of the bedroom. They were reluctant to go down the stairs at first, but soon they were exploring all over the downstairs rooms. I've noticed that they don't jump up very high onto things; they will go as high as the sofa, but not as high as the table or counter-top. This is probably temporary, however, as I expect them to be getting onto everything that they possibly can. I will have to shop around for a tall multilevel cat tree at some point in the future. Inka especially likes to look out of the patio glass door.

Moche has become quite the lap cat. She also seems to be the more physically affectionate, as she still licks my head or hair any chance she gets. She is also fascinated by the mouse cursor on the computer, and she will stand on the keyboard while she bats at the screen whenever she sees something move. This is one of a few habits that I have to break her of. Another one that I need to break her of is her habit of trying to climb up my legs, or launching herself off of the bed, chair, or whatever to land on my back or midriff, where she tries to hang on. I'm also going to have to get a pair of cat nail clippers, as I don't need needle sharp claws digging into me while she is trying to gain a handhold (or paw-hold, as the case may be). One final thing that comes to mind that I wish she wouldn't do: whenever her sister is in the litterbox making any kind of scratching noise, Moche will run over to pounce on her before she can finish her business.

Inka, on the other hand, has been causing me no problems whatsoever. She seems to be the more shy of the two, yet she will readily come over to me whenever she comes out of hiding or finds me in the kitchen. Whenever I go into the kitchen both cats come to be in there with me. They both like to get into the refrigerator, or any cupboard that is open. Inka always acts like a hungry cat, crying in her little soft voice as she dances around me in the kitchen. There is food and water for the cats right there, and yet she acts like she wants something. It would seem to be food, since whenever you pick her up she immediately wants to be put down on the ground again. However, as far as I know, these two kittens have never been fed people food or fed from a kitchen, as they have been in a shelter's cage ever since they were tiny arrivals here in San Diego (they were originally rescued from a shelter in Arizona when they were very young). Both cats have expressed an interest in what I've been eating, though. Inka seemed to like the ricotta cheese from my lasagna, and Moche liked my frozen yogurt.

Now that they are used to the downstairs, they have gotten a lot of use out of the stairs, chasing each other up the stairs (but rarely down). They have also found that they like to sleep out of sight in the small area behind the recliner. Unfortunately, there is a power strip back there that powers my computer monitor, and they have twice killed the power by accidentally stepping on the OFF button.

February 24, 2004

I took both cats to the vet today. I had a coupon for a free checkup that expired 10 days after the adoption, and for a variety of reasons decided to do it today. I got both cats into the cat carrier (I'll have to get a second carrier at some point), threw a blanket over the carrier, and took them out to the car. Once I started the engine they started to cry, though not as much as they did on their first car trip. This was probably due to the blanket, which obscured their vision and calmed them down somewhat, since they couldn't see all the scary unknown things around them.

At the vets Moche checked out just fine (though she was not happy to have her temperature (rectally) checked. Inka, on the other hand, proved to have recurrences of at least two of her prior illnesses, one a tungal infection, and one a viral infection. She was a difficult patient, as she does not like to be held, and definitely does not like to be restrained. She was an extreme example of what the doctor called an a "wiggle worm". They took her into the back to cut away some matted fur off of her rear, and take her temperature. I sat there with Moche, who was exploring the exam room. I gave her a wrapped throat lozenge for her to play with, and she batted it around on the slick floor like a hockey puck.

While Inka was in the back room I heard the loudest, most distressed cat screams that I think I've ever heard. She evidently put up quite a fight. In addition to the trim and the temperature taking, they also gave her a pill. She gets another pill in two weeks. I can either try to give it to her myself, or take her back to the vet and let them do it.

When she came back into the exam room, the doctor said "She might be a little stinky, as she expressed her anal glands in the back room." She calmed down once she was set free, and after getting instructions on the medications from the vet, I paid the bill and took the cats home. After letting them loose inside, I let them (and myself) calm down for an hour, then prepared to medicate Inka prior to going to work.

When I went to see where the cats were, they were both relaxing on top of the bed's flat headboard, where I had put some towels down for them to lay on. The shade was raised six inches, and they were both enjoying the warmth of the sun as it came in the window onto the towels. This is the first time that I have seen them stay in the window, but the sun is only there for a short time each day.

I prepared all the medicines, then picked up Inka and sat down with her. She immediately went ballistic at being restrained. I wrapped her up in a towel with just her head sticking out (the "cat burrito" method), so that she couldn't struggle very much. I then gave her an eye drop in her right eye, and one in each nostril. I then managed to pry her mouth open and squirt 7ml of a second medicine into her mouth from a plastic syringe. Then I put several drops of a third medicine onto a Q-Tip and applied that to the fungal spot on her neck. I then let her loose. After washing my hands, I noticed that she was settling down fairly quickly. We'll see how well she accepts this procedure after a week of twice-a-day treatments.

February 26, 2004

February 28, 2004

March 21, 2004

Now that I've had the cats awhile, I've started to notice certain personality traits. Inka likes to play with the cat toys the most, preferring the small fuzzy mice and the fuzzballs. Even a very small ball of paper will suffice, as long as she can easily carry it in her mouth. She likes to bring toys to me, so that I can toss them up for her to catch in mid-air (which she is very good at). Inka is the shy one, and when company visits she will hang back and not be as overtly curious or friendly as her sister. Every once in awhile she will actually get in my lap like a typical lap cat, but that is more the exception rather than the rule.

Moche, on the other hand, loves to get in my lap. The first five or ten minutes, however, is play time. She won't settle down, but roll around or do whatever she can to get my full attention (a little disconcerting when I am trying to type on the computer). Eventually she will lie down to sleep, and frequently she does so while she is lying down on her back with her back legs outstretched. She obviously has no fear of someone attacking her vulnerable spots, and is totally trusting and loving.

Moche will never pass up an opportunity to lick my head. Chin, face, hair, it doesn't matter. She goes at it with a passion. If she is in my lap she will suddenly stand up on her hind legs with her front paws on my shoulder, and commence giving my hair a furious bath. She has not learned that she needs to retract her claws when she jumps up onto me, and my legs have a lot of scratches from her attempts to quickly get into my lap. Luckily she has no qualms about getting her nails clipped, so I'll just have to wear Levis around the house and keep her nails short.

Both cats like to follow me into the bathroom, and Moche likes to get into the bathroom sink, which is bowl-shaped. There she curls up and watches me, which is inconvenient if I am brushing my teeth and need to spit afterwards. When you try to pick her up to remove her from the sink she goes limp and it seems like she turns into a formless bean-bag creature that has nothing to grab hold of or put your hand under. Needless to say, she is difficult to pick up at these times.

Inka absolutely does not like to be picked up or restrained in any way. A friend came over and clipped her nails, and it almost took three of us to hold her down. If I pick her up and try to carry her, she will start to go berserk after walking only a foot or two, and she will use her rear claws to dig in and launch herself out of my arms. I am trying to train her not to be afraid of being held, by picking her up, petting her, and putting her back down again continously in the coming weeks and months she will come to realize that being picked up and/or carried is not a bad thing.

Both cats are fascinated by running streams of water. If I am in the bathroom and run the faucet, they are both right there, investigating. Moche will play in or bite at the stream, and she doesn't mind getting her feet wet. I have a cat fountain that I had bought for my first cat, and once I can get it cleaned up and working again I'll set that up for both cats to drink from or play with. Moche has an unfortunate habit of dropping her toys in the water dish, and it happens so often I think that she does it on purpose.

Both cats like to look outside, so when I am home I open the front door, put a chair there, and let them sit on it so that they gaze out through the screen door. They like to watch the birds, cars, and people outside, though they run away if there are any loud noises.

Both cats like to get under the covers with me when I'm in bed. Unfortunately, only one ever gets under the covers at one time, so when the other gets on the bed she'll notice something (which is her sister) moving under the covers, and will pounce on it. This leads to both cats attacking each other through the covers, with me in the middle. Then I end up putting them both on the floor.