Cat Chat 2

[ru.]

SO.
The foster mom to that litter of kittens had to leave town for a week, so I was asked to step in for one week and watch the entire little of kittens and the mother cat.
I've been watching them all since Sunday. It's nice for me because I'm getting a chance to get to know each of them individually.

The mom is a real sweetheart, but she's also a bit nervous. The poor girl came from a backyard breeding facility and was rescued along with 18 other cats. She was one of three cats who were rescued that were either pregnant or currently had a litter of kittens.
This is her 8th litter or kittens! She was still nursing a few kittens when she got pregnant with these ones.
She is underweight and also has a pretty bad eye infection that's currently being treated but might end up having to be removed if it refuses to heal. The poor girl. :c

Lucky for her, the foster mom is going to adopt her and give her a great home where she will never be treated like breeding stock again.

That being said, she is definitely a seal point tortoiseshell.
The female kitten that we all thought was just a black tabby, is actually a tortoisehell-tabby (torbie), although she doesn't have too many orange patches.
Most of them are very outgoing and sweet. The torbie girl and the littlest boy are both a bit shy though and don't like to be picked up.

The coloring of two of the boys is still a bit confusing to me. Right now they are sort of greyish with darker ears and tails, and faint stripes on their legs, tails, and faces. Their color will obviously change and darken as they age. The littler one (who's also the litter's runt) has white feet (he's mitted) and has a white patch on his face and on his chest. The other one doesn't have any true white on him.

I'm not at all sure if they are going to turn out to be lynx or if they will be seal pointed.

ALSO;
I have no idea how I'm going to choose a kitten! I have until Sunday to make up my mind, but I love all of the boys in their own ways. The only one that I don't think that I want is the little runt, just because I don't think he will become the type of cat that I want (liking being held is very important to me!)
I just have no idea how to determine what their personalities are going to become as they age.
I want a cat who is going to like being held, like belly rubs, and turn into a very cuddly, affectionate, and mellow guy when he matures.
HOW DO I KNOW?


EDIT:
Bonus Picture of one of the little cottony fuzzbutts

rsz_1116162120b.jpg (194.7 KiB) Viewed 47 times

[Keir;]

@ru.

There is really no way to know how they will mature, sometimes they will stay the same as when they were little, sometimes they will be complete opposites. My kitten Lilly was the sweetest most layed back kitten ever, but once she hit about 3 or 4 months old, she totally changed, now she is super hyper and only wants to be held on her time. Meanwhile, one of her sisters, Cream-a (Cream) (my aunt has her three sisters and mom, my friend has her brother) used to be the one who explored and got out of her box all the time, and always fought with the others for food and milk, and didn't care for being held, is now the sweetest in the bunch. She's very shy and always wants to be close to someone. The other girls, Merble-lean (Marble) and Striperz (Stripe) are mostly the same.
I would say to just spend time with them and see which one you naturally bond with the most, that's how I've always picked kittens. When I spend time with them a lot, it just seems like I always bond more with one than the others, so that's the one I keep. Based on looks, I was actually going to take Cream since I was usually partial to white cats, but I ended up really loving Lilly after spending time with them, and took her instead - normally I never would have chosen an orange cat, but I just had that connection with her instead of the others. This has happened for me with every litter I've had or helped with. I'm sure that no matter which one you end up keeping, you'll end up loving them no matter what, though.

[Sixx O'Clock]

I definitely agree with Nicky. That's how I chose most of my cats throughout my life (except for one, which was a Christmas present from a friend, but I love her all the same!). My newest little fluffy bundle is a kitten I actually helped save from the brink of death when she was born. She wasn't breathing much, didn't cry like the others when she came out, and was very still. But I helped get her going, and was bonded to her ever since. c:
Eheh, personal story aside, definitely just spend as much time as you can with each kitten individually. You should know which one is yours by the time they have to go back to their other foster. ^^

[blazesong]

one of the boys got in a fight
again
lucky for me its only skin deep wounds and a torn nail that will grow back.

in other news , i got to play with kittens this week, so tiny. also some adult cats. (rescue cats)

Thread news

if you sent me a cat chat cat form and it's not up please try again , i had a busy few months and i know some have been missed.

I am allowing diet to be talked about now, i'v updated the frist post with more info

I want to get 'helpers' for this chat ,i'll be asking for people to apply in the next week ,so keep an eye out for that

[liv :)]

Pepper owned by bahznoir is a solid black molly with bright green eyes. She was a stray cat on the streets, poorly socialized and left to die because of behavioural issues before October 2012, when she was adopted by bahznoir. She is estimated to be around 5 years old.

[RunaDove]

I love cats XD I have 7 we had 8 but one of our kittens died of unknown causes....

[Naeco]

So, I have a few questions. My boyfriends picked up this cat from the streets about 2 months ago. We are assuming he is a year old. He is now a very nice cat and has gotten to the age where he is playing with toys less and slowing down a bit. His name is Nightmare. Around a few months before he got him, a litter of kittens was born from Momma and a stray. Now, we both got to pick out a kitten. However his unfortunately passed. Mine, Asya, is doing well. I assume she is about 4-6 months old; I honestly forgot. When we move out, we want to bring both of them with us along with two dogs and some other small animals such as snakes, turtles, and possibly a few pet mice/gerbils. Any recommendations on introducing all the animals together? I will post what each one is used to.

Nighmare- He is used to all the small animals and is ok-ish with smaller dogs. We did bring the chug we plan on bringing with us and they seemed to mostly ignore each other after the initial introduction.

Asya- She is an outdoor/indoor (indoor as in being garage) cat. She has had free roam of the woods, etc. I am assuming that she has killed mice and other small animals as her sister/s and mother do.

Cyber (chug)- Obviously being a chug, he is a small breed. I don't know a ton about him but he is ok-ish with cats. Mostly leaves them alone if they slap him away after the intro. Do not know how he will react with another dog. He lives in a "pack" of pugs that are not ok with any other type of dog. However, he seems extremely stressed when with the "pack" and if you remove him, he seems a lot calmer and less "aggressive." He seems to have stress aggression in a way. He is not aggressive but will follow the pack's orders and ways. So if they are aggressive, he is.

Skai- Skai is my puppy. She is 1/2 Labrador Retriever, 1/4 Siberian Husky, and 1/4 Long hair German Shepherd. So, basically, big dog. She will be going to a friends house on Tuesday to see how she will react to small breed dogs and a cat. I took her to a trick or treat event with dogs when she was two months old and she did not react aggressively to other dogs, just being curious.

[mew,]

Prince, owned by *ShadowMagic*, is a 12 pound Norwegian forest cat with long, creamy orange fur.
His favorite things to do are to sleep on human's face and chase invisible non-existent creatures.

so, about a month ago, i noticed that Prince's back paws were a little bloody. I was a little concerned, though he didn't appear to notice. So, i just looked at his paws. they seemed fine, until I looked at his claws. They were shredded. Not like, torn off or anything, no. Literally like shredded. Again, he didn't seem to take notice of this, so i just assumed he was fine. Which he was.
My only question is, How did this happen? Or why? The lazy lump is inside like 85% of the time and he's not aggressive towards others at all (he actually loves to play with the other three cats).

Peekaboo, owned by *ShadowMagic*, is a 14 pound cat with long, thick, black fur. He is a mix between bombay and other
unknown breeds. His favorite things to do include bringing gifts such as rats, squirrels, lizards, or birds into the house for human and sleeping on dad's lap.

Peekaboo is a huge cat- smaller than prince, but like rock solid. He weighs more, too. About once a week at least, he catches anything from crickets and lizards to squirrels and scrub jays. It's so annoying- one time he even brought in a bat! a live bat!
he gets in fights with strays - a lot. He's probably the toughest and most feared cat on the block. the other day, i was him terrify the pi** out of a stray. literally. it was hilarious and pretty cool to see that he can defend our property and other cats from our home.

[Sixx O'Clock]

So, I have a few questions. My boyfriends picked up this cat from the streets about 2 months ago. We are assuming he is a year old. He is now a very nice cat and has gotten to the age where he is playing with toys less and slowing down a bit. His name is Nightmare. Around a few months before he got him, a litter of kittens was born from Momma and a stray. Now, we both got to pick out a kitten. However his unfortunately passed. Mine, Asya, is doing well. I assume she is about 4-6 months old; I honestly forgot. When we move out, we want to bring both of them with us along with two dogs and some other small animals such as snakes, turtles, and possibly a few pet mice/gerbils. Any recommendations on introducing all the animals together? I will post what each one is used to.

Nighmare- He is used to all the small animals and is ok-ish with smaller dogs. We did bring the chug we plan on bringing with us and they seemed to mostly ignore each other after the initial introduction.

Asya- She is an outdoor/indoor (indoor as in being garage) cat. She has had free roam of the woods, etc. I am assuming that she has killed mice and other small animals as her sister/s and mother do.

Cyber (chug)- Obviously being a chug, he is a small breed. I don't know a ton about him but he is ok-ish with cats. Mostly leaves them alone if they slap him away after the intro. Do not know how he will react with another dog. He lives in a "pack" of pugs that are not ok with any other type of dog. However, he seems extremely stressed when with the "pack" and if you remove him, he seems a lot calmer and less "aggressive." He seems to have stress aggression in a way. He is not aggressive but will follow the pack's orders and ways. So if they are aggressive, he is.

Skai- Skai is my puppy. She is 1/2 Labrador Retriever, 1/4 Siberian Husky, and 1/4 Long hair German Shepherd. So, basically, big dog. She will be going to a friends house on Tuesday to see how she will react to small breed dogs and a cat. I took her to a trick or treat event with dogs when she was two months old and she did not react aggressively to other dogs, just being curious.

Introducing animals to each other can be a bit tricky, especially if they aren't experienced with living around other animals. The best way to introduce cats to each other is to have them on opposite sides of a door (like have one in the bathroom with the door closed, and the other cat outside of the door). They can sniff each other and start to understand each other that way. You can feed them both while you do this, it will make them feel more comfortable with each other. Once you think they've gotten used to each other this way (keep in mind it can take up to a week), you can have them in the same room with some distractions (toys, treats, whatever they enjoy), and allow them to interact. If they become violent in any way, separate them immediately. Wait until the next day, and try again. It takes time, but it is the best way to socialize them with each other.

When it comes to socializing cats with dogs, you really have to understand your animals' personalities and disposition. Smaller dogs aren't as difficult to socialize, but bigger dogs can be tricky as they are much bigger and stronger than a cat. You can socialize them in generally the same way as you would socialize cats, but you need to be much more observant and ready to jump in if something goes wrong.

It does help that your bigger dog is still young, she's still learning and likely won't act aggressive like an older dog might. The problem, though, is that she probably won't understand right away that smaller animals are more fragile than she is, so you definitely have to supervise her around the other animals for a while until she understands.

[.Middy.]

You might be crazy if you go from 2 cats to 6 in one day... So call me crazy lol! Widow and Hawk got 4 new cousins the other day. The new cats live outside, they are farm cats. My neighbor named the orange male Tigger, the other two are female and aren't named yet. (Flame point is momma to the kittens!)

I also got a brown tabby mutt, but he escaped the pen yesterday and I haven't seen him since. He was a former feral, so even if he doesn't show back up, he should be fine though! I'm sure he will show back up though. (He was part of a TNR program but didn't want to leave the fosters house, so they adopted him out.)