Three new family members...

Hi, all! I'd like to introduce three new members of my family. They're my daughter's, but she lives with me now and, as these things happen, I do all the feeding, litter-box maintenance and vet visits.

Oscar, who will be five on the 1st of July, was given to us by someone who knew someone else who was "getting rid" of a "unexpected" litter of kittens.

This is Oscar when he first arrived at my house.

And this is him after two months on a kibble-to-canned-to-raw transition (all three are about 3/4 frankenprey raw right now). When he arrived, he moved slowly and did not run or engage in any sort of play. Yesterday, he spent half an hour batting a toy around the kitchen floor.


This is Attila. He was adopted from a dog pound (where he was dumped because his owner's girlfriend didn't like him) to keep Oscar company and we're going to celebrate his ~4th birthday in the fall. He is very, very friendly and will jump from the floor into our arms.




And this is Ralph. He was left behind to starve until someone found him (or not) by some apartment dwellers. By the time my daughter heard his cries and rescued him, the poor boy was skin and bones. He's clearly had a rough life and is very, VERY aggressive when he feels threatened (the vet put "sedate before examining" in his chart after his first visit) but an unbelievable sweetheart otherwise. Ralph is far and away the most outgoing, charismatic cat I've ever met. He's estimated to be about two and a half years old and, despite the fact he was a fully intact male when rescued, does NOT spray (for which I am very grateful). He is afraid of nothing and is my favorite of the three...

Thanks, all!

I am very lucky (and very grateful) that the integration of all 8 cats progressed as well as it has. We started the intro with the three new cats in my daughter's bedroom for a couple of weeks, then began letting them out for a few hours every evening while my five were in my bedroom, then we finally let them begin meeting each other face to face. We used feliway in every room of the house, too. It's been about three months now and there are still occasional spats between Attila and Rachel (one of my girls) but other than that, they all get along remarkably well.

Ralph has no kitty manners whatever and though he keeps trying to play with everyone, he's so incredibly rough about it that they all run away from him. Except Spencer, my ex-feral and still skittish boy, who has always had a roughly edged personality. Those two now chase each other all 'round the house for hours on end. Sometimes they even get into a ball of whirling fur, but there's no crying and when they break apart, they take off chasing one another again, so it's all good.

There are so many things that could have gone wrong. From fighting to spraying to litter box issues - and we've had none of them. Yep, I'm a very grateful mom!!!

P.S. That little girl is my granddaughter, who also lives with me.