If you love giving advice...

I'm a new cat mom who will need it, lots of it!

My name is Brightie. I have two new fur babies - Nicodemus VIII, a beautiful black kitten 8 weeks old now, and Calleigh, a sweet orange and white kitten about 6 weeks old. (Don't even get me started on the shelter that sold her too early!) I have links to their catster.com pages in my signature.

I am 30 years old, happily married, and have three kids. We adopted Nico because my husband is a cat person (loves them!!), and I have always wanted a cat (mom was allergic). A week later, we adopted Calleigh as a friend for Nico, although they haven't been very friendly yet! Whenever they're together, they wrestle, bite, swat, and chase - we keep them seperated while we're at work or sleeping.

Last week, Calleigh was diagnosed with malnourishment, an eye infection and a lung infection. Now, thanks to viatmins and two antibiotics, she is THRIVING...and able to dish out a lot more punishment on the ever attacking Nico, although he's still bigger and still wins every time.

ANYWAY - anyone wanting to say hello, give advice on how vicious is TOO vicious in kitten fights, getting them to be nice to each other, or tell me about kitten bathing (Calleigh has medicine all over her, and Nico's just not very good at grooming yet!), feel free to say hello. I will be peeking into all the other threads for advice, too.

Nice to meet you all!

Welcome to the site Brightie!

It sounds to me like you have two active and playful kittens. Kittens do play rough, to our eyes anyway. Unless they are screaming in pain or you see blood drawn, they are just roughousing. Sometimes even the "screams" can be misleading too....when my two were younger Ophelia figured out that Daddy would come running and Trent would get in trouble if she hollered. Until Daddy saw her game of picking on Trent and then as soon as he started playing with her, and not even really rough, she would scream like he was killing her. Kitties can sure be silly.

I would post your question about bathing your kittens in Care & Grooming and I'm sure you'll get lots of advice on that.

ETA, I just looked at your kitties' pages. OMG they are both just ADORABLE!! What precious little ones!

sorry, I don't have any advice, I'm a "new mom" myself!

But those two are really cute!!!!

Welcome. You will find many knowledgeable people here (I'm not one of them unfortunately) to help you.

Looking forward to lots of posts from you and your fur babies.

I just want to add that I think it is wonderful of you and your hubby to take these beautiful cats and give them a warm, loving home.

Welcome to TCS....I remember when my 2 (who were littermates) were kittens, they would hiss, bite, chase each other...but they would also spend time loving on each other (usually when I wasn't around). Does your vet have any suggestions??

Katie

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!!!

Katie, my vet just told me to keep them seperated for several more weeks or until they seem friendly. Which isn't bad logic, I suppose, except that I feel like right now, I have a clean slate. Neither one of them really "owns" the territories in the house. I'm afraid the longer I keep Calleigh isolated in our room, the more ingrained it will be in Nico's head that everything else in the house is his. Does that make sense?

Calleigh often cries out, but they never hiss at each other, and it never sounds like a horrible cry...just a "Hey, cut that out!" or an "Owwww!" cry. She never attacks him, either, she just bumbles around looking at things, and it's like something takes him over and makes him LEAP at her from across the room...next thing you know, they're wrestling, fighting, biting again. I've broken them up several times to check for bleeding or any damage, and there was none - maybe I'm a paranoid new mom.

I guess what concerns me is that they NEVER stop...Calleigh sometimes hides somewhere Nico can't get to, or she may be on my lap (if she can get there between wrestling matches!), and they might fall asleep for a few minutes. They might even happen to fall asleep close to each other! But as soon as they wake up, they're at it again.

I don't know, I guess last night was the first time they'd really been together since Calleigh has been better enough to give him a little grief, too. Maybe I'm not being patient enough, and a few days in they'll calm down. I know Nico sat outside her door meowing this morning after I put her in there before work! LOL! He drives me crazy, but I do LOVE that boy.

Again, thanks for the warm welcome and the advice! I'm *so* glad I found this site!

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Welcome. You will find many knowledgeable people here (I'm not one of them unfortunately) to help you.

Looking forward to lots of posts from you and your fur babies.

I just want to add that I think it is wonderful of you and your hubby to take these beautiful cats and give them a warm, loving home.

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I'm so grateful these cats found us!! I could never have imagined how fast I would bond with a cat. I've had lots of dogs, and I loved them, but I've never felt as proud and maternal about any animal as I do these kittens - especially Nico. Even tho he's the harder of the two to manage, all the fire in his spirit just makes me love him more. Meanwhile, my husband just loves to lavish attention on Calleigh, as does my youngest daughter. All in all, these may end up being the most SPOILED cats in the country!

Hi welcome to the site.

Welcome Brightie and Nicodemus 8 and Calleigh!

Welcome to TCS!

Hello and welcome!!!

Festus and Garfield turned one 4-7, and they still do a fair amount of fighting. Usually Garfield (the male) attacking Festus (the female). And he is the alpha cat, although Festie was born here, and he came at 8-10 weeks old.

I think your boy cat will think he owns your house, no matter what. And it sounds like they are having normal cat play, but since she is smaller it is wise to give her time away from him. Once he gets neutered, he will settle down a little, but if he is like Gar, he will always think of his new sister as a plaything!

Hi and welcome to TCS!!!!

Hello and welcome to you and your kitty's