New kid on the block and elders aren't happy.

[jmvito]

My 7-month old female, Penny, has been in the house about 6 weeks. It's like a war zone around here.

Penny claims ownership to everything; the cat beds, the food, the toys, including Mattie the dog! The older cats (14 and 16 yrs) sleep about 20 out of 24 hours, so I can understand why Penny thinks everything is hers. The problem comes in when the elders do make an appearance. Penny is after them like white on rice and drives the elders back to their sleeping spots. I'm sure she's just trying to play; but the elders don't want anything to do with her. The elders have been together 14 years, and have learned to peacefully co-exist, though they have their spats on occasion.

I might add, that the elders have been declawed on the fronts. I didn't have Penny declawed. The point -- Penny has sharp little weapons that the elders don't have. Not a fair fight!

Any suggestions on how to change Penny's or the elders behavior?

 

[hissy]

Do you have room for another kitten? They could play off each other and leave the seniors be. Other than that, provide Penny with enough distractions (toys) that she doesn't need the elder's to bounce off of. The best exerciser is to take an empty cardboard box and cut a few kitten size holes in it, throw a few ping pong balls inside and let Penny chase them till she is tired.

 

[jmvito]

You know, Hissy, I would absolutely love having another kitten in the house. I'd have a hundred of them if I thought I could afford it!

Penny does have 2 plastic ring/track toys with the ping pong balls. She plays with them, but gives up easily. I think it's because she has only one eye. If she gets the ball spinning counter-clockwise, she can't see it coming towards her. She hasn't figured out yet to spin the ball clockwise so she can see it. Goofy girl.

Another kitten, huh? hmmmmm .....

 

[jmvito]

BTW, Hissy, I love your signature icon. Did you make that?

 

[hissy]

No that was made by a wonderful lady Kimward34 Very talented!

 

[lotsocats]

I have a somewhat similar problem. I have 5 cats who are between 10 and 12 years of age. Our cat number 6 is only about 3 years old. She has much more energy than the others and loves to torment them. I find that if I take about 10 minutes every morning and another 10 minutes in the evening to play really active games with her, she leaves the others alone. So, for example, I get a string and run madly through the house dragging it behind me so she can have a good chase. I throw and chase little mice with her. I play-chase her up the stairs and she chases me back down. We burn up a lot of energy this way. I notice that when I forget or don't have time to play, she picks on the old folks, so I try to play these games as much as possible.

Perhaps this will work for you as well.

 

[jmvito]

Lotsocats, thanks for the idea about quality play time with Penny. I should have thought of trying that. I had to do that with Bleu cuz he would keep me up all night demanding my attention.

Hissy, you mentioned getting Penny a playmate. I have thought about this constantly since you mentioned it. I may go have a looksie at the orphans down at the pound. Though ... it takes a lot of my nerve to go in there. I was there a few weeks ago to get a replacment tag for Mattie the dog. I wandered into the cat section and left in tears.

The experience upset me for days. It is so heart-wrenching to see all those unwanted cats and kittens. It's like taking a walk through a concentration camp! All those sad eyes, and paws reaching out to me, begging for attention and freedom. It's all I can do to not bring them all home. And ... how do you choose just one baby from the hundreds that are there? Oh me, oh my, I fret just thinking about it.

Who knows, today may be some orphaned kitten's lucky day.

 

[jmvito]

Okay, so after my algebra class this morning I made a beeline straight to Animal Control. It didn't take me long at all to find the orphan I thought would be a perfect fit for Penny. She's about 4-6 months old, is a gorgeous longhair silver tabby with a white locket and 4 white socks. She has the longest ear hair I have seen! It curls around to the back of her ears. She is clean, bright eyed and bushy tailed! Super perky and friendly, I knew she was THE one. So here's the problem! They didn't have a register card for her. Which means they don't know when she arrived there. Because they don't know anything about her, she isn't available for adoption until Tuesday. I was so frustrated. I suppose I understand their logic...they hold strays for 4 days in case someone comes looking for a lost pet. But Tuesday is the worst possible day for me. I have class from 8-4 on Tuesdays. I'm so afraid someone will scoop her up before I get a chance to get there. They won't let me foster her, they won't put a "hold" sign on her, and they won't take a cash pre-payment or deposit...grrrrrr.....

I'm going off to pout in a corner!

 

[lotsocats]

Originally posted by jmvito
They won't let me foster her, they won't put a "hold" sign on her, and they won't take a cash pre-payment or deposit...grrrrrr....

I can't believe they won't even put an adoption in progress sign on her cage. Incredible!

If I were your professor, I would allow you to miss class to adopt her. Do any of your profs seem to be animal lovers? It sure wouldn't hurt to ask them whether it would be okay to miss for such a good reason.

 

[pamela]

LOL!! That's great that u have found another cat and have fallen in love with her. I hope u get her!

What time does the shelter open? If it opens at 7:30 (doubtful), maybe you can zoom in and get her then put her in 1 of ur rooms then after classes, you can spend time with her and start bonding? OR you go at 8 and arrive 1 hour or so late for ur class..

Another idea is to ask 1 of ur friends to go to the shelter and be ur "proxy" and get her for u? She might have to fill out some forms and sign it so make sure she has all ur info that might be needed like contact info, history, etc...

Good luck and keep us posted!
Pamela

 

[jmvito]

Hi Pamela, thanks for replying to this post. I did send a friend to Animal Control that morning to adopt this beautiful kitten. Unfortunately, she was gone! As it turned out, the following Friday, my girlfriend found a stray kitten. Her husband wouldn't allow her to keep it, so I took the kitten. He's had several names since, but the name that seems to stick is Duffy. His picture is the last one in my signature. He's such a doll! He's about 10 weeks old now, and starting to really show off his personality.

 

[pamela]

Sorry to hear that u couldn't get that cat BUT glad u got Duffy. Maybe it was meant to be that u get Duffy? He looks DARLING. How is he getting along with others? How is Penny with him?

 

[jmvito]

Penny seems to take Duffy in stride. Sometimes she plays with him, other times she bosses him around. He learns alot from her. As for the elders, well ... they would probably prefer Duffy (and Penny too) to just go away and not come back. But that isn't going to happen. No matter what I've tried with the elders, they don't change their attitude about the youngsters. I'm sure they'll come to accept each other. I don't expect them to curl up together like one big happy family, but they will learn to peacefully co-exist.

Bleu the 14-yo male accepts Penny more than Duffy, and Dottie the 16yo female accepts Duffy more than Penny. I guess it's a male/female dominance thing. Dottie feels threatened by another female and Bleu feels threatened by another male. I make sure to distribute my affections evenly.