Battle Cry

After 3 emotionally draining kittenless weeks, I eager for new kittens. But when offered a single tabby boy I hesitated. The kittens are kenneled when we're not home. It's a long time for a baby to be alone and socialization is so important for kittens! The rescue asked me if I wanted him.... OF COURSE I WANTED HIM. But I was willing to wait for a litter if they thought he'd be better going to a house with another singleton or small litter. Still, when they offered me a reason... I don't even remember what it was... I was thrilled to accept.

He convinced me he was a mellow, quiet kitten by not uttering a single peep in the car ride home. He was one of the easiest kittens to handle... going limp when I touched him or picked him up. But once home and set free in my kitten room he ran and hid, trembling. I sat with him, singing, coaxing, then ignoring and listening to my audiobook while playing on my phone until he felt comfortable. It only took an hour before he decided he liked me. Then he decided I was delicious... confusing my finger with the treat I was holding. He scampered away when I gasped in surprise... but paused for less than 2 seconds before running right back to me. That first 24 hours he would flee at any sudden sound or movement, but return within moments for more food or cuddles.

When I picked him up, the intake volunteer told me she had a kitten the same age-Chickadee, a tuxedo girl who played too rough for the smaller, timid Skylark she was paired with at the time (a gorgeous white singleton). I could pick up Chickadee as a partner for my boy later that week. My boy had been raised by his momma cat in a private rescue home and had received some treatment and was in a safe environment, so the typical 2 week quarantine wasn't needed. I arranged to pick up Chickadee the next day. In the morning I was confident I was making the right decision, as my quiet, mellow sweetheart announced that he did NOT like being locked in his kennel alone all night. He repeated this announcement at the top of his lungs until I opened the door, walked across the room, and got him out. Then he announced that he was, in fact, starving- having NEVER eaten in his ENTIRE LIFE. When I pointed out that his kitten belly was a prime example of a perfect avocado bod- he informed me, again at the top of his lungs, that he didn't know what an avocado was but it he was SURE it was a shriveled up, empty sack of nothing. After his breakfast of wet kitten food topped with human finger nibbles, he screamed for a playmate. OK, OK.. I'll go get her!

Chickadee's foster told me she used to be food aggressive but had gotten over that... but had very intense feelings about being touched on the belly.... a huge NO THANK YOU for Chickadee. But she settled into the carrier with the same silent fortitude as her soon to be brother and traveled home without a peep. With the group name battle kittens- you may realize by now that I was being fooled a second time. But I had no idea this sweet girl was ready to rumble!

I always use food to introduce kittens. The little boy recognized the food container I brought in and was ready, as always, for a treat. I set her down in the kennel and told them what fun we were going to have. He sniffed the kennel as he ran by, but was really just following all the movements of the magical food conveyance devices, also known as my hands. She made no sounds but seemed to be tracking his spastic movements all around her. All seemed ok. I opened the kennel with a vision of them enjoying a meal and scampering off to play, as he was a happy, active guy and she had harrased her former foster sister with attempts to wrestle. He eagerly tracked my hand movements, getting completely in the way while I opened up her travel crate- which he promptly and ungracefully fell into moments later- directly on her head. He popped out declaring "THAT'S NOT MY FOOD MOMMA!" before demanding the treat he knew was in the area. I plucked her out before scooping out some wet food with my fingers and offering it to both of them. He gobbled it up vigorously, completely oblivious of her despite the fact that she grumbled under her breath while she ate. The grumbles turned into growls, which turned into warnings, which morphed into seriously loud battle cries that did not slow down the food consumption of either kitten. She voiced her displeasure while chomping on the food (and my fingers). I don't think he even heard it over the sound of his own hunger while he chomped food and anything that had ever been near the food, like my fingers, palms, and thigh. Chickadee had also found her voice. But while all of his noises were insistent, but eager and happy requests for attention or food... her noises were accompanied by the hairs on the back of her neck raised and a poofy, no-nonsense tail. She was not shy about sharing her displeasure at being rousted from her realm where she tyrannized her underling and plopped into enemy territory. Did not matter one bit that her new nemesis lacked any warrior spirit and made repeated attempts to entice her to play. Now completely devoid of any fear, he was busy spazzing out with his toys, which included the sheets, the floor tiles, my toes, the air, his toes, his kibble, his litterbox, his poop, and then an entire bag of kitten toys one of my friends donated to me that he found, ripped open, and spread across the floor.

The next few days I attempted to mediate, but he wouldn't sit still long enough to listen and she listened to no one but her own counsel. And she counseled herself to win by stalking her enemy, learning his habits, then defeating him at his own game. While he zinged from one thing to another with equal pleasure in all of it, she had a singular focus... him. Perhaps, the audio book I was listening to about space pirates influenced me, as the main character is a naïve and optimistic captain of a merchant ship who gets his crew into dangerous predicaments by disregarding the idea that he could be in danger... but in my head I started describing and referring to him as Captain Oblivious. I also started telling Chickadee to stop being such a "sassy pants" whenever she was growing or hissing or yowling at something... which was basically every waking moment... and since Cap had a title, she soon became dubbed Sergeant Sassy Pants. After a few days, I realized I was using these terms as names instead of figuring out what names from my kitten litter theme list suited them the best.

Because I had to be ready to separate them at a moment's notice, I took very few pictures... though I couldn't resist taking tons of videos because the sassy part of me couldn't help but laugh at her noises and attitude even while I stressed about her happiness. I messaged her previous foster a few times, questioning if putting them together was the right thing to do- but she was more confident in all of us than I was and urged me to give it a few more days. I'm really glad I listened to her.

So... less pictures than usual, but here's a video of their first week. From numerous videos I took I selected a dozen or so of the ones I thought best showed their story- threw them into a video editing program, and discovered I had nearly 30 minutes of footage. I spent nearly another week editing that down to 5ish minutes ... so I REALLY hope you enjoy my novice video editing efforts.