Darth Vader is available

Darth Vader went back to the society yesterday and when last we saw him was in one of the crates in the far back room. So, if you've ever wanted your own little Sith Lord, here's your chance!

He is still nippy, but in ways that are very easy to work around. If you want to stop petting him, set him off your lap. If he reaches out with his paws towards your hand and opens his mouth--remove your hand from his head area. He isn't the fastest kitten and gives plenty of warning before nipping. (I am using nip, and not bite, intentionally. He doesn't break skin or bite hard, so bite seems a bit much). He has no front claws so his paws are safe.

He likes pouncing, so with a cardboard box it's easy to play with him without you having to move much. Dangle the toy on one side of the box, wait for him to pounce. When he backs off, move the toy to the other side of the box. He can ignore a toy until it goes out of sight!

He is a kitten so be prepared for exploration. He doesn't make a lot of noise vocally, and he is VERY quiet when moving around.

Now at CCHS!

(While we were dropping him off we went and said hello to Richard as well, who is still available. He's in one of the communal cat rooms and would love attention as well.)

Vader Update

Well, I've learned several things about this kitten.

He's very affectionate. He often curls up in my lap after play.

He purrs a LOT and loudly. I was sitting on the sofa and he was underneath and I realized I could hear him. He purrs when playing, he purrs when being pet.

He is a pouncer, not a chaser. Usually if you have a toy on a string you can drag it along the ground and the cat will chase it. Not Vader. He hunkers down. When it stops moving his butt wiggles then he run-pounces it. If it goes behind a box out of sight this also induces the pounce.

He is still nipping. If we stop petting him (or don't start) and he wants petting he'll nip. If we are petting him or have our hands near when he wants to play he'll nip. He doesn't bite hard; I don't think he's broken skin yet. It does hurt, but he isn't trying to hurt, he's trying to play and doesn't yet understand humans don't play that way.

We can basically recognize when he is going to nip, and the hard part now is not simply avoiding the situations.

For example, if he was my cat, I'd just make sure to set him off my lap if I wanted to stop petting him, thus avoiding the issue of getting nipped at when I stop. However, that doesn't teach him not to nip, which is what we are trying to teach him so he has a better chance at being adopted. Thus, if I get tired of petting him, I stop. Then I wait and see if he's going to nip or not.

If he's clearly wanting to play I don't try to make him sit and be calm. He's a kitten! We start with play and wearing him out. Now that we've got the toys & figured out how to get him moving he is better behaved. He plays for a while then quits and often comes and sits on my lap. he's less likely to nip at our hands now that he's got the right type toys. He still does, but not as much.

He is, other than the nipping, a delightful kitten. He plays, he comes running to greet us, he purrs a lot, and he leaves Jon mostly alone when on the computer. He also has a hilarious butt wiggle right before pouncing.

No, it is NOT cute.

Darth Vader is a good example of why little kittens need to be raised properly. We think (though we can't prove, as we don't know his history), his raising had one big mistake.

It's "cute" when a 1 month old kitten tries to bite when playing. It's "cute" to wiggle fingers and watch a 2 month old kitten try and pounce on them.

It ceases very rapidly to be cute when that little tiny kitten becomes an adult, or even an 8 month old kitten with full sized teeth. It becomes harder to correct the older the cat becomes and can make them unadoptable.

Vader is a playful kitten. Unfortunately, he wants to play with our hands--mainly trying to pounce and bite them. This is not appropriate behavior, period. Fortunately, he seems to be careful and doesn't bite hard. Since he does seem to distinguish humans from other things he bites, we are hoping he's still young enough we can teach him proper behavior.

The basic theory is two fold. We stop playing with him and hiss at him if he tries to bite us, and we try to wear him out playing with proper toys.

He was not impressed with the balls or box with holes & toys inside. All our mice were long since headless, so we stopped by the society today to pick up a variety of toys. We now have a couple sticks with toys on string, a mouse, and a couple stuffed animals.

We're finding he's not quite sure what to do with the toys. I'm not sure how much experience he has with them. He bats a little bit at the toys, and watches any of them that are moving, but I almost feel like we're teaching him how to play with toys. Which, we might be, I suppose. We also propped one of the string toys up so it dangles in the room to encourage him when we aren't involved.

I hope we can shift him from biting us to biting toys. He is otherwise a very sweet kitten--and has an impressively loud purr that goes off a lot.

Darth Vader arrives!

This afternoon we picked up a small 8 month kitten named Darth Vader. All black, of course. He sounds a bit like Darth Vader, I admit, but we're hoping that clears up as his recovers from his cold.

Playful, curious, like most kittens. He'll be getting wet food along with his dry to help keep him hydrated. Otherwise, the usual two medicines. The society warned us he was quite playful, so we'll see. He's still exploring and settling into the cat room.

Darth Vader will be with us until next weekend. More details about him once he's been here a bit longer.

Richard Available

Richard passed his exam and is available at CCHS.

He's a good cat. He doesn't play much with people (string, etc), but happily plays by himself as long as the people retrieve his ping pong balls from wherever he got them stuck. He enjoys attention but mainly just wants people nearby. He's happy to just nap in the same room as people, but does not like being stuck in another room. He will howl if he's stuck away from people, but tends not to ask for attention (just takes it with a purr if you give it).

He didn't seem to be much of a jumper. He liked being brushed and it made him much softer as well. A good cat for someone who wants a companion without constant demands on attention.

Available now!

Boo & Simba - found a home!

Hooray! We just got the word that Boo & Simba have been adopted to a wonderful home. I'm so glad they are going to stay together. Congrats to whoever adopted them--you have two great cats to enjoy.

Richard's Thanksgiving

Has it really been a week since Thanksgiving? Richard has really come a long way. At the end of last week he had finally reached the de-congesting stage of healing and kept choking himself on his own drainage. This was the state when we reached the 30th, supposedly the day he was getting off the meds and going back. He didn't--he'll be here until sometime this weekend.

He's doing much better finally. His breathing is clearing, he's actually able to purr again. He's also discovered energy. He loves ping pong balls! Chases them all around the room. We have to dig them out from behind the crate and behind the desk frequently!

Here are pictures of Richard's Thanksgiving. Like most of us, he ate to much, watched some ball, then slept!