Little Orange Kitties

Ok, I am starting to see the appeal of little orange kittens.

For a long time I have heard how loving they are, and how they easily adapt. Which is amusing since the complete opposite is true of their counterpart - the tortie.

Genetically it has been thought that all orange kitties were male - but that isn't true. Also it is thought that all Tortie kitties are girls - this is much more true. There are male Torties, but because of genetics they are all thought to be sterile. Orange and Tortie both come from the same set of genes.

So anyway. I was in the kitten room this morning hanging out with the feral mom cat (who would prefer it if I just disappeared all together) and Garfield crawled up into my lap and started purring. We sat there being glared at by FM (feral mom for lack of a proper name at the moment) and cuddled. I'm hoping her seeing me interact with other cats will help her adjust. I also need to get some cat proof coverings for my hands so I can interact with her and not be so fearful when she lashes out. If when ever I react to her outbursts, it just reinforces that acting out is getting her what she wants.

I pulled a kitten out of the cage yesterday. They are active and squirming so I wasn't horribly worried, but FM hadn't eaten since that first day so I was getting concerned. It was a little dehydrated. I thought FM would appreciate being able to view the rest of the room, but since she wasn't venturing out beyond the nest, I had to do something, so last night I clipped a water dish to the lower level, and also covered the entire cage.

Well this morning the food was gone, a lot of the water had been consumed, and the babies weren't as dehydrated.. so I'm thinking full cage coverage is the way to go.

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with her once the other kittens have gone back to their foster parents. Do I let her out of the cage? Certainly would make it safer on my hands to clean the box and put food in, but I also think it would severely limit my interacting with her, because I'm sure she'll just sit under the couch any time I'm in the room. Would be great if I could figure out a way for the kittens to have free run of the room while she is contained, but I'm not sure that is the best option either.

Now that I know she'll roam the cage if it is entirely covered, I'm going to move the litter back on the top shelf, and put the food back on the lower level with her. Easier to sneak in and refill the food than it is to scoop out the box while being aware that she is likely to lash out.