Wednesday, November 3, 2010
King of the mountain
I swear I am going to move that camera one of these days so it is a little closer and a little better in focus. I ran "Raven" and "Poe" by the kittens, and Raven definitely approves. Poe was not so quick to say one way or the other. I believe that is Maru and Poe on the post, with Maxie, Raven and Kif on the couch watching. I love how Juno has her back to the whole mess of them as if to say, you are so on your own!!
After asking the kittens about the names I tried to make nice to Poe. Since she still really hasn't accepted me as a "good thing" I decided to bring her upstairs for a) a new experience to boost her confidence and b) for some chicken breast. I wrapped her up in a towel to help her feel secure, and carried her up. She liked being in the towel and didn't fight me, but I could tell she would much prefer to sit in her corner and not go through this. I got out some of the chicken and offered it to her, and she wouldn't even try it. I stuck a piece in her mouth, and she spit it right out. Jack realized I had chicken, and was begging for some, so I let her see him. I could have been introducing her to a chair for all of her reaction, which in and of itself was quite interesting. Normally kittens are quite curious about my cats (not that I let them touch, but I do let them sniff a little in their general direction) not her. After I snuggled her back into the towel, she started shaking, so I brought her back down, and gently crooned at her, calling her Poe-Poe, and once we were seated on the couch, I offered the chicken again. When she felt a little more comfortable (aka her sisters were walking all over her) she tried the chicken and LOVED IT!! I think I've made a friend. For the rest of the evening she was definitely more outgoing and more interested in me attacking my feet, playing with the toy I was encouraging her with (it was hard as Maxie and Raven were much more rambunctious in their play with the toy)
This morning she was a bit more interactive, but still a little reluctant to join in. It really is interesting, because in the 8 years I've been fostering (started in 05/2002) I don't think I've ever had a set of extroverted AND introverted kittens. I used to think that if they were introverted, it was because I wasn't spending enough time with them, not exposing them to enough, aka not bringing them out of their shell. But watching Maxie and Raven throw caution to the wind and love every new experience and idea, and watching Kif, Maru and Poe hang back and wait and see what happens, I am starting to believe personality is a bit more formed genetically. I do believe I can make a huge difference in how introverted they are, with the self confidence building and the hand feeding of chicken, and letting them know what a "good thing' humans are...
I think another field trip is going to be in order soon. Too bad my boss is in town... guess they'll have to go to the shelter for a visit.
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