It's Today! Apparently.
Once upon a last February, I adopted two kitties, an eleven month old male and a four month old female. Dewey, we were told, likes to be the Alpha Male, so he gets along best with girls that are younger than he is. We already knew we wanted to adopt him and we selected a partner in crime for him from a panel of four female kittens offered by the foster mom.
And for many months, Dewey and Junebug lived in a little kitty community in which he was very clearly the dominant one. As time passed, this tiny little kitten--who was very small for her age--grew. And she grew up to be bigger than Dewey. But he was still in charge. If Dewey wanted something that Junebug had, she would give it up. If Dewey called her, she would come.
In the past month, Junie has begun, quite suddenly, to realize that she is capable of doing stuff. It used to be that she would not jump. She couldn't get onto the tables or the counters. She would climb her way onto beds and chairs. She is a chunky monkey, so you might look at her and think she isn't jumping for height or distance because of her weight, but I've seen her kick the ass out of wasps, so I know she can. She just didn't know she could. But she's figuring it out. She's jumping on the table now and onto the kitchen counters. She experiments with her jumping, too. Last night, she took it upon herself to jump through a hoop. She had nothing to gain, nothing she was after. It seems to me that she noticed this hoop was there and jumped through it just to see if she could. I haven't seen her surrender her chair to Dewey in a while and sometimes, she's brave enough to try to steal food off his plate.
This evening, the kitties were playing for quite some time. But they were really talkative and loud, so I wasn't sure if they were playing or honestly mad at each other. There was no hissing, so I wasn't too worried, but sometimes I want to separate them if it looks like Dewey is really picking on Junebug. It's hard to separate them. They really have no tolerance for being locked on opposite sides of doors, even when they legitimately are mad at each other.
So, I went out into the hallway to see what these kitties were up to. Dewey would stalk and attack Junebug, they'd wrestle...and Junebug would win. Dewey complained--loudly--left in a huff and then did the exact same thing over and over again. Now that I thought about it, I was hearing only hearing one kitty's voice this whole time and not the one I was used to. Normally, when they play, it is her complaining.
Like I said earlier, Junebug grew up to be bigger than Dewey. Taller, heavier and longer all around. We've been wondering when she would realize that she can overpower him.
And for many months, Dewey and Junebug lived in a little kitty community in which he was very clearly the dominant one. As time passed, this tiny little kitten--who was very small for her age--grew. And she grew up to be bigger than Dewey. But he was still in charge. If Dewey wanted something that Junebug had, she would give it up. If Dewey called her, she would come.
In the past month, Junie has begun, quite suddenly, to realize that she is capable of doing stuff. It used to be that she would not jump. She couldn't get onto the tables or the counters. She would climb her way onto beds and chairs. She is a chunky monkey, so you might look at her and think she isn't jumping for height or distance because of her weight, but I've seen her kick the ass out of wasps, so I know she can. She just didn't know she could. But she's figuring it out. She's jumping on the table now and onto the kitchen counters. She experiments with her jumping, too. Last night, she took it upon herself to jump through a hoop. She had nothing to gain, nothing she was after. It seems to me that she noticed this hoop was there and jumped through it just to see if she could. I haven't seen her surrender her chair to Dewey in a while and sometimes, she's brave enough to try to steal food off his plate.
This evening, the kitties were playing for quite some time. But they were really talkative and loud, so I wasn't sure if they were playing or honestly mad at each other. There was no hissing, so I wasn't too worried, but sometimes I want to separate them if it looks like Dewey is really picking on Junebug. It's hard to separate them. They really have no tolerance for being locked on opposite sides of doors, even when they legitimately are mad at each other.
So, I went out into the hallway to see what these kitties were up to. Dewey would stalk and attack Junebug, they'd wrestle...and Junebug would win. Dewey complained--loudly--left in a huff and then did the exact same thing over and over again. Now that I thought about it, I was hearing only hearing one kitty's voice this whole time and not the one I was used to. Normally, when they play, it is her complaining.
Like I said earlier, Junebug grew up to be bigger than Dewey. Taller, heavier and longer all around. We've been wondering when she would realize that she can overpower him.