New pet!
Well, I got a new cat on Thursday from the Leavenworth Animal Control Shelter. She’s a young, dilute tortoiseshell. I brought both the little guy and Dancer along, in hopes of using them to sort out which cats were ok with kids and Dancer.
The little guy was no help at all - he ate the cat treats on the floor and chewed the foam cat toy ball (I went to the local grocery store and bought cat toys and gave them to the shelter) and was totally ignored by all the cats, though I think he had a good time.
Dancer wasn’t happy. I think he recognized the route (he was a rescue from here), so before we even arrived he was very stressed. The hot day didn’t help; I finally stopped the car and offered water and time out of his carrier. He promptly hid in a seat well. He spent the entire time at the shelter crouched and hissing at any cat that came near. He even swiped at a large mellow buff coloured female because she walked too close.
There were two volunteers there, J and her daughter S, who come by regularly to play with the cats. S wants to be a vet. They kindly helped me introduce cats to Dancer. We worked our way down to the ones that didn’t hiss back, and then down to scent on my hands that Dancer didn’t hiss at. Which brought us to the young dilute tortiseshell (there was a tuxedo I liked, but she was large, and I think the large cats scared Dancer more), who is timid (she was prone to climbing the cages to find a safe, high spot), but loves attention.
She is currently in the spare room, recovering from her trip to the vet on Monday for spaying, vaccinations, chipping, and testing for FIV and leukemia (negative). Dancer seems to be ok with this, as he is back to his usual routines, instead of standing watch over the spare room door, as he (and Pinky) did when we boarded a friend’s two big ragdolls.
edit: If anyone has any ideas for names, I'd like to hear them. J is suggesting "Scruffy". Slightly more seriously, J (and his Mom) have suggested "Vixen" (to match Dancer, as per the Xmas poem) and J's Mom has also suggested "Nina". And S suggested "Spice".
The little guy was no help at all - he ate the cat treats on the floor and chewed the foam cat toy ball (I went to the local grocery store and bought cat toys and gave them to the shelter) and was totally ignored by all the cats, though I think he had a good time.
Dancer wasn’t happy. I think he recognized the route (he was a rescue from here), so before we even arrived he was very stressed. The hot day didn’t help; I finally stopped the car and offered water and time out of his carrier. He promptly hid in a seat well. He spent the entire time at the shelter crouched and hissing at any cat that came near. He even swiped at a large mellow buff coloured female because she walked too close.
There were two volunteers there, J and her daughter S, who come by regularly to play with the cats. S wants to be a vet. They kindly helped me introduce cats to Dancer. We worked our way down to the ones that didn’t hiss back, and then down to scent on my hands that Dancer didn’t hiss at. Which brought us to the young dilute tortiseshell (there was a tuxedo I liked, but she was large, and I think the large cats scared Dancer more), who is timid (she was prone to climbing the cages to find a safe, high spot), but loves attention.
She is currently in the spare room, recovering from her trip to the vet on Monday for spaying, vaccinations, chipping, and testing for FIV and leukemia (negative). Dancer seems to be ok with this, as he is back to his usual routines, instead of standing watch over the spare room door, as he (and Pinky) did when we boarded a friend’s two big ragdolls.
edit: If anyone has any ideas for names, I'd like to hear them. J is suggesting "Scruffy". Slightly more seriously, J (and his Mom) have suggested "Vixen" (to match Dancer, as per the Xmas poem) and J's Mom has also suggested "Nina". And S suggested "Spice".