In some respects, you're right. But in others, you're so wrong.
Maybe it's because I don't have biological children, however my animals have always been "my babies"... and since Polgara died, I've only had HRH Cleopatra QoD for company.
Well, I put it out to the Universe that I wanted a companion for Cleo and for myself.
And I got answered.
She's about 5 weeks old, and currently residing in the bathroom.
Why the bathroom? First and foremost, tile cleans easier than carpet does. (We're still working out the whole box issue.) - the only downside is that she apparently loves the sound of her own voice and the acoustics in the bathroom do nothing but encourage her.
For such a tiny kitten, she's got one big mouth.
And with that, I'm beginning to think she's named herself.
Shakira. After the tiny Latina artiste with the big voice.
I think I'm going to try that out for a couple of days to see if it fits.
Anyway, back to the purported subject of this diatribe - Its been 15+ years since I've had to care for a kitten this young, and even then, Polgara was a little older when she came.
Shakira (I'm finding that I really like that name) wasn't even weaned when I got her. I'm having to handle that chore. We started with KMR, (Kitten Milk Replacement), and then I introduced her to a soft food smoothie - a teaspoon of wet food mixed with KMR, and spoon fed to her.
Today, however, she actually ate straight wet food out of the can - well, I did spoon feed her, but the fact remains that it was wet food, not a smoothie.
Now if I can just get her to associate the bowl with food, not the spoon.
Now, I get to start working on toilet training. Joy.
See why this has striking parallels to human parenthood? And sibling rivalry? You haven't experienced it until you have to deal with it from the animal kingdom.
Cleopatra is doing her best to live up to her title, Queen of Denial - however there are some times when Shakira is doing a performance that Cleo will slink off to hide in a corner.
All in the name of denial.
The big issue here is that I'm introducing a 5 week old kitten to a 10 year old cat.
In the feline world, kittens come with mother cats. And mother cats tend to be *really* nasty when it comes to protecting their own from another cat.
So instinctively, kittens tend to be given a wide berth.
The downside is that all the kitten wants to do is play - they're still learning and developing, so they don't know of any hazards.
That's another reason Shakira is being kept in isolation for at least another 2 weeks - she's too small to go against Cleo for any reason. Not that 2 weeks is going to make that much of a difference, however I'm hoping by that time the two of them can be in the same room at the same time.
Rome wasn't built in a day, you know.
More to follow
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