Damn. My roommate let the Rott see my kitten (he held onto her collar in front of my open door while I held onto Dante about six feet away from him) and that dog started getting mean. I don’t think I ever heard her growl like that. Dante didn’t even flinch. He’s either a tough little bastard or a dumb little bastard. Maybe a bit of both.
I’m already getting kind of attached to the little guy, which is weird because I stopped feeling that way about my family’s pets when I was maybe eight years old. It’s pretty cool, though. And I’ve never seen a kitten who was such an absolutely perfect combination of chilled out and playful/frisky.
I am. He doesn’t ever leave the room and the dog doesn’t ever come in - she wasn’t allowed in even before I got the kitten. There’s a small room in between the hall and my room, so Dante is actually behind two closed doors.
I wouldn’t let him near a dog (any dog) but he seems to be able to stand his own against other cats. When I took him over to my parents’ house yesterday and introduced him to one of their cats, an 8 year old female who’s pretty damn big, they both arched their backs and hissed at each other. Then the adult cat ran away scared leaving tiny, little Dante standing there victorious (and possibly somewhat confused).
But now is the time. He’ll be less lonely, less trouble* and later, when you want anotehr cat there will be hissing and adjustment time. If it’s a littermate, you won;t have that problem. And two is less trouble that one.
when cats get bored sometimes they get into trouble.
The ad is gone from Craigslist, so I’m guessing that means the kitties must have all been given away. I looked back about two months on Harrisburg’s CL (that’s only 200 listings) and couldn’t find any other ads for kittens, so either that means that they get snapped up quickly and the ads get removed, or they aren’t listed too often and they get snapped up quickly because of that. Looks like I got lucky even getting one!
Because of the dogs, I have to keep him in my room. Unfortunately, however, his playfulness consists pretty much exclusively now of pouncing, scratching, and biting. He doesn’t seem to sleep all that much. What this means is that when I’m trying to sleep, any square inch of flesh I leave exposed is going to get scratched and bitten. I thought I was okay when I was sleeping today with my legs and arms entirely under the covers… until he started pouncing on my face! Now that I’m awake, I have to keep my legs and feet up on my chair because if I let my feet rest on the floor for more than a minute or two, I’ll soon find him wrapped around a foot clawing and biting!
This was a lot cuter the first couple of days before his scratches were strong enough to break the skin. Apparently he learns fast because I’m getting scratched the hell up here.
Is there anything I can do, or is this just something I have to wait out?
There is a reason my two cats don’t sleep with me and that reason is that the rambunctious one ( over two years old at this point ) still cannot be trusted at night not to harass my body parts as they shift under the blankets. I give him a try every three months or so. He always fails to restrain himself.
The solution, or at least a partial solution, is another kitten. If they’re chewing on each other, they’re not chewing on you. I was forced to do the same to save my sanity.
Kitten season is, or will be very soon, in full swing. It is literally impossible that there are no kittens in your area, unless you live on the arctic circle ( and even then… ). You just might have to pay a shelter $50-100 for the adopting priviledge, is all ( usually includes spay/neuter, immunizations and frequently ID chips ).
This, however, won’t do. Kittens have to learn that hands aren’t toys and really rough play shouldn’t be tolerated. Other kittens teach this in part by squealing and fleeing. If he bites, make a loud noise and withdraw your hands. Other methods might be required:
I’m here to report that no truer words can be spoken in matters of the rambunctious kitten. Tiburon would drive us NUTS by attacking our feet from out of the blue while we were sitting and watching TV, and there was NO WAY he could be allowed in bed with us.
We finally decided that the poor guy needed a companion to burn off all that playful energy. We went to the local mobile animal shelter when they were at a local store (a local county animal shelter has a mobile unit with scheduled days at local stores, parks, etc.) to see if they might have a kitten around Tibs’ age - about 8 months or so. Best laid plans, etc… wound up falling in love with a freshly-altered 2 to 4 year-old male tabby.
Took him home, put him in a spare room with a litter box, food and water. Let the boys sniff each other through the crack under the door. Within two days’ time, they were very cordial with one another, and within the week, they were buds.
Tiburon calmed down almost immediately. Now, after just a month and a half, he sleeps in our bed at night. No surprise attacks of any kind.
We may just be lucky, but I really think having Montrose around has helped Tiburon a lot.
Having issues trying to upload pix for obligatory link. Sorry about that.
Thanks for the info Tamerlane. A second cat is a good idea in theory. In practice, I just don’t have the room, and I don’t have the money to get two cats fixed.
I take him over to my parents’ house every couple of days to see their cats, but those cats are getting kind of old, so he mostly just runs around and plays by himself there.
The ad may be gone, but they still may have one.