So my sons wanted a pet. We used to have a couple dogs but the ex took them when we divorced, and although I tend to like dogs a smidge better than cats, a cat made more sense for me and the boys because of how much I work and am not home enough to let a dog out, pay attention to it, exercise it, etc.
So we adopted this kitty from our local pound, he’s a little baby boy that the shelter had named “Bugsy” but my boys renamed it. All my suggestions, from Boris to Eldin to Theodore were flatly denied. They boys named him Lightning, which is funny because this kitteh was a stray and is extremely shy right now and doesn’t really do too much of anything other than bury his little head into the crook of your arm and purr as you pet him.
He’s finally starting to branch out. Yesterday (his first day here at the house), if you didn’t actually keep ahold of him he’d seek to hide somewhere, and a cat that small proved to be damn hard to find a couple times!
Today my ex has the boys so its just me and Lightning (makes me think of Roscoe P Coltrane and Flash for some reason, koo-koo-koo!) and when I got home I let him out of the bathroom and hung out with him for a bit, then set him on the couch. Two hours later, he’s still chilling right there. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to be afraid of me anymore. He even paw-pawed playfully at a feather I was playing with him with.
Still not very energetic.
My last orange tabby was a hoot, so I am hoping he proves to be the same.
He’s adorable! I agree, ginger kitties are teh best, but I am biased. I am betting he is just getting used to things; you know how cats hate change. In a month he’ll figure out ‘Hey, this is MY place!’ and get more comfy, I am betting.
Your story about him hiding reminds me of my cats growing up. When they were brand new kittens to us, they would hide in the most random, weird places. The girl kitten crammed herself under a dresser for a while. And the boy kitten hopped up *into *the bottom of our upright piano. The only way we could get him to come out was by hitting the low keys, heh.
It’s true - cats often do not tolerate change well. When I moved 9 cats into their brand new cat suite; I did not see a cat for a week. I’m not sure how they all managed to get under that small a sofa; maybe they were in layers.
Handsome fellow - I loves me some orange cat! Good on you and your boys on taking in a shelter cat - not only do you get a great friend but you get good karma!
I adopted a yellow boy and his sister, a tiger with one yellow foot, a few months ago. They didn’t come out from under the guest room sofa for about two weeks. Now I can’t keep him off my lap. Coincidentally, his name is Streak. I bet Lightning will be a delight for your whole household.
…aaaand he’s gone once again. I cannot find the fucker. He slept on my couch for damn near 5 hours and now he’s just…gone. I have looked everywhere and have given up. I assume when he is ready he will emerge, hungry and ready to pee/poo.
Quickly introduce him to the meaning of shaking a treat bag. I got a couple TNRs from a feral colony a few years ago and the one least willing to warm up to me would come within reach for treats. Now I can flip that sucker upside down and all around and he is unafraid. Still comes running from the darkest of hidey-holes at the sound of a shaking treat bag too
Aw, what a sweet-looking little rascal! If he seems to disappear he is looking for good hiding places and just generally getting to know the territory.
You might want to block off access to certain places. When I got a kitten years ago named Annie, she spent some time behind the refrigerator, and in the process, unplugged it. I managed to wrestle it out of the alcove it was in and plugged it back in, with Annie watching the whole deal. I quickly stuffed some small boards and some towels between the fridge and the wall to prevent another visit by the youngster, and did the same with the clothes washer and dryier.
All the best to the two of you from me and my Bear, Niblet and Heidi.
The little guy finally made an appearance this morning. I was getting kinda worried about him as he disappeared overnight and I looked everywhere and couldn’t find him. I come out of the bathroom this morning after showering and walk into the living room and there he is at the top of the stairs looking at me as if to say “What? Were you looking for me?”. So I scooped him up and put him in the bathroom with his food/water, blanket and litterbox and came here to work.
He’s got to be available for when I pick up his minions after work today!
One of our adoptees some years ago spent all day under the bed and came out to explore at night. Once she figured out the dog was a wuss and the house was hers, she’d only hide when strangers came over.
Now that I think of it, our newest adoptee is like that - she’s been here 3 years and she still hides from everyone but me. I think she has issues…
Anyway - cute kitteh! He’ll be running the place in no time!
Kitty! Seeing him is making a crappy week a bit better for me.
Just orange. Cats of lots of different breeds can be orange, or part orange. I’ve got a Siamese mix who is a calico, and rules our house with an iron paw.
We ‘lost’ a kitten once - looked all over and under (we thought), no sign. Little bugger was sleeping behind an upright support (newel?) on the basement steps, we’d probably walked by her calling out 10 times.
My assumption is that she was walking down the steps and just decided it was nap time - my experience is that kittens can apparently fall asleep in mid-play.
It was weird though cause the little bugger had slept in one spot on my couch (with me checking on him every half hour or so) for about 5 hours and suddenly he was just gone. Its amazing to me that a creature can hide so well that I cannot find it in my own home. Apparently there are more places to hide than I thought!
