More about their personalities.

Ok, I've had the cat and kittens I'm temporary fostering for over a week now and I can definitely tell more about their personalities. I really believe that, with a companion, you have to know what his/her personality is like before you get too involved, so you know that you can put up with them for a long time (and adopting a cat today can be a 15 year relationship).

First, I think I'm correct with these kittens being (now) six weeks old. They are just starting to run around, not fast yet, but are growing fast. Still no ability to jump up or off things without a wipe out landing, but they'll probably be doing that fine next week.

And these are absolutely the most beautiful cats I've ever seen. Very healthy, beautiful sleek fur, pure white color. I wish I could adopt them myself but I'm not sure if I can commit to the 15 year thing either. And I'm not just saying that because of the blog, I really love these guys.

Pipi, the mom cat is the smartest cat I've known. Very tame, very obedient. She is fully litter box compliant, so I let her roam around the apartment, except my room and the kitchen. If she's doing something and I tell her "no", she'll stop. She knows not to go certain places. She's also very agile and a great hunter (of the wand cat toy). She's a little skinny, but I wonder if that's because the previous owners didn't feed her, or if she is just genetically predispositioned that way. I've been feeding her regularly, yet she hasn't gained weight.

I've also been able to train her to come to me if I shake something that makes a sound or slap my thigh. I'm working on training her to come when I call her name. She's very affectionate and will come over and say hello and rub up against me. Sometimes she'll sit like a proper cat and offer me her forehead to scratch. I've found her magic spot, it's the fleshy part right behind her ears, she loves to be scratched there. She's got to be only a year old.

Snowball, the male kitten is still very attached to mom. He'll run over to her whenever he wants anything, always cries for milk and is always trying to feed off Pipi and they groom each other. He's also litter box compliant, and when mom goes to the box, he'll pop his head over the edge and watch her carefully.

He's a bit of a cry baby though when he doesn't get his way. He's also grown quite a lot and is bigger than Columbus. I think he's a large kitten for his age and I think it's because he's always drinking milk, perhaps even drinking Columbus' share. His belly is always firm and round, full of milk and occasionally solid food, though he doesn’t really go for solids yet if mom is around.

Columbus, the female kitten. Still very independent. Very tame as well. Sweet and have a lower, quieter meow than Snowball. Sadly…she is litter box compliant but with a caveat. She has had two accidents outside of the box. I had let them come out of the washroom and explore the apartment and she found a stack of papers I have on my floor and urinated and poo'd on it. And later, she urinated on some newspaper I had on the floor. But she will still use the litter box. I think the accidents are because when she's walking on paper, they move underneath her and she thinks it's litter. She can't tell the difference, so she'll go on the paper. She's not that bright as to keep it in the box, as she doesn't pay as much attention as mom goes in the box. On top of that, she also will step in her own poo and make a mess of things.

Because of that, I keep them in the washroom and watch them carefully when I let them come out. Columbus is a more athletic kitten though and loves to climb the scratching post.

Both of them love the horizontal scratching post as the bed of choice and to scratch and they love the little toy mouse I got them.

The one thing I will say is that there is a lingering smell of cat urine as the box is used more often. I have been told to put baking soda on the bottom (and to avoid odour absorbing crystals) to soak up the smell. I'm pretty good about flushing the cat poo right when it happens. Yes, litter is a reality of owning a cat, you have to be prepared to deal with it if you adopt one.

Would you like to hear about the other cats and kittens that VOKRA has ready for adoption? If so, email me at audio90@shaw.ca.