So, I thought I'd finally blog again. So much has happened - well, in Covid-19 terms, so much has happened. Mostly, we picked up our new kitten two weeks ago. He is so sweet. I've never had a cat this young before, so I had some reading to do to learn about what to do with such a little baby, and how to integrate him with our two older cats.
We picked our new baby up on a Friday afternoon. He was a little skittish at first. Since we didn't want him to hang out with our cats until he could see the vet, we kept him upstairs in our dormer room. The first night he was up there, he wouldn't go anywhere where he was out in the open. He spent most of his time under the futon frame or in a little crate where we keep my old albums. He is very vocal, and he would meow as he ate. It was adorable.
The next day he came out in the open more often. He also learned to use the litter box. He was an outdoor kitten before he came to us, but he caught right on to the litter box. Whew!
On Monday we were able to take him to the vet where they checked him out, vaccinated him against distemper and feline leukemia, checked him for both diseases, fleas, ear mites, and worms. He was good on all fronts, except for worms, so he got sent home with some dewormer meds, and some Frontline, just in case he had some fleas that the vet wasn't able to see. The vet also told me what a good boy he was. He has no problem with anyone touching his paws or ears or belly. I already knew all of that, even after three days.
After we saw the vet, we were able to gradually start integrating him with our older cats. Our older cats were decidedly not amused.
At first they were jealous and mad at us. They punished us by ignoring us and not sticking their butts in our faces for a few days. We were duly chastened.
We also needed to name our kitten. We kind of liked old guy names. John also thought we had too many cats names that ended in an EE sound. We thought about Emmett, Ned, Stan, Saul, Simon, and Orville (after our favorite road name - the Orville Yoder Turnpike). We tried Orville, but the lack of a hard consonant was a problem for me and John has always had truble with his R's. We talked about it, and finally came up with Gustavo Gustafson, or Gus Gus, or Gus, or Mucho Gusto when he is being way too much.
At first I wasn't sure if John wanted another orange boy cat, since we already had one who is a MIGHTY presence in our house, but Gus and John and have a very special bond. John ended up sleeping with him every night for the first week and a half, and now Gus is the president of John's fan club, and I think John just started Gus' fan club.
In the two weeks we've had him, Gus has already grown so much, and he learns everything so quickly. We know from Archie, smart cats aren't always a good idea... Just kidding! I love smart cats.
Speaking of Archie...He is no longer jealous of Gus. His feelings about the kitten now are mostly just annoyance. Gus loves Archie and won't leave him alone.
Archie is forced to find places that Gus can't get to...yet. He is now often parked in the kitchen window with his back to the kitten.
Being annoying can be really tiring for our little guy too.
Gus is now full time downstairs and he is more and more comfortable in his new home. The bigger cats are also getting more and more comfortable with him.
Yesterday I couldn't find Gus. I called to him, got his food out, and still he didn't show up. I went outside and saw that the door to the screened in porch was unlatched. So, I frantically wandered around our yard yelling for Gus. I was so afraid he got out.
I noticed Archie going from window to window watching me outside, and then he started meowing. I went inside, and Archie was sitting right inside the door next to Gus. Archie was so sweet to bring Gus to me, but of course, once I was inside and Archie remembered how close Gus was to him, he started hissing at him. Silly cats.
And so, at least one good thing has come out of this Covid crisis. We were able to get our new kitten, while I'm still working from home. The bigger cats may not agree, but both John and I feel like he is a wonderful addition to our weird, messy, chaotic, family.
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