Long Legged Mouse Biters

I haven't done an update for awhile on the kittens.

Sergie doesn't think they're cute any more because they've entered that long-legged, skinny kitten stage. I think they're adorable - probably close to three months old now.

Athena (the girl) doesn't run and hide from me. She'll either run OR hide. I'm ignoring her. She will deign to sniff my fingers if I don't come too close, move slow and don't even think about touching her. Maybe she'll feel more comfortable if she understands that I know she's there and don't want to chase her.

Henry (to whose name, I've had multiple objections) is getting friendly, especially around feeding time. I can pet him always, but can't scratch him behind the ears (too much like biting) and he doesn't enjoy a stroke that goes all the way down his tail. It's difficult to stop because he pushes into the end of the stroke, which naturally makes your hand pet the tail.

When I go and sit in there, Henry tries to chew my shoe off and Alma (the mommy) pesters around asking for pets (but not completely sure what to do with them) so Athena will come over and sit closer. She knows she doesn't like me, but she is around her family.

I haven't done anything about getting them adopted. After I made my first effort a couple weeks ago, I realized it was way too soon. Now Henry's friendly and Alma is weaning, so maybe he can go. I wonder if he's helping Athena adjust or whether having him gone would help more.

I've been putting up a baby gate to provide a bit of a barrier and feeding the kitty family in their room, while giving Orpheus a treat on the other side. I figured, while an adult cat can make it over, it would separate two cats interested in a detante (sp?).

The first day Alma and O ate their food, while eyeing the other. Henry put his paw through the gate and poked O, which O wasn't too thrilled about, but also didn't react to.

The second day, was about the same.

The third day, Athena started walking up and down the gate with her tail up in the air. I swear she was flirting. That night, I saw O playing "paws under the door" with Henry.

The fourth day, Alma came and looked through the gate at O.

Today, she cleared it in one clean leap. No running, no chasing, no hissing. They were sniffing each other's noses when I scooped Alma up and tossed her back in her room. The eating continued until Alma started growling. Not at O, there's a pair of dogs that get walked in front of my house every day. Alma's hobby is to stare out the window and growl at them, they bark a little and she was responding to that from the food dish. I'm not sure how O took it. We'll see how it works tomorrow.