A New Family Member
As I mentioned last week, we now have a new member of our family. I brought Skye home from Pets Mart yesterday and it’s been an interesting day (and night).
Skye is three years old. I didn’t want a kitten for so many reasons. Basically, I’m not in a place mentally or physically to deal with the demands of a kitten. However, it’s been a long time since I had a young cat in the house, be it three months or three years old. Fluffy was 18 when she passed a couple of years ago. Sammie was 14, but had been dealing with arthritis and hip dysplasia for years, so she wasn’t especially active.
Can’t say the same for Skye.
I always thought Sammie was quite the little chatterbox. HA! Skye began to talk to me in the crate in the car on the way home and has not stopped. All night, she hasn’t stopped.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Meet Skye. She’s a small gray and orange torte who had been in the shelter since March after being abandoned by her former family. She has allergies and is on special food and unscented kitty litter. I was told her skin was raw when she came into the shelter, but she’s fine now. Since I’ve dealt with kitty allergies in the past, the special care required doesn’t concern me.
In her cage at Pets Mart, she seemed very lonely and withdrawn. And quiet.
Then I brought her home.
She scraped her poor little nose in the crate trying to squeeze out through one of the little holes. When I set her free in my home office, she seemed amazed at all the space. (It’s about 9’x10’). Gradually, she began to explore the rest of the house. And she meowed. And meowed. And meowed some more. She loves to be petted, but was very busy prowling and only wanted to check in for an ear scratch when it suited her. Fine. I gave her some space and decided to do a little work in my office (which also houses her litterbox and food and water bowls.). Skye would meow. I would call to her. She would come running for a quick pet or two and then she’d be off to explore.
This went on all afternoon and all evening. I figured she’d wear herself out and we’d all get a good night’s sleep.
Wrong!
I don’t think she did more than catnap all night. When she wasn’t napping, she was yapping. I heard her get up on the kitchen counter, so I climbed out of bed to spread tin foil (an excellent cat deterrent) on the countertops. I went back to bed. She meowed. I woke up.
At 4AM, I finally gave up and got up, closing the bedroom door behind me so hubby can at least catch some shut-eye.
I keep thinking, she has to sleep sometime! At least, I sure hope so. Or if she’s going to be a night-prowler, I hope she eventually learns to do her exploring in silence.
I know, I know. She’s in a strange new land. She’s stressed. She doesn’t know what’s expected of her yet. The good news is she is eating and drinking and using the litterbox. We’ll be fine. In the meantime, I have a new baby in the house and am sleep deprived.
Skye is three years old. I didn’t want a kitten for so many reasons. Basically, I’m not in a place mentally or physically to deal with the demands of a kitten. However, it’s been a long time since I had a young cat in the house, be it three months or three years old. Fluffy was 18 when she passed a couple of years ago. Sammie was 14, but had been dealing with arthritis and hip dysplasia for years, so she wasn’t especially active.
Can’t say the same for Skye.
I always thought Sammie was quite the little chatterbox. HA! Skye began to talk to me in the crate in the car on the way home and has not stopped. All night, she hasn’t stopped.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Meet Skye. She’s a small gray and orange torte who had been in the shelter since March after being abandoned by her former family. She has allergies and is on special food and unscented kitty litter. I was told her skin was raw when she came into the shelter, but she’s fine now. Since I’ve dealt with kitty allergies in the past, the special care required doesn’t concern me.
In her cage at Pets Mart, she seemed very lonely and withdrawn. And quiet.
Then I brought her home.
She scraped her poor little nose in the crate trying to squeeze out through one of the little holes. When I set her free in my home office, she seemed amazed at all the space. (It’s about 9’x10’). Gradually, she began to explore the rest of the house. And she meowed. And meowed. And meowed some more. She loves to be petted, but was very busy prowling and only wanted to check in for an ear scratch when it suited her. Fine. I gave her some space and decided to do a little work in my office (which also houses her litterbox and food and water bowls.). Skye would meow. I would call to her. She would come running for a quick pet or two and then she’d be off to explore.
This went on all afternoon and all evening. I figured she’d wear herself out and we’d all get a good night’s sleep.
Wrong!
I don’t think she did more than catnap all night. When she wasn’t napping, she was yapping. I heard her get up on the kitchen counter, so I climbed out of bed to spread tin foil (an excellent cat deterrent) on the countertops. I went back to bed. She meowed. I woke up.
At 4AM, I finally gave up and got up, closing the bedroom door behind me so hubby can at least catch some shut-eye.
I keep thinking, she has to sleep sometime! At least, I sure hope so. Or if she’s going to be a night-prowler, I hope she eventually learns to do her exploring in silence.
I know, I know. She’s in a strange new land. She’s stressed. She doesn’t know what’s expected of her yet. The good news is she is eating and drinking and using the litterbox. We’ll be fine. In the meantime, I have a new baby in the house and am sleep deprived.
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Comments
I like the ones who talk a lot. And Skye seems very confident and affectionate, like she'll eventually be a lap cat to beat all lap cats. But I hope she shifts into being quiet at night, and soon!
Layla talks a lot too. She doesn't really meow. She makes weird noises that sound like "murp."