Free Kitten to good home.

[loafheads]

Tim don't let him fool you. He is a fast vicious toy killer with very quick hands. He must be really confused about his surrounding or something.  He loves chasing anything I threw away from him, toy mouse, rolled up paper ball anything, and go after it pick it up with his hands and bat it around like they do with live mice. Also a long string was his favorite. Shoe lace would work but string is safer as his arms are long and quick and you don't want to get scratched.

<a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=27271501&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA" target="_blank">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=27271501&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;fullscreen=1&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=01AAEA</a> video of him kicking a cat toy.

He's a bit hopeless with toys.  Anything on a string seems to scare him, bouncy balls and ping pong balls are ignored, normally with him looking at me in a "If you wanted that, why did you throw it away?" manner.

[TimO]

Actually, you're quite right, because I haven't tried a bit of cord.  I found some bits I was going to use with Zev, but she seems fine with Kim's old shoelace, so I'll grab one of those bits from her room later on, and try it with Kai.

He does kill the similar catnip sausage which I got him, but otherwise seems either scared or bored with the toys I've tried.

I wondered about trying one of those little radio controlled mice that you can buy quite cheaply from pet shops these days.  Cats seem to either love to "kill" them, or are terrified of them!

I've got a small laser as well, which used to drive Talisker nuts.  He'd pounce on the spot, and then be confused, because it disappeared when his head had blocked the beam, but he didn't realise that!

[rogerzilla]

Yay, he's drinking!

See? You should have left the toilet lid up long ago 

[TimO]

Interestingly tonight, I came back from Sainsburys, and opened the bathroom door to let him have some escorted wandering around the house time, and he couldn't be bothered to get up!

He was nice and comfortably snuggled up in the cat bed, and even when I went over to him, and petted him a bit, it was a few minutes before he could be bothered to get up, and stretch.  He did wander all of about two foot outside of the bathroom, before deciding that this was enough.  He's now retired back into the cat bed for a wash!

I did give him a brushing, and in a minute I'll go and try and brush Zev with the same brush, if she'll let me, and try to swap over doing this every time I go into to see them.  With some luck this'll get some of their smell onto each other, which should help the introduction process later.

I missed getting a photo of Kai attacking the catnip sausage in an impressive fashion.  He actually threw it in the air, and was batting at it on his two rear paws.  He may not play with any other toys much, but he doesn't half clobber that one!

[TimO]

... He's now retired back into the cat bed for a wash! ...

He was very relaxed in the bed, and kneading it!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/L8iNtDS77bQ&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/L8iNtDS77bQ&rel=1</a>

[TimO]

Zoiks!  I'm having a bath, and Kai is stuck in the bathroom with me, since I don't trust him not to wander down the stairs and do something, when it would involve me chasing him downstairs naked and wet.

He's indicating his displeasure at not being allowed out, by turning the meow all the way up to 11 !  He certainly has a fine pair of lungs.

[TimO]

I'm amazed at how well behaved he can be.  I needed to put him back in the bathroom, because I need to do stuff.  I think he realised that I had picked him up because I was going to put him back there, and he was doing the deep long whine that they'll do when they're really really annoyed.  His tail was swishing, and on any other cat I would have made sure that I'd grabbed the paws, so I wouldn't get painfully slashed.  He didn't attempt to swipe or bite me, which most other cats, including Talisker, would have done, and catteries referred to Talisker as the most relaxed cat that they had ever met.  Kai may have him beat!

He even eventually stayed in the bathroom when I put him down.  He did make a couple of goes to leg it for the doorway, but eventually he stayed where I put him, and I could close the door without having to shove his head back.

Not a happy cat, but a lot less aggressive than most domestic cats.

[TimO]

Unusually he doesn't seem to "do" milk.  Most cats I've known have been big enthusiasts of milk.  Since they all tend to like fatty stuff (fat off of meat, butter, margarine, cream, cheese), I'm surprised that he doesn't touch it.

I've tried a couple of times, once when he first arrived, and again yesterday, in case his initial disdain was a function of stress.

I wonder if he doesn't really know what it is?  I guess it's relatively low smell, compared to the cat food (and even the dry stuff I've given him, has a quite strong meaty smell), and if he's not had any milk since he was a kitten, and even that would have been directly "on tap", so to speak, he may not realise what it is.

I wonder if seeing the kitten drink it will stimulate his curiousity?  Quite likely when I introduce them, it'll be over a meal, since that tends to overcome any risk of fighting, in favour of stuffing their faces!

[Biggsy]

My cats seemed to be with milk, but I've since learnt that it's generally not a good idea anyway.

"Giving your cat milk can cause upset tummies, cramps and even severe diarrhoea."

"Very young kittens produce the enzyme lactase when suckling from their mother but the ability to produce the enzyme diminishes after weaning." - http://www.yourcat.co.uk/Feline-care/Can-I-feed-my-cat-milk.html

[TimO]

Sorry, I don't mean cows milk, I mean cat specific milk (ie lactose free), in this case Whiskas Cat milk.  It's a lot more expensive than cows milk.  I reckoned that my milk bill for Talisker was greater than for me!

Naturally, Zev would probably still be getting milk from her Mum, but I need to check on Wednesday whether the Whiskas milk is OK, or whether I should be using something else.

I'm wondering when to remove Kai's water this evening. When I was operated on recently, I had to stop eating the night before, and drinking as of 6am.  I can't remember if the vets said anything specific about drink.  Obviously they said to remove food this evening.  Currently I'm thinking that I'll remove all his food at 6pm, and water at midnight.  That may mean he's a bit thirstier than he may appreciate, but I think that's a reasonable approach.  It'll be at least 14 hours after his last food when he's operated upon, and 8 hours after any water.  I think that should be OK.

[Kim]

Naturally, Zev would probably still be getting milk from her Mum, but I need to check on Wednesday whether the Whiskas milk is OK, or whether I should be using something else.

The vet here said it was, along with normal kitten food.  I got the impression this was mainly because she was clearly happy with solid food (stray/feral cats often weaning at a younger age).

[TimO]

Right, some git has just taken all his food.

He'll just have water now, until I go to bed, but luckily he scoffed a meal that I put down for him earlier, just before I planned to remove his food.

Having had a quick search around, it looks like his urine can still be pungent for 10 to 14 days after he's been neutered, so I probably can't let him wander around the house immediately.  I'll check this with the vets, but it looks like he's going to be stuck in the bathroom for a while!

[Gattopardo]

You can by straight lactose free milk, often wondered about cheese and butter.

[Andrij]

I'm calling him Kai, since I needed a name for the Vets!

Am I the only person who read this and thought "why would he name his cat and"?  Obviously, I need to watch more sci-fi.

[TimO]

I should have gotten the Esperanto "kaj" reference, but it's a long time since I last did any Esperanto, and I was only ever rather poor at it.

[Julian]

kai is Greek, isn't it?

[Andrij]

kai is Greek, isn't it?

Yes (or ναι, if one is so inclined).

[fuzzy]

Our tortie Willow is allowed a small drop of cows milk occasionaly.

She reacts to it like a dose of speed. Drinks, saunters away then goes into a mad frnzy, charging around the house for a couple of minutes. her favourite 'launch' point is a lightweight rug on the laminated floor. Howlingly funny "Tom and Jerry" moments as she accelerates away but goes nowhere whilst the rugh piles up behind her

[TimO]

He really isn't a happy cat this morning.  I think the lack of food and drink is exacerbating being locked up.  I'm not even letting him out of the bathroom this morning, so there's no risk of him finding something to eat, and because he'll be easier to get into the carrier if I don't need to try and retrieve him from under my bed.

Ho hum, at least his behaviour is only likely to get better from this evening, at least as regards the risk of spraying and pungent urination (although admittedly that won't be immediate).

I'm amazed he hasn't really tried to have a go at me yet, but there's still a chance, I don't think he'll be happy to see the cat carrier appearing.

[TimO]

Right, he's been delivered to the vets, and should could back very slightly lighter, and more easily recognisable, if you've got an RFID reader.

[loafheads]

Small price to pay to be let out of the bathroom.

[TimO]

Small price to pay to be let out of the bathroom.

Actually, it'll be 10 days to two weeks before the pungency of his urine entirely goes.  However, because he'll start destroying things even more than he already has (somehow he managed to get onto a full shelf unit last night, and inevitably kicked stuff everywhere!), I'm probably going to give him access to the bits of the house that I can't close off, so the bathroom, the landing, the downstairs hall and stairs, and the kitchen.

This will require some removal of stuff that he could otherwise destroy, eat, etc, so will take a day or two, but I doubt he'll be feeling that active this evening anyway, so another night in the bathroom shouldn't be too much of an issue.

[barakta]

New living plans sound like a good idea.  Well done for getting him to the vets without too much trauma.  I want an RFID reader for cats now!  When we're grown up enough for being enslaved by cats I'm getting one (several) and wiring it into the household system so we know where the cats are - like Startrek or something (*looks at Kim* who will have to implement that nao  )

[TimO]

RFID readers are easily available to integrate into various odds and sods.  Cool Components do some, and I'm sure there are similar things available from other suppliers.

Often it's the mechanical side which is more involved, and if I was implementing a more universal design (for example with cat in/out status), I'd be tempted to buy one of the existing ones, and use it's mechanics as the basis for a more advanced model.  That would be an expensive approach though.

I should get myself a reader, and experiment on my College access card, and the cats.

[Feline]

I have a cat flap with RFID reader built in that you can program your own cats into so no others get in