You would not know it from these new pictures, but Riley has really come out of her shell and has truly earned the nickname “Danger Cat.” If there is a kitten doing something that they shouldn’t 9 times out of 10 it’s Riley. She is willing to try lots of new things, whether those things may be smart or not 
She is currently plotting the death of her arch-nemesis the Ceiling Fan! She is not sure how or when it will happen, but she is certain that she *will* be able to get it.
In one of the pics, you will notice Riley is carrying around a small white mouse toy. This is a toy that used to be Otter’s and it’s what we call “well loved.” I have been buying them all kinds of new toys and fun new catnip mice toys in all different kinds and colors, which they do enjoy, but when we cleaned out the cat room we found one lone mouse left over from when Otter played with toys.
I just left it in the cat room with the other toys that we found hiding amongst the boxes and didn’t think much of it. Riley found it and it has become her soulmate. She carries that mouse round with her everywhere. She actually holds the mouse while playing with other toys and if the mouse somehow gets misplaced, she will stop whatever she is doing and find the mouse.
Parker playing with the mouse is greatly frowned upon and Riley will go to great lengths to keep Parker from obtaining the mouse. If Parker does get it, then Riley will pounce on her and immediately retrieve it and go off to play with her mouse on her own.
The dogs carry toys around all the time and it’s cute, but I don’t think that much of it because it’s what dogs do. I’ve never had a cat that is that enamoured with one specific toy, so it really amuses me when I see Riley carrying around her mouse.
I have been a little lax on the daily kitten posts Here are some new pictures of Parker and the kittens good friend Obie. Obie is about the last dog I expected would like, let alone actually be interested in the kittens. He is actually very interested in them and seems to really enjoy them (when he really doesn’t enjoy a whole lot..he’s a bit grouchy).
He is the only dog that is allowed in the cat room because he pays absolutely no attention to anything but the kittens. He completely ignores the toys, litterboxes and cat food. He does pay rapt attention to the kittens every move and follows them around like a shadow. He doesn’t really try to play with them, but if they play with him he’s ok with that. He mostly just likes to follow them around and watch them (not in a prey type way).
Parker and Riley have been waging a war for a couple weeks. The War to Claim the Top of the Cat Tree has been valiantly fought by both sides, but the introduction of a new bed was the turning point in that war.
Orion has long held the Queen of the Cat Tree title and could most often be found there. The introduction of the kittens seemed to just make her more resolved never to leave the safety of the upper deck while the interlopers were free in her midst.
Many attempts were waged by the kittens to dislodge her from her spot, mostly out of curosity, I think. They even tried double teaming her, with one drawing her attention and the other trying to get to the top of the tree, but each attempt was met with a big hiss and a few whaps of the paw.
Orion did stop completely ignoring them and started watching them after a day or so, but still had no desire to actually be near either of them. Her icy position has started to melt a little and we have even caught all three of them at the top of the tree, if briefly (too brief for photographic evidence so far).
Below you have the kitten victory session of cat tree playing, while Orion watches from the safety of the new black bed.
Orion is finally getting used to the interlopers in her world and has stopped living on top of the cat tree the majority of the time so we were able to get a few pictures of her in various other places.
She did immediately claim the lovely, soft, black bed that I bought for the kittens, but they don’t seem to mind as they can now venture to the top of the cat tree without risking life and limb.
They have been DYING to see the top of the tree since they were introduced to the “cat room,” but Orion was the Mighty Defender of the Upper Deck and valiantly fought off anyone that dared darken the top of the tree.
Not a whole lot new on the kitten front, other than they are so much fun and they are really good kittens. They are still being crated part of the time as all the dogs aren’t quite kitten friendly yet and we have a foster dog that will (thankfully) be leaving soon that will *never* be safe around them.
They enjoy anything we give them to play with. I had gotten a little cat tree/house thing for Otter and Orion a while back and both of them shunned it and wanted nothing to do with it. John got it out for Riley and Parker last night and they had fun exploring it, climbing all over it and using the sisal scratching post areas.
When I got out the camera to take pictures, like a moth to a flame, Parker ran over to play with the lens cap and I got this super close up of Paxton checking our Parker.
We have been keeping the kittens in either a crate or an expen as we slowly introduce them to the dogs. At first Paxton was not at all happy with these tiny interlopers and he would bark frantically (bordering on hysteria) when we first got them.
Bun has a bit of problem with change. I don’t blame him. I don’t like it either. So we have tried introducing him to the kittens while holding one and he was having none of that either. Finally I decided he would get used to them and settle down.
Last night, he was showing some interest in them without being hysterical so I decided we would try introducing him to them today while they were playing in the bedroom.
As I expected, he was fine with them today, now that he is used to them being around. He DESPERATELY wanted to play with them, but they are not quite to that point yet. He tried every cute trick in his book to entice them into playing with him.
After he calmed down a bit (he was pretty excited at first), they started playing with each other. He watched them and tried to get them to let him join in, but had no luck on this first attempt. He finally gave up, in disgust, and asked to be let out of the bedroom to continue on his normal morning routine.
Since pictures are so small so it’s hard to see this, but Parker is playing with Paxton here and batting him on the nose. I cropped out a close up to make it easier to see.
Parker was very broken from the shot yesterday, but she is much better today. She is still not quite 100%, but I expect she will be by tonight.
She looks kinda scared here, her eyes are so big. She is actually watching Riley in what appears to be disbelief that she is being SO bad. Riley was busy climbing up and down the TV pillow and trying to get on top of the headboard to get something she sees on the wall (that is invisible to the human eye as far as I can tell).
Parker continues to have quite a good time with the play mat that we got for them.
Parker is VERY intrigued by the camera and in particular the lens cap and the nylon camera strap. It makes taking pictures a challenge when you have a small foot batting at the lens cap or pulling on the strap.
Ever since her trip to the vet, Miss Riley has really turned the corner with her timidness. I guess it just took her a few days to get her bearings and her true personality to come out. She has now earned the nickname “Danger Cat” because she’s actually far more bold than Parker (aka: Adventure Cat) in some regards.
We are not letting them roam free in the house yet because we are slowly introducing them to the dogs to make sure everyone is kitten friendly (the other cats were long adult by the time most of the dogs came here). We have them in an expen with a cat tree and toys in the livingroom to get the dogs used to them and used to their fast, pinball like movements so they don’t treat them like prey.
Parker will jump out once in a while, but you can tell she is planning it and cut her off at the pass most of the time. Not Riley. She just crawls up the cat tree and goes over the side in one fluid motion.
Today, they were running around the bedroom and Riley was having a lot of fun exploring. So much fun, in fact, that I had a really hard time getting any pictures of her.
Well, I got lots of pictures of her tail, the space where she was, the corner of her ears etc
Here is pretty much the only good picture I managed to get this morning.
So soft, sweet and innocent looking. I have a feeling this one is going to end up the more evil of the two!
I also got a good one of Riley and Parker playing on top of the TV pillow I have sitting on the bed.
That is Riley on the top and Parker on the bottom
Today is Orion’s 11th birthday.
Happy Birthday, Moosh!
Yesterday was the kittens first vet appointment. They did well and got a clean bill of health, so we are happy about that.
It was interesting to see that while Parker is the brave “adventure cat” while in the house, she’s not as confident when she’s somewhere new. She was very vocal about her dislike of being “manhandled” by the vet and the vet tech.
Today she is “broken” from the shot and just wants to lay in her crate and be left alone thankyouverymuch!
Yesterday when we got home, she was full of energy. We got them a new play mat and she really makes getting toys fun because she absolutely gets her value out of any new toys.
Riley on the other hand was VERY interested in the exam room at the vet. She explored every corner and took their “torture” like a big girl.
She was “broken” yesterday (as shown in the photo below), but today she is ready and raring to go. She was sticking paws out of her crate first thing and hollering to be set free (and oh by the way FEED ME!). She is not sure what to do with herself since her sister has no desire to do anything today.
