Speedy Joe hid under the bed- it didn't help that we had only just
moved in, the bed was still in the living room and we had a few friends
over that night! I think he came out after a day or so

Fugazi and Isis came in, sniffed round and settled down in the pot
plants to sleep. We very nearly called them Bill and Ben. They made
themselves right at home in seconds

Redunzel came out of the box after about 5 minutes and started to
explore the flat but was shy of coming near us. Sarrasine remained in
the box for a while longer then slowly her head came out and her
delicate nose triangulated the location of food, she then proceeded to
devour two pouches and half a tin of kitten food before returning to
the carrier, burping to herself and went straight to sleep. Both of
them were shy of us for a few days but they came round

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

We always put a newcomer in a room alone with the necessities and a closed
door for the first 24 hours.  After that it depends on how eager they are to
come out.  We will go in a sit and let them come to us.

That way everyone gets used to each others smells and sounds.

Jo

  Minke watched Nanki Poo using the catflap and then just went out after
him.

  That was the very last and final time he ever showed any sign of
having brains.

When Frank's first meowmie brought him to me (yes, I had him delivered
;o)), he was a long-legged teenager with perky ears and shivering
whiskers. He showed no fear, he just started checking out everything
immediately. He was remarkably gentle and didn't push over any of the
numerous ornaments I had around my flat at that time.

When I brought home Nikki, she was a little black ball of fluff, only 8
weeks old. She didn't show any fear, either. On the contrary, she
started jumping sideways at Frank with her back arched and tiny tail
floofed up. Frank just sat there looking confused at this little tiny
thing that was trying to challenge him. In the evening, when Frank and I
had retired to bed, Nikki decided she wanted to be where everybody else
was. At first, she came up to my face and licked my shoulder and my neck
very earnestly. I'm sure I was superclean after that. Then she went down
to my feet, where Frank was sleeping, and started licking his exposed
tummy. Guess what she found there? A teat! Her purrs doubled in force as
she started to suckle. Frank looked at me with a very confused look on
his face, then he settled down to wash his new baby. They never looked
back after that. They were best friends for the rest of their lives
together.

When I brought home Miranda, Nikki was there when we opened the door to
the carrier, and she of course hissed at the poor baby. Nikki always
hated all other cats except Frank. Well, she scared Miranda into
thinking all black-and-white cats are holy errors, so when Frank came
over in his friendly fashion and tried to make friends, Mir hissed at
*him*. The hissing continued for a few weeks, but then calmed down.
Miranda would usually stay close to me as her protector against the
black-and-white monsters, and the first few days I shut her into the
bathroom every time I had to go out. Gradually the hissing stopped, and
I think Nikki and Miranda were becoming fast friends when Nikki suddenly
had her fit and then had to be PTS. Frank and Miranda got along OK after
that.

When Caliban was brought to me (yes, another home-delivery cat), Miranda
did what she'd learned from Nikki that cats do when meeting new cats -
she hissed at him. Frank was his usual friendly self. Mir kept hissing
for about a week. Caliban was completely unfazed and went about his
business - playing hard, eating hard and sleeping hard. He didn't show
any fear, either, when he was first let out of the carrier. He seemed
right at home. I suppose I've been lucky to have such brave cats.

Mandy wriggled out of my grip, gave a polite sniff to the humans present,
and promptly set about determining the extent of her new domain, with
special attention to curtains and high places.

That cat was clearly destined for the Empress of All She Surveys title
from the moment of birth, and possibly a Great Explorer title, too.

Betsy (RB) mainly tried avoiding me and Mandy, although oddly enough she
did some of the under-the-bathroom-door excavating after I decided they
needed some time apart during the adjustment period.

The night I brought my two little 8-week-old Russian Blue wannabes
home, almost 17 years ago now, I played with them until bedtime.  I
didn't have the heart to shut them up anywhere else for the night, so I
brought them, their food and their litter box up my bedroom and shut
all of us in there for the night.

What a night!  Those kittens bounced around the room for hours!  I had
an important business meeting the next day and was desperate to get
some sleep.  I was afraid I had made a terrible mistake bringing these
little creatures home to live with me.  Somehow, though, I finally fell
asleep.

The next morning, when my alarm woke me up, I roused up to look for the
kittens.  They were in a little heap at the foot of the bed, sound
asleep.  I reached over to pet them and they started to purr.  At that
moment, we bonded.  And now that they're getting old and sick, I look
back very fondly on that first crazy night.

McZ19, slave to Bonnie and Cindy

Smokey and Sweetpea were delivered at our house (from my sister) when they were
about 7 weeks old. They adapted quite well. They inspected thier new
foreverhome somewhat before they were engaged in typical kitten shenanigans.
Dennis had made them a play house that they absolutely loved to play in/on.
That night they both climbed up on the bed and kept us awake for a few hours
with thier wrestling before they both settled down for the rest of the night.

Tippy came to us at 6 weeks old when Smokey and Sweetpea were 2 years old. I
saw an ad in the local penny saver and brought him home. He was totally flea
infested when I brought him home. I bathed him and picked all the fleas off
him. We put him down and Smokey and Sweetpea had to investigate this intruder.
They hissed and growled at him for a bit and Tippy did the same, He was a
spunky little guy and was not going to let them bully him. He also adjusted to
his new foreverhome quickly. Smokey and Tippy became buddies.

Teddy came to us last August. She was about 6 weeks old, Smokey and Sweetpea
were 4 years old and Tippy 2. She was one of the kittens of his late brothers
cat. She had lived her entire life outside and in the garage. I gave her a bath
and set up a large box with food, water and a small litter box. She was quite
nervous. We put her on the floor to explore and let her meet the other cats,
they were not at all impressed. That evening we put her in the box and Tippy
would go over, look in the box and then throw up. He did that several times
that evening. We shut her in the music room for the night with food, water and
litter box. We kept her in there during the day when we were at work and at
night. After 4-5 days she seemed pretty well adjusted to her new surroundings
and the other cats had gotten used to her so we let her have free roam of the
house all the time. Tippy and her developed a bond and have become best
friends. Smokey and Sweetpea just tolerate her.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crmartin1

http://kittenwar.com/kittens/74045/

Doc immediately jumped out of the carrier and started surveying.  At that
time, I was in a heavily mouse-infested apartment, and he must have
thought he'd died and gone to heaven.  For the first few weeks, I'd hear
him all night long, running up and down the apartment, hunting.  He must
have eaten two or three mice a night, and never brought me anything until
he'd been there about three weeks.  Even then, it was only half a mousy
trophy, not the whole thing.  

Then we moved into a nice, clean apartment and he was bored and lonesome,
so he started hunting me.  We had some difficult times until I found out
that he just needed a cat of his own, so I got him Pi.  

Doc was most interested in the carrier that held Pi, and waited patiently
for me to open it up.  When I did, Pi came out, hissed once at Doc, then
ignored him and started to explore.  Doc, that mighty hunter, meekly
followed Pi around while Pi was exploring.  

They're not best buds or anything, but they do occasionally groom each
other and when it's cold they snuggle up to sleep.  I wish it were more,
but it's enough.

Chak

[Snip]

Sweep my first cat moved in on us as she didn't like the other cats at the
neighbours house where she lived. She strolled around the on her first
visits as if she was viewing to see if it suited.

Sophie we fetched from the RSPCA and when we opened the carrier she
stepped out and stood looking around then at us. (She had not seen us
before that day) We went into the sitting-room and she followed. Then I
called her to come with me and we toured the house. she balked on the
seventh room which was the bedroom where Sweep had slept she just didn't
go in. She did later. Then I went round to my next door neighbours, Linda
and her daughter Louise, to invite them to come and meet her. (They had
loved Sweep so much) They got down on the floor and fussed her and she
loved it. After that she just settled straight away. The first time we let
her out in to the garden Linda was in her garden and she said that Sophie
seemed really pleased to see her there when she went over the fence and
through the trees into Linda's garden. They had a fuss and then came home.

Judith

Stosh was at first madder than hell when we got him. His home environment had
been pretty abusive, and he beat the living snot out of this old carrier a
friend had given us. We were in Niagara Falls and I checked our messages, and
there was one from my friend asking us to come down NOW, before someone in
the house really hurt him. When we got him home and let him out, he stopped
roaring and started mewing like the kitten he was.

The others, we always sequestered a few days with gradual supervised visits
before full integration. Roxie hid. We had to give her drops for an ear
infection, so catching her was a challenge. For one who had been bullied in a
cat collector’s place, then in the shelter, she could move like nobody’s
business. Probably had to learn that PDQ so she could duck away from the
larger and stronger cats. Now she is a supreme climber, and can jump over 7
feet in the air; her strength is phenomenal. Odessa was also a hider, but
more vocal about her displeasure. She wanted the other cats. After being
returned to the shelter  three times, she didn’t trust anything with two-legs,
especially men. She would come out and cuss the air blue just for fun, and
once she busted out when we came to sleep with her. It turned into a frantic,
three hour hunt, and we thought she’d gotten caught in a space inside the
wall. Turned out she was tucked in a ceiling beam, easily accessible, and
laughing at us. When we put her back in the little room, she threw a princess
fit, cussing and knocking stuff over.

Brandy alone was most nonchalant about coming to live with us. She was all
over me, kneading on the mammaries—somehow she must have known I’m of the
Mama gender, for she never did it with Louie. She settled right in, but not
before busting out of the little room and going off on a hoolikitten fit. She
wasn’t looking to hide, she wanted playtime, and had great fun making us run
all over three floors trying to catch her. Remarkable that a fat little baby
can run so fast! When she was finally let out for good, the first thing she
did was get into a wrestling match with Stosh, and they’ve been the closest
ones ever since.

Bandit chose us.  She ran in my front door one day, over 16 years ago now,
when she was only 6 weeks old and immediately claimed our house as her own.
She was not the least bit timid about taking charge of the joint, and
defended it mightily against all comers, even my son's friend's pit bull who
followed them inside my house one day (comical but scary to see a 6 week old
kitten attach herself to a pit bull's face!).

Demi lived in my walk-in closet for a couple of weeks and over 7 years later
is still slinking around and hiding under furniture.

Jessie was another little bossy git and just claimed the house as hers
(which parts were not already Bandit's - but by that time Bandit was
restricting herself to my bedroom).

Sammy was b*llsy enough to come right in and sleep *ON TOP* of B*tch Cat
From H*ll.

Cali arrived after a long car ride from her 3 month stay at the rescue
house. She'd been living in a bedroom with three other cats and was a biter
from day one. Cali is actually a very gentle cat, but must have things done
HER way. The first little while she was here she was very suspicious,
sulking and ignoring the people completely. We thought she was deaf the
first little while. She slowly came around and started displaying her
mischievous Calico side. She is very loving, but it MUST be her idea. It
took her two years to become a lap cat and that only happened because we
were sitting in her favourite basket chair. She said, "OK, if you won't get
out' I'm going to sit on you". She's long since stopped biting BTW, she's
very good at understanding HOOMIN.

Smokey arrived from the shelter at 10 mos in a cardboard carrier. She was
intended as a playmate for Cali who had gotten rather fluffy at about 7.
Smokey had been at the shelter almost two months, so she ran around the
house for at least twelve hours, then ran into her bed and passed out. She
did this for about the next two weeks. Smokey always tried to
groom/play/sleep with Cali, but Cali always forced her out. Smokey
eventually became jealous of our attention for Cali and will attack her on
occasion. Smokey's favourite was the BOA, where she would wrap her long legs
around Cali and squeeze. They would also play Sumo when Cali was younger,
Smokey would charge Cali and know her over, but Cali would get up and hit
her twice as hard, although she is a small cat. Smokey has always taken this
as play and is not afraid of Cali. Smokey is our most loving cat.

Cleo arrived at the backdoor one day looking skinny and dirty. We fed her
for a little over a week and then took her into the basement. Time passed,
she had her checkup, no one claimed her, so now we have three. She's always
had an aggression problem and used to terrorize Smokey in the beginning.
Smokey is afraid of her and wants nothing to do with her. Cleo will also
attack Cali, but Cali initially stood up to her. Cleo has biting issues that
show no sign of subsiding. If you try to explain it to her, she just starts
smacking and trying to bite more. She's basically my cat and would spend 24
hours a day laying on me if she could. Smokey used to spend most of her time
with me, which is why Cleo singled her out.

I wrote this anecdote ages ago and had to google it to find it.  I found
it on David Stevenson's cat page:
http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/stx_wls0.htm

Here it is:
When we first got Vino he was a tiny 7 week old kitten. We got him from
Victoria, so we had to take him on the ferry to get home to Vancouver.
He looked to small and lost curled up in the back of his cat carrier!
When we got him home, we showed him his litter box and let him explore
his new home.

I think he missed his mommy a lot because he was meowing quite a bit,
but as time went on, he calmed down. Everything was going well until the
phone rang and we took our eyes off him for less than a minute. Suddenly
he was gone!

We called and looked everywhere! I mean everywhere! We even looked in
the fridge and microwave after a while in our desperation. The cat was
nowhere to be found.

Dennis was convinced he'd jumped off the balcony. He told me to go
downstairs and check to see if he was smushed on the pavement. He even
told me to check in the trees in case he'd skewered himself on a branch
on the way down! He was really scaring me ....but alas, there was no cat
on the pavement or in the branches! Whew! I came back up and continued
to look in the apartment. It was only a 1 bedroom apartment, there are
not that many places for a cat to go (I thought). Finally, in complete
desperation, we decided to dismantle our couch. It is a leather
sectional in 3 pieces. We took them apart and turned them over, and
there, on a board inside the centre curve piece was Vino all curled up
and looking oh-so-comfortable!

We were so relieved! He had just put us through the worst hour we could
remember. Turns out he continued to use the little ledge inside the
couch to hide for about the next week, then he got comfortable enough to
quit doing that.

He still loves going under the couch though but now that he's all growed
up  he can't fit anymore. He runs up to the couch just like he used to,
dives underneath and gets stuck! His butt will be sticking up and he
will wiggle and struggle until he finally squeezes under. This always
gives us a great opportunity to annoy him by pulling him back out or
slapping his rump! (he's got an irresistible little tailless monkey
butt)

If he gets any bigger he won't be able to get under at all anymore

Smokey's previous owners had a 2 year old girl who pestered him
constantly -- to the point they were afraid he would injure her.  Our
son who was living a couple of apartments away with 2 deadbeat
"friends", took him in.  When  the deadbeats didn't pay their share of
the rent, two months in a row, they were served with an eviction notice
(24 hours and the sheriff will move all your stuff out for you).  Son
came back with Smokey.  At the time, we had a large D-pet (Jaws - long
story for another time).  Son put Smokey down in the living room.  Jaws,
being ever-friendly, came over to see who the visitor was.  Smokey, all
of 6 months old, puffed up to at least twice his size and hissed at
Jaws, who didn't understand at first.  A couple of baps from Smokey on
Jaws' nose (followed by yelps and pitiful looks at DW and me) and The
Natural Order was determined.  From that point on, they tolerated each
other well.

Mistletoe, was a shelter adoptee (about 3 months ole).  We brought in
her carrier and set it down (closed) in the kitchen floor.  Smokey came
in for lunch and saw the carrier, puffed up, hissed, and jumped back.
When he decided the intruder wasn't going to interfere with lunch,
Smokey went about his business.  After his lunch, Smokey went off to our
bedroom for his nap.  We decided to let Mistletoe (Missy) out to explore
while Smokey was snoozin'.  Explore she did, going downstairs to our
partially finished lower level.  She found the open furnace return and
hid therein. I could see her by shining a flashlight/torch into the
return but she was having none of coming out.  I tried for two hours to
coax her out with no success.  I finally gave up and came over to my
computer (also downstairs) and started Mistletoe's story (on Flippy's
cat page).  She finally came out and let me catch her and take her
upstairs for some food.

The kids have reached an "understanding" now and mostly leave each other
alone.  Smokey is Mom's cat and snuggles up with her.  Missy, when she
comes upstairs, comes and climbs into Pop's lap for varying amounts of time.

And we're all pretty much happy with how things go.

Rebecca hid underneath my desk, up on the seat of the chair.  She barely ate
and barely moved from there until I opened the door a crack so she and
Sundance could see each other.  When she saw him she ran right over to see
him, even though I was right next to her!

Sandy

Amelia had been a lonely little girl in her cage at the adoption center,
and was craving human attention. We brought her into our bedroom, set up a
litter box and food and water, then let her out to explore with Cleo and
DD locked out of the bedroom. She immediately came out of her carrier,
jumped up on the bed, onto Nancy's dresser, onto my dresser, explored the
bathroom in minute detail, then spent several minutes trying to reach a
paw under the bedroom door, sensing there were other kitties on the other
side of the door.

Since we didn't hear any hostile sounds coming from the other two, we
opened the bedroom door and let them meet. Cleo gave Amelia a hiss, then
sniffed her face. DD gave her a sniff, then washed her face. From that day
on, those 3 had no problems getting along together.

It was on her second day with us that Amelia was on top of my dresser when
I opened the top drawer. She immediately climbed into the drawer, and has
been a "drawering" kitty since then.

About her third day with us Amelia figured out how to get on top of the
entertainment center in the bedroom. That lead to her discovery that she
could fly! She would leap off the top of the entertainment center to the
shelves under the window, or onto the bed, or onto the nearest available
human. Up to this point we had not decided on her final name, but seeing
her love of flight Nancy decided that her name had to be "Amelia, the
Flying Adventuress".

My 2nd post on this topic :)

This time I'll describe Sammy. Samuel was the little tiny orange kitten
that someone abandoned on the edge of the parking lot of the warehouse
where I was working at the time. He had found himself a nice, thick hedge
to hide under and figured that would be a perfectly serviceable home.

Of course I couldn't a little bitty guy like him alone. I set a trap can
captured him, and took him to our vet. I could see that he had an eye
infection and wanted to be sure he didn't have anything infectious he
could give to the other. He stayed with the vet 3 days, and came home
with eye ointment, antibiotics for a respiratory infection, and
instructions to keep him isolated for 10-14 days.

We set Sammy up in the bathroom with a litter box, food, water, a soft
towel to sleep on, and a bunch of toys. We took turns going in to visit
with him and play, and it only took him a few hours to figure out that
the bathtub made a wonderful hockey arena :) We would spend long
stretches batting rattle balls and fuzzy mouses around the bathtub.

We had installed cut a vent into the bathroom door to allow airflow from
the cooler - this was in the middle of the summer. I put a towel covering
the vent opening to still grant some privacy and to keep the kitten from
seeing the hole and trying to let himself out. This of course didn't last
too long. After he had been with us a little over a week, Sammy decided
he didn't like sleeping by himself. We woke up one morning with a little
tiny orange fluffball between us - Sammy had apparently jumped onto the
towel bar, walked over close to the door, jumped onto the towel, and
squeezed through the vent opening. From that day on we didn't worry about
keeping the kitties apart.

From that day on Sammy was Daddy's kitten. Every night when I went to bed
Sammy would climb the covers (he was too small to jump all the way to the
top of the bed), climb up on my chest, and smurgle happily for half an
hour, then fall asleep on my chest.

Izzy and Pan: They were both 8 week old bitties who both ran and hid in
the closet in the empty room of my (then) two BR apartment. I had set
up a cat pan, food and water in preparation for the event.  I unwisely
tried to follow Izzy and bring her out to get acquainted, but she
escaped and ran back to the closet again with every indication of
horror and disgust.  Finally, I got smart, sat down  on the floor and
just waited quietly. At last, a little black and white face peered out
from around the sliding door when she could no longer contain her
curiousity.  The giant was sitting still! Pan came trotting over to me,
gave me a good inspection then decided I would do for his cat slave.
It took Izzy longer to warm up and venture near me, but she turned out
to be the braver cat as an adult. Pan was the one who managed to get
himself wedged under the refrigerator on his first day home. If you
think I was in a panic, you're right! I kept hearing him call for help,
but couldn't see him until I got down on the floor and looked
carefully. I was able to induce him to back  up  through gentle pokes
in the chest with a yardstick, thank heavens! I was quite ready to do a
super-hero stunt and at least TRY to lift the fridge up off him!

Izzy just baptized the carpet in an unfortunate way.  Once I showed
her the box though, she didn't have any more accidents  until she was
very old.

Francesca: I wasn't sure how Pan would take to her, since she was a
strange cat, so I put her in the bathroom with food, water, a bed and a
litter box and slid the door shut.  According to the instructions on
the sheet I was given at the animal shelter, I was supposed to keep the
two  cats apart, and introduce them in a gradual, specific way.
Well.... In their dreams!  The door to my bathroom is a sliding door,
and after she had made a thorough inspection of the bathroom, Francesca
soon figured out how to open it enough to escape. Still being the
obedient new adopter of cats, I put her back in solitary and wedged the
door shut. Francesca sat by the door and cried hearthbreakingingly,
then managed to peel some of the wood veneer off the surface of the
door on her side.  Once, when I went in to check on her, she was
sitting on the metal rail at the top of the shower, looking as if she
liked the view. After that first night though, I gave up on trying to
corral her.  The first time she met Pan, she muscled herself up, and
hissed right at him. When he made a gentlemanly retreat before this
hysterical young lady, Francesca looked very proud of herself!

NIna: lay in her box with Mama and nursed. =o) When she got a little
older, Francesca started moving her around. One day, when Nina was
about two weeks old, I went into a panic, because the box was empty,
and I couldn't find baby anywhere--until I looked under my bed and
found her curled up in the dust near the head of my bed.

Melissa

On Thu 29 Jun 2006 09:54:32a, Enfilade wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes (news:1151589272.230912.94650
@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com):

Shamrock was a foster cat of mine - I had just made room for one
more (a little stripey boy had been adopted) and I went to
Annapolis PetSmart to pick up my next. He was much older than the 6
months they told me he was. But very talkative, very outgoing, and
very beat up. They said he'd been in a cat fight, and that's why he
had sores all over him. Well, they were wrong (allergies). He went
to into the downstairs seclusion area with the other fosters I had,
and Shadow was my only resident cat. Shamrock hated the adoption
shows so much, to the point he worked himself up into a frenzy, and
it was kitten season and he was a big black and white boy no one
really even looked at, so he decided he wanted to live here.

Bonnie was trapped as a feral and spent her first 2 weeks in a
bathroom, and the next 2 months in a cage being socialized. She's a
sweetie now, but I still can't approach her in any way. She has to
do the approaching.

Rhett and Scarlett were among a litter of four abandoned 5 week old
kits by their stray mom, and they spent their first month with
their rescuer with their litter mates. Their third month of life
was spent in my house in the "kitten room" with a screen door on it
so Bonnie and Shamrock could get used to having them here.  After
that month they took over the place.  :)

Ming was between 1 and 2 years of age when I got him from a shelter.  I
had just lost my Scamper-kitty to liver failure, and since there
weren't any other cats here I just let him roam. He found a quiet spot
in the hall closet where the dog couldn't find him. Boris *likes*
cats... Scamp was his best friend, and he mourned her when she died,
but Ming had to get used to him.  Once he figured out that Boris was
OK, he started exploring the house.  The only problem was that he had a
*nasty* case of ringworm... it was all over him, including his face.  
It surrounded his eyes, was in his ears and nose.  He ended up needing
baths 2-3 times a week for a month, and oral meds for about 6 weeks.
The furniture was covered in towels and sheets that got washed every
day.  Even so, Boris and I ended up with a couple of spots of the nasty
fungus.  In the midst of all this, Buttercup arrived.  She was a 4-5
week old kitten born to a feral mother.  A friend of my sons appeared
with a carrier with two little meezer fuzzballs.  I have a soft spot
for meezers.  True Siamese cats are kind of funny looking, but moggies
with color point markings are my favorite cats. One of the little
fuzzballs was a white powderpuff with grey stripes *just* starting to
show on her face, legs and tail.  I was a gonner. For the first two or
three days I kept her in a carrier when I wasn't right there with her.  
I wasn't sure about Ming- an altered adult male *could* be potentially
dangerous to a little kitten. On the third evening, I was working on
the computer and she was exploring at my feet.  After a bit, I noticed
that she had disappeared.  When I looked behind me under the table, she
was curled up with Ming. It looked for all the world like he was
hugging her.  Her head was tucked under his chin, and he had his front
paws wrapped around her. I figured they were going to be fine together.
They're still best friends.  Ming is a tad bit nervous, particularly
with strangers, but Buttercup rules her world. She's now 2 years old
(Ming is between 3 and 4). She has no fear and expects the world to
revolve around her.

Katrina

Pictures: http://homepage.mac.com/kworley/photos/PhotoAlbum22.html
          http://homepage.mac.com/kworley/photos/PhotoAlbum27.html

6-month-old Tribble (RB) stepped confidently out of the carrier and
went exploring.

A year later, 6-month-old Natasha arrived, stepped timidly out of the
carrier and didn't get a chance to go exploring. She was almost
immediately knocked over by the now-18-month-old Tribble, who
proceeded to hold her down with one leg and give her a bath.

Right up to the time Trib made his last visit to TED (which ultimately
led to his trip to the Bridge), Tasha would walk over to him, duck her
head down in front of him, and he'd wash her for as long as she'd put
up with it.

Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

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http://www.jhedge.com

They took over the house

I love everyone's kitty tales...

Scouty and Silver were about six months old when we got them from the
shelter, and they were very insecure. The first thing they did when we
let them out of their cardboard carrier was to run and hide under our
bed. I thought they'd be there for a long time, but a few hours later,
out poked a pair of little paws to bat at our feet. The first photo
I've got of them is of two paws pushing out the bedskirt to get at the
feather-on-a-stick :) By the next morning they'd made themselves right
at home and since we didn't have any other cats they had the run of
the apartment.

I rescued Tessie from the carpark at our apartment building and put
her into the carrier, and the very first thing she did was to hiss at
Scouty and Silver! I put her into the craftroom and opened the carrier
door and she explored her new territory and climbed into my arms to
smurgle, totally ignoring the hisses and snarls coming from the other
side of the door (Scouty and Silver weren't the least bit pleased to
have an interloper in their home...)
Tessie was okay about being shut up for a few days, but then she
started to mew pitifully and to scratch at the closed door, and then
she progressed to flinging herself against it and yowling!

Probably the most interesting first day experience was Harri Roadcat's.

Harri had been staying with some very caring catslaves in IL. These folks
also had other cats, and the other cats did NOT approve of Harri, so
Harri's recent experiences had been a little bit trying. I imagine it was
a little bit less than reassuring when she got delivered into the hands of
a big old scruffy dude living in an oversized broom closet on wheels.

I put Harri in the truck and showed her where the litter box, food, and
water were, then left her a few minutes to explore on her own. When I
joined her after a few minutes she seemed fairly relaxed, and was glancing
at the box of kitty toys. We played with the feather wand for a few
minutes, then tossed some fuzzy mice around for a while. I was tired from
the last few days of hard running, so figured a nap would be in order.
Harri apparently agreed, because as soon I stretched out on the bunk Harri
curled up on my pillow and started purring up a storm.

Early that evening I put Harri on leash and we took our very first kitty
walk, right there in the truck stop. Harri was kindof intimidated by all
the big trucks so we only stayed out for a couple of minutes, but she
seemed to enjoy the fresh air.

The next day we got a load assignment. We were to pick up a load in
Illinois and deliver it to Oregon. I wasn't sure how Harri would
react to being in the semi once I started the big diesel engine, but she
didn't seem to mind. She initially rode on the bunk, but after a few
minutes she jumped up onto my lap. She seemed nice and comfortable, and I
sure enjoyed it! Nothing like having a cute little kitten curled up in
your arms while driving.

After we got loaded we ran west. Our load wsan't ready until late (9 PM or
so), so we ran as far as I was able - to a rest area in Ohio. We stopped
for the night and I got some sleep. When I got up the next morning I saw
that this rest area had a huge expanse of grass and trees, so I figured it
might be a good place for a kitten walk. When I first got Harri out of the
truck she was pretty unsure, I guess figuring that a big open space like
that was something of a threat to a tiny little kitten. But after just a
couple of minutes she relaxed, and figured out that walking was prety
cool. She made a bee-line for the nearest bushes and immediately began
inspecting them up close. Nearby trees were explored by Harri making a mad
dash for the tree, leaping as high as her little kitten legs would take
her, and clinging to the bark for half a minute or so. The high grass
along the edges of the rest area were fuel for a big case of kitten
zoomies.

We spent over an hour and a half walking at that rest area. I had never
seen a kitten have as much fun as Harri did that day. When we finally got
back into the truck and started rolling again, Harri jumped into my lap,
stretched up along my chest, and tucked her head against the bottom of my
chin. I then got a couple of kitty kisses on the chin - Harri's way of
saying "Thanks, Paw!".

Little Bit was my first cat since I joined and retired from the Army
After 20 years. She was skinny and very pregnant at the time, and
there was an ice storm going on. She was on the porch yelling to be
let inside where it was warm, so I let her in and told her she could
stay until it warmed up or I found her home, just as long as she
didn't bother my cockatiels. She made herself at home immediately,
totally ignoring the birds. Wasn't long before I had a new litter box,
toys, cat food etc. About the time it warmed up she had her babies in
the bedroom closet, so I agreed she could stay until I found her
family or they were old enough to go to new homes. Never did find
anyone who claimed her, but did find homes for all the kittens except
Sammy. Every so often I remind her and Sam that as soon as Sammy is
old enough they're going to new homes - so Sammy says she's still a
kitten - just one that's going on six years old.

Rocky (RB) was next, but his first night indoors has two stories. For
those who don't know, Rocky was a feral who I fed/looked after for
three or four years before he agreed to become an official part of the
family. His first time indoors over night, he was still more than half
wild. I lured him inside with food and he FREAKED when I closed the
door. He spent the night in the bathroom, screaming old night that he
had been trapped by a horrible hoomin. Next morning, after an epic
struggle, I carted him off to TED to be treated for a horribly swollen
abscess. After I got him home from TED he disappeared and wouldn't
have anything to do with me for a couple weeks. The second time, a
couple years later, went much better. By that time he had become a
family member. He spent much of his time inside, going out when I went
to bed. Then one night when opened the door to let him out he decided
it was a might chilly out, so he spent the night on the recliner.

Spotty, my latest arrival, came complete with her four kittens. Again,
I had no plans of letting her in, not only didn't I want or need any
more cats, she was fiercely protective of her kittens and didn't get
along with the others. And, once again, Mother Nature intervened. This
time pouring rain made me decide to let her and the kittens inside
(after locking Little Bit and Sammy in the bedroom). I hauled them all
in to TED. Spotty was too thin, ear mites, and had an abcess from a
bite wound. The kittens had colds and weepy eyes. The kittens were old
enough that they were already weaned. TED found homes for three of the
kittens, keeping two for himself and giving one to a client for had
recently lost her long time companion. The fourth went to one of my
coworkers. Spotty's ears took quite a while to clear up My search for
a new home for her became half hearted. By the time she was declared
healthy she was getting along better with LB and Sammy and the search
ended.