Topic: Maybe I should have named him Shadow...

[Clark Kent]

A few months ago, on Alien's advice, I waited to bring my kitten home for the first time because she said he might become too dependant on me.  Well Alien, looks like I shouldn't have bothered listening to you, because Saber (or perhaps Shadow) follows me everywhere I go.  At night, when I'm trying to sleep he walks all over me, especially when I roll over, so he can find new places to cuddle up next to me.  Whenever I wake up in the morning, he darts after me as i make my way to the bathroom, and when I go in, he tries to follow me.  Obviously I can't ahve a playful kitty around when I'm in the shower, so I keep him outside. 
I get out of the shower, and open the door, and guess who's still waiting right there or me?  Yep, Shadow Saber.  Up the stairs, down the stairs, he's right there taging behind me, and constantly trying to get on my lap when I sit (in case you're wondering, my no kitten on the lap policy is still in effect since the the whole testicle biting fiasco). 
Then there's whenever I leave; he runs after me and sits at the door looking at me with those sad little eyes and mews for I know not how long after I leave.
My kitten is a Klingon.

[J. Carney]

CK

I got my little Razor- a Kzinit warrior princess, especially deadly agianst stocking feet- when she was even younger than Saber... probably 4 weeks. Her eyes were only open a matter of days when a storm came and drowned her 2 littermates. When her mother came back and found 2 dead kittens and one missing- Razor had struggled up a gnarly dogwood to keep from drowning- MommaKat disavowed any knowledge of her ill-fated litter... including the survivor.

Razor is quite well-behaved, save for two things...

1.) she forgets that razor-sharp claws (hince her name) slice and dice Daddy's legs when she tries to climb into my lap.

and

2.) she is getting too big to nurse.

Out of necessity, I had to bottle-feed her. I did this for two weeks, leaving a bowl of solid food out the entire time. When she got big enough to start sniffing the solid food, I started to serve her milk poured over it. In four weeks, she was eating the solid food without milk and drinking water.

However, when she is affectionate, she still climbs up into my lap and tries to nurse on my arm. I'm trying to break her of this, but she is more stubborn about it than my last kitten. Any problems with this with Saber?

She also follows close on my heals when I'm in the house, and even tried to get into the shower with me once... till she realized that it was water that I was 'playing' in with out her. Like Saber, she now sits outside the tup and waits on me to get out.

Only one place that Razor is not allowed to be, and that is on the bed when I have to sleep- she's still in the 'chasing things under the covers' stage, so I can't get to sleep with her there. Having to be up at 0300 to get ready for work doesn't allow me much sleep time, and I can't waste iot waiting on her to calm down.

[Clark Kent]

I don't think the solid food thing is much of a prolem, he seems pretty weaned, but he's turned int a bigger begger for food when I'm eating than any dog I've had.  Needless to say, Saber peering in through my arm and digging his face into my dinner plate does not please me.
Mostly, he's just a very wamr and affectionate little bastard, and he REALLY likes to play and attack.  Toy mice have helped, but my poor dog hardly lets her tail show anymore because he attacks it so much. 
BTW, he was attacking Samantha today, and upon missing her tail accidentally shoved his paw up Sam's @$$.  Sam was not pleased.

[Gambler]

What's wrong with the kitten in the bathroom while you're showering?  Our kitten Harper has this addiction to the tub.  As soon as he hears us get out of the shower he comes running into the bathroom to jump into the tub and check out the water that's left.  Sometimes he doesn't want to leave when we get ready to turn the water on.

Over the weekend he was in there and I turned the faucet on, he stepped back a few inches but watched the water pouring out.  I turned on the shower and he stepped back a few more steps.  He didn't get out until I got into the tub and the water started splashing around.

My wife just went up to take a rinse after work and he apparently didn't want to get out because he is now wandering around the house drenched.

I bet he doesn't do that again.

In another cat note, we have a coffee table that the top raises up and over so that it can be used as a table or desk.  My wife puts her laptop on it sometimes.  There are several storage cubby holes under the top.  The cats like to play around in there when the lid is up.  Friday night, Holly ended up being closed in there for a few minutes by accident.  Saturday night my wife went to bed around 2am.  When I got up at 9am I was greeted by one cat but not the other.  I figured Harper was just being a cat and ignoring me.  After a few minutes I noticed Holly bumping against the table.  I opened the lid to discover Harper had been inside all night.  He didn't seem too stressed out.  But last night, when my wife had the top of the table open, he didn't go anywhere near it.

[Grand Master of Shadows NCC37385]

For a second there I thought you were talking about.....  

[Clark Kent]

Sorry dude, didnb't mean to catch your attention like that.  In the future, when I talk about Shadow Saber I'll make sure to keep in mind that the cajun cook master is lurking about.
 

[Grand Master of Shadows NCC37385]

Sorry dude, didnb't mean to catch your attention like that.  In the future, when I talk about Shadow Saber I'll make sure to keep in mind that the cajun cook master is lurking about.
 

Thanks man. Cajun? Im not from Louisiana. 

[Clark Kent]

Thanks man. Cajun? Im not from Louisiana. 

Go easy on me: I'm a yankee   

[AlienLXIX]

A few months ago, on Alien's advice, I waited to bring my kitten home for the first time because she said he might become too dependant on me.  Well Alien, looks like I shouldn't have bothered listening to you, because Saber (or perhaps Shadow) follows me everywhere I go.  At night, when I'm trying to sleep he walks all over me, especially when I roll over, so he can find new places to cuddle up next to me.  Whenever I wake up in the morning, he darts after me as i make my way to the bathroom, and when I go in, he tries to follow me.  Obviously I can't ahve a playful kitty around when I'm in the shower, so I keep him outside. 
I get out of the shower, and open the door, and guess who's still waiting right there or me?  Yep, Shadow Saber.  Up the stairs, down the stairs, he's right there taging behind me, and constantly trying to get on my lap when I sit (in case you're wondering, my no kitten on the lap policy is still in effect since the the whole testicle biting fiasco). 
Then there's whenever I leave; he runs after me and sits at the door looking at me with those sad little eyes and mews for I know not how long after I leave.
My kitten is a Klingon.

Ahh sorry.  When I said dependent I meant for milk or a nursing substitute.  Razor (J.'s cat) is showing classing signs of being without a mamacat's care, not dissing you J. no one can help that the scent was washed away that the momcat can't tell if that's her kitten. 

My Tubby Deamon-Monster used to do that same guilt trip on me when he was little.  We used to put him in front of my kids' fish tank to distract him then we snuck out of the house!:  It will take some time for your baby to get used to the idea that daddy sometimes has to go places without him.  More than likely he'll do the same thing my baby does now and that's jump up into the front window as soon as he hears the van pull in.  We like to bump heads though the glass then we open up the door.  Now mind you Ferret says he isn't a cat lover like me but I swear to you that he spoils the cats more than I!  If Steve is the first one in the house he picks up Tubby and holds him over his shoulder, patting his back like a baby.  Of course this makes the big baby very happy to the point of drooling while he purrs. 

We don't have any problems with the cats and taking showers or baths.  They really don't like getting wet so they stay away.

As for sleeping . . .  well on some nights we have to kick em out of the bedroom.  You know come to think of it they seem to know when Ferret and I are about to get "frisky" and they leave without being shoved out. . .  Years ago we had problems with cats playing with moving parts under the blanket but it seems that once they are past a certain age they don't really care.  But beware of cats sleeping between your legs!  They get all fussy when you trap them with blankets when you roll over!   Hehehehe Poor Steve!

[Grand Master of Shadows NCC37385]

Thanks man. Cajun? Im not from Louisiana. 

Go easy on me: I'm a yankee   

LOL CK! 

[J. Carney]

Ahh sorry.  When I said dependent I meant for milk or a nursing substitute.  Razor (J.'s cat) is showing classing signs of being without a mamacat's care, not dissing you J. no one can help that the scent was washed away that the momcat can't tell if that's her kitten. 

Yeah, I took my last kitten too early because she was from a large litter and my Grandmother couldn't see to all of them; she showed the same signs, though Razor was a little younger and therfore a little more messed up by the seperation.

Any pointers? She is almost 7 weeks old now.

My biggest prob is that she is a fine little Kzinti- she 'screams and leaps' at anything that moves, especially stocking feet. Other than a flyswatter, is there anything that I can do to teach her better manners, or do I just wait it out?

She is FAR more agressive than any other kitten I have had before.

[Clark Kent]

Alien hjad a great trick for me which has worked wonders for Sahdow Saber.
Spray bottle with 2 parts water, 1 part lemon juice.  There are now many things he doesn't do that he should and did anyway.

[J. Carney]

Alien hjad a great trick for me which has worked wonders for Sahdow Saber.
Spray bottle with 2 parts water, 1 part lemon juice.  There are now many things he doesn't do that he should and did anyway.

Thanks, I'll have to try that.

A pair of toenail clippers has already been used to mitigate that sort of damage, but it doesn't completely end it!

[AlienLXIX]

Ahh sorry.  When I said dependent I meant for milk or a nursing substitute.  Razor (J.'s cat) is showing classing signs of being without a mamacat's care, not dissing you J. no one can help that the scent was washed away that the momcat can't tell if that's her kitten. 

Yeah, I took my last kitten too early because she was from a large litter and my Grandmother couldn't see to all of them; she showed the same signs, though Razor was a little younger and therfore a little more messed up by the seperation.

Any pointers? She is almost 7 weeks old now.

My biggest prob is that she is a fine little Kzinti- she 'screams and leaps' at anything that moves, especially stocking feet. Other than a flyswatter, is there anything that I can do to teach her better manners, or do I just wait it out?

She is FAR more agressive than any other kitten I have had before.

She will mellow out some with age but it's gonna be at least another 2 years before that happens!  And getting her fixed before her first heat will go a long way in helping calm that crazy streak.  Between my mum and I we have raised more orphans than we care to count and each of them were different in their own way yet showing some of the same personality traits like being needy and to some degree, aggression.  I've never used a fly swatter mostly because to my cats it's more of a toy than a deterant. :-  The things that have worked for us is in a firm, loud voice say NO! Bad Kitty! or Bad Cat's name here! Along with that either use a spray bottle with something citrus and water mix or you flick (or tap) their noses so that they have a physical reinforcement to go with the verbal warning.  You can use this for ANY thing you don't want them doing.  It will take a while for them to get used to that but after a bit they do learn.  Just think of them as rambunctious tterrible2 year olds with an aattentionspan of maybe 5 minuets!  Oh and you have to give them their punishment right after their bad hhabit don't wait!  

Ack!  I talk to much about cats!    I love to stroke my pussy..................... cats!

Hope that helps.  I do have other methods for calming cats but try those out first.

[J. Carney]

Thanks, Alien... will try.