Friends of the Richelieu. A river. A passion.



"Tout cedit pays est fort uny, remply de forests, vignes & noyers. Aucuns Chrestiens n'estoient encores parvenus jusques en cedit lieu, que nous, qui eusmes assez de peine à monter le riviere à la rame. " Samuel de Champlain


"All this region is very level and full of forests, vines and butternut trees. No Christian has ever visited this land and we had all the misery of the world trying to paddle the river upstream." Samuel de Champlain

Monday, June 17, 2013

Peony & Poppy


Les petits chatons Peony et Poppy (Pivoine et Pavot) trouvés abandonnés dans une haie de cèdres sur le bord de la route commencent à se sentir chez eux.

Leur histoire ici: http://lesamisdurichelieu.blogspot.ca/2013/06/chatons-abandonnes.html

Leur petite soeur, trouvée 2 jours plus tard, et après quelques jours de repos avec ses congénères, est maintenant chez une famille d’accueil pour la SPCA Montérégie qui l'ont baptisée Trixie: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654668977881290&set=pb.136601199688073.-2207520000.1371472801.&type=3&theater

Update:

Paddy (19 years old soon) is very good with the kittens, even though he cannot hear them, and can barely see them (Horner's syndrome). He tolerates them, and when he has enough, he either walks away, or gives a swap with his paw, no claws out. The kittens respect him, but keep trying to include him in their play. This morning, first thing Poppy did when left out of the pen was to go rug his head against Paddy's chest, who was very surprised by all this attention.

The kittens need to run a lot, which they do during the daytime, but I still keep them in a large pen at night to have a bit of peace for all the other old farts in the house. The pen has everything they need: it is in the solarium, so that they can look outside; it has a litter box at one end, cat carrying case and blankets in the middle, and dry food with water at the other end. There is also a padded footstool so that the cats can lie down comfortably while observing what is going on in the rest of the house (open concept). I keep the pen open during the daytime, and the kittens often go there to play, or lie down in the sun, on their own accord. I truly believe that the pen = safe haven for now.

Having been found abandoned outside where they spent at least half a day all alone, as far as I can figure, the kittens show very little interest in going outside. Paddy asks to go outside at least once a day to have a pee, and I hang a load of wash on the clothesline every day: the kittens are content in watching all this from inside the house, which is fine with me. I want them to bond with the house and us, and intended to bring them outside when they were good and ready, and when the bond is well established.

After introducing the kittens to a body harness while playing, they have worn them a couple of times for about 10 minutes already, in the house only though.

Today, June 21 2013, the kittens were introduced to the outside on the back porch. Poppy was willing to look out into the garden, running from one end to the porch to the other, but the string following behind him interested him more than the rest. But Peony was a bit shy, hesitating for at least a minute before stepping out on the first step outside the door. Eventually, seeing her brother having so much fun out in the sunshine, Peony finally got on the porch, but preferred staying hidden under the steps and playing with the dry leaves there than facing the outside outright.

Soon, the neighbor started some kind of electric motor, and that panicked Peony who wanted in NOW! I let her in, but then she was so worried for her brother left outside that I had to pick up Poppy and bring him in too!

1 comment:

  1. Poppy loves to play fetch, and I sometimes call Peony "Whippy", because when she walks and wants me to follow her, she "whips" her tail up high, side by side, like a whip. In French, I sometimes call Peony "La Pitoune", because she is still so tiny, although she wants to eat all the time. Poppy probably weighs 15 pounds, and is a picky eater. No kidding!

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