Escapees!

As I was riding home on the bus after work, I was remembering a poem on a plaque I used to have.  It read:

 "Little Lion
  Soft and dainty sweet,
  with sea-green eyes
  and softly stepping feet."

(A little Google searching and I've found a site that says the author of that quote was Graham Tomson.)

Thinking lovely thoughts about the kitties as I unlocked the door, I cracked it to see if anyone was waiting just inside, then "zoom" out popped Maddie!  Little sneak bolted right out the door and perched at the top of the landing stairs.  I quickly tossed my backpack on the floor of the apartment, trying to avoid hitting Trotter and to keep him inside, then ran and grabbed my little runner before he got more ideas.

So, I thought I'd try to be clever and start their education - to teach them that they can only go outside with a harness on.  It had worked with Shadow when she was a kitten.  We'd tried the harness on Trotter on Thanksgiving day (as can be seen in photos in the gallery on my website posted yesterday).  He'd fussed for a few moments, then promptly forgot he had it on.  He's sort of like the dog in the cartoon movie "Up."  "Hi, I'm Trotter.  I love you.  Squirrel!"  Trot-Trot lives in a world of his own. 

Maddie is another story.  I put the harness on him and he immediately got it in his mouth and started trying to chew it off... and fussed, and rolled, and danced.  So, I decided to distract him by attaching the leash and taking him outside.  Not successful.  He kept dropping down on his side and rolling around.  I decided to take him up to the door so he would know where his home was.  Opened the door and out zooms Trotter, who immediately runs the opposite direction!  I threw the handle of the leash around my door handle and ran for Trotter as Maddie danced around trying to break free from the harness.  I did get them back inside, but now I'm going to have to find a way to keep them both from bolting every time I open the door.

... dainty sweet?  Right!

Did I mention that I woke up the other morning and found the drain plug from my bathroom sink on the floor next to my bed?  Kitties like to pull it out and chew on it.  So, I now have a sink without a drain plug.  I had to hide it in the bathroom cabinet.  Oh, yes, and Trotter was having a good time trying to get his head inside the hole for the kitchen garbage disposal yesterday...  They are so fascinated by things they can stick their "hands" (and heads, it appears) into.

Kittens at play

I had four whole, wonderful days off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  The boys loved having me around so much and truly exhausted me with all their games.  I've posted a new gallery of their holiday activities on my website at the following link: Maddie's and Trotter's Thanksgiving Adventures.

Here are a few highlights of their weekend:

They invaded the closet...

... discovered the bedroom window...

... chewed on Mom...

... did a little bird watching ...

... raced ...

... and chased ...

... and napped.

They did a bit of computer work...

... trashed birdie toy ...

... did a bit of grooming, and more napping, of course!

And then they woke up and started all over again!

Strange Noises...

I've been sitting here trying to do some things on the computer.  I was checking out some songs on ITunes and had two kittens sitting right in front of the monitor watching things move.  Maddie was so enthralled, he actually stood up on his hind legs to watch.  I didn't catch a photo of it this time, but I'm sure he'll do it again.

As I was sitting here, the two disappeared into the kitchen.  I heard a strange crunching noise and got up to see what they were into.  Trotter was on the counter and had found a bowl I keep onions and garlic in... he was eating the garlic skin!

Last night I was catching up on Facebook and someone had posted a link to a video on YouTube called "Mean Kitty."  The video was so funny, I checked out their other videos online.  One of them was called "Mean Kitty, There's Something in my Bed."  They recorded their cat's reactions to a recording of a cat placed under their kitty bed.  My two reacted immediately when they heard it... They got very worried and started looking for the distressed kitty.

Right now the two are batting at eachother from above and below the table where I've got my printer... sigh...  They seem to get into the most mischief when I'm not paying attention to them.

Ah, quiet at last... for a few minutes anyway

This evening I made my Dad's famous stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  Two very curious kittens kept trying to climb onto the kitchen counter to check everything out.  I had to resort to a squirt bottle to begin teaching them where they could not go.  It was effective, although I felt terribly guilty about squirting my little darlings in the face.  There is a ledge above the sink, which I will allow them to sit on and watch, but they can't step down from there to sink level.  Trotter glared a bit and Maddie zoomed around the apartment in protest, but they eventually settled down on the ledge to watch.  Both were lying on their bellies with heads and front legs hanging over the edge, but they stayed in place.

Once I finished with the cooking, I settled onto the couch to make a couple of phone calls.  I had two purring kittens nestled and sleeping on my chest and lap.  Trotter was nestled on the comforter on my knees, in a precarious position, because he finally slid off to the floor, where he stayed asleep.  When I got up to turn on the computer, there was a flurry of kitty activity again.  Trotter loves to bat at the computer screen, which makes it very difficult to do things like write blog posts and upload photo galleries.  Fortunately, they wore out fairly quickly and it's quiet.  Trotter is lying on the desk in front of the monitor... asleep.  That's the only reason I'm able to write this tonight!

Is it the full moon?

I'm being overrun by kittens!  As soon as I got home, all mayhem broke out.  Chasing, climbing, fighting, lamp on floor... I guess they must have missed me while I was gone at work all day.  Maddie managed to jump across the kitchen from the sink counter to the stove.  My pantry is right next to the stove and he climbed right in... of course he had to knock a spice jar on the floor in the process.  I had to resort to duck tape to hold the door closed.

Now that I'm trying to do some things on the computer I have kittens playing with cords and crawling everywhere they can squeeze.  Trotter likes to bat at anything that moves on the screen and Maddie just knocked open the paper exit door to my printer.  Trotter is lying under the desk on top of the CPU tower and is now grabbing at my fingers as I try to type.

All this insanity... it's got to be the full moon tonight... and now there's a grey kitten crawling (or clawing) across my lap beneath the keyboard tray.  Oh, an now they're batting at eachother right in front of me.  I had to pull out the squirt bottle a bit ago, because Maddie was attacking my foot.  Can't have that.  Gotta sign off now.  It's hard to type with a kitten holding onto your hand... the claws...

Want a drink?

The other day I poured myself a glass of water.  As I picked it up, Maddie was on the kitchen counter and stuck his nose into the glass.  I set it down to decide whether or not I should pour it out.  I never got to drink it...

Today's Videos... having a hard time uploading 'cause there's a Trotter blocking the screen...

Trotter and his white mouse.

 

Two Kitties and their paper bag.

I think we've bonded.

Yesterday was quite a day.  Kittens arrived in my face at 5:20am... long enough to say "Hello" and then left.  All was quiet until I got up about an hour after initial wake-up call.  I found out that 5:20am was their First Mom, Lori's, normal wake up time.  But how adaptable these two are.  This morning there were no kittens in my face till just before my 6:00am alarm.

Last night started with the usual rounds of leaps and wrestling for a couple of hours.  I was nestled on my sofa with a faux down blanket covering me when Trotter jumped up beside me and started purring and being lovey... climbing up over my shoulder and back and forth between sofa arm and seat.  Then he climbed up and nestled over my arms and fell asleep.  At one point, his head was hanging down over my arm.  All was peaceful and quiet until Maddie, who was asleep in one of the kitty condo platforms, awoke and started kitty games session II.  They retired to the bathtub for a while, and when I went to wash up for bed, I noticed that the bathroom sink drain plug was missing.  I found it on the floor just outside the door.  Had to be Maddie.  He loves playing in the sink.

And, when I climbed into bed, I was accompanied by the two furry ones.  Trotter hung out on the headboard as Maddie proceeded to attack the moving object (i.e., me) under the covers.  Games lasted about 10 minutes, then they were off.  I think their most-favored sleeping post is the kitty condo, because not a peep occurred until the 6:00am alarm.

This morning's highlights involved discovery of the bedroom closet and Trotter's fascination with the shower.  I have a walk-in closet in the bedroom, which serves as closet and storage.  I've kept the door closed because there are lots of interesting places for kittens to hide and/or get into trouble.  They were in the room when I went into the closet to get clothes, so of course, Maddie lead the charge into the new room.  I had quiet a time getting both of them out of the closet.  When I did manage to close the door, Trotter proceeded to dig under it.

Earlier, as I was taking my shower, Trotter was hanging out on the edge of the tub.  I use a clear plastic shower curtain, so I can see the hijinx occurring.  He walked down to the back end of the curtain and peaked his head around the edge to watch the water hitting the wall.  Then he walked closer to me and sat on the edge of the tub watching the water hit the curtain, and then he peered down to watch it run inside the tub.  I was a bit worried that he might try to jump in with me and get all wet, but, at least for today, he didn't succumb to that curiosity.

Tonight when I got home, I brought a paper bag from work.  Yes, it was the immediate hit of the moment and there were very quickly two kitties inside it... Then one outside and the other leaping on the movement from the outside.  I'll be posting a video of the event shortly.

Day Two

I left the kittens snoozing on a shelf of their kitty condo last night.  I think they stayed there... until 5:20am when I heard the "crunch crunch" of food being eaten, immediately followed by digging in the litter box... then the unmistakeable sound of an urping kitten!  Don't know exactly who it was, but everyone seemed none the worse for it by the time I got up.

Both Maddie and Trotter enjoyed following me into the bathroom and Trotter checked out the water as I was brushing my teeth.  Plenty of wrestling, kicking and biting.  Then I opened the blinds and Maddie saw a bird in the tree.  Trotter didn't care what was going on outside, but Maddie was definitely on point.  Looks like I may have a budding hunter on my hands.  They retired to the kitty condo as I was putting on my coat, but Maddie came running to the door as I turned to close it behind me.

When I got home this evening, they were happy to see me.  I tried to distract them from the kitchen as I got ready to open their wet food treat, but they were more interested in drinking from the pot I'd left soaking from my last night's dinner of chicken corn chowder.  I tried to lure them to the bedroom with their food, but they were more interested in exploring the kitchen counter.  They did finally find the food, though.

Afterwards, the evening's play activities began.  More racing around and wrestling, climbing around the bookshelf under the TV, and hanging out in the trash can full of papers to be shred.  They hit the kitty condo again, and at one point Maddie made an amazing leap from one of the upper platforms (at least five feet high) to the ground.

The computer desk has been a point of interest this evening... Maddie seems to enjoy walking across the keyboard when I'm working on it. He caught the caps lock key just right a while ago.  I'm now surrounded by kittens as I attempt to type.  Trotter is lying in front of me grabbing onto my hands and Maddie is climbing around on anything he can.

One of the play themes for this evening was "tub time."  I think Trotter was looking for water drips again, and then Maddie joined in to start trouble.  I could hear all sorts of noises emanating from the bathroom for a while.  Later, though, Trotter came out and layed down next to me and turned into quite a love bug.  That's the first time he's been so affectionate.  Maddie was sleeping on the kitty condo, but once he woke, all sweetness was lost.  I'm going to have to get off the computer soon, because they are hanging out in the computer equipment.  Maddie even managed to push down the paper catcher tray for my printer.

I think I better go, because kittens are everywhere now.

And this evening...

I got home from work just before 7pm and was greeted at the door by Maddie.  The two must have been waiting, because as soon as I walked in the door, they were everywhere at once.  I brought groceries, which had to be checked out, then the computer had to be examined, and then many races around the rooms along with some amazing feats of flying.  Maddie was running from the dining room around into the hallway and hit his head as he rounded the corner and lit off for the bedroom.  Another favorite game is hide and seek behind the vertical blinds.  Later, my homemade Halloween costume (a box of tissues), which I'd left in the living room, became the focus of attention.  I'd made a hat of tissue paper, which became the toy to shred du jour. 

Here are a few short cell phone videos of some of the hijinks of the evening, and the resulting pooped kitties asleep on their kitty condo.

 And, after all that activity, these are two pooped kitties...

The morning...

Twas a relatively quiet night after the boys wore themselves out exploring and fell asleep under the bed.  I didn't hear them stirring much except for the occasional kibble crunch and litter box scraping.  When I got up in the morning, all was calm and quiet... until I walked out of the bathroom to be greeted by Maddie sitting in the hallway waiting for me.  Then all hell broke loose.  I caught some video of a little of the action before I left for work.  It was actually Trotter who found his way into the bathtub... and he was fascinated by drops of water coming from the spigot onto his head.

 

Photos

They're still asleep under the bed, so I've had time to download a few photos from their first evening at their new home.

Their first few minutes in the bedroom -- Trotter's not happy about the camera.  Is that a glare or what?

Made it up onto the bed... check

Found the water dish... check

What a look!

Oooh, there's bro... maybe I should chase him!

Trotter's claimed the shoebox.

What a handsome pair.

Found the computer.

Tugging on the kitty condo.

They're here!

So, I had to wait till today for the kitties' arrival.  Lori told me they didn't make a peep in their carrier all the way over here.  They seem to have adapted quite well, because the bedroom was thoroughly explored.  Maddie was the first to the litter box, and both had no problem finding food and water.  They had a great time checking things out and wore themselves out, so I left them napping under the bed.

A couple of hours later, I opened the bedroom door and Maddie was by the door.  He rushed out, so there was no stopping the exploration of the rest of the apartment.  Trotter followed shortly after and I had zooming kitties for a while.  Trotter found the bathtub, so I tossed in a toy I'd bought... he promptly picked it up and carried it out into the hallway.  I think it was Trotter who found the kitty condo and took the first tug on it.

They seem to like the computer desk, and have both climbed up onto the ledge to the kitchen.  Maddie went so far as to climb into the sink.  They both checked out the La-Z-Boy rocker.  Maddie found something to dig on the back of the chair, while Trotter was busy smelling it.  He must be finding scent from the other cats still there.

Maddie is definitely the outgoing explorer.  Trotter is playing coy.  He'll bravely venture forth, but if I look at him he takes off running.  I've been taking lots of photos.  Maddie is oblivious to the camera, but Trotter seems to get offended every time I take his picture.  I think the sound of the camera coupled with the sound of the flash as it recharges bothers him.  He gives me the nastiest look when I pick up the camera and point it in his direction.

The flurry of activity wore them out, so now they're safely nestled under the bed.

My last night of calmness...

I bought a litter box on the way home from work tonight.  Didn't get too many comments when I carried it with me on the bus.  Just two guys chatting with the driver who mumbled something about "litter box."

I've been on the phone with Lori making plans for the kitties big move to their new home tomorrow, and taking in my last night of peace and quiet.  The storm arrives tomorrow.  The boys decided to have a snack... mostly sucking air now Lori said, so she had to hang up and take photos.  So, here are the latest photos of the boys on their last night with their Mom.

"Squinty" -- Trotter after a milk snack... look at that wet nose.  And is that a dribble of something on his chin?

Mad and Trot... if you look at the photo below, it's amazing how much Maddie looks like his Mom.

Snack time... they have grown a lot since I last saw them two weeks ago!

Now, for the sake of comparison, here are some photos Lori took during their first week.

Maddie and Trotter - one day old 8-24-10

Maddie - 5 days old

Maddie - 8-28-10

Photos taken 10/31/10 -- Halloween

 Momma Rue, bathing Trotter after a little milk snack.

Checking out their new kitty carrier.

Rue, Trotter, Maddie - Just relaxing on the patio...

Oh Mom!

Photos taken on 10-24-10

I'm the king of the bush!

Hello?

Hmm... what's up there?

My bush!

See how high I can climb.

Photos at 5 weeks

Here is a link to a gallery of the photos I took of the kittens when they were five weeks old... the day I fell in love with them.

The beginning...

It all started at the Uptown Transit Center bus stop.  That's where Lori and I met while waiting for the #8 Menaul Westbound bus.  At some point during our brief encounters on the bus, she mentioned that her dwarf kitty, Rue, appeared to be expecting... so much so that her little tummy was dragging on the ground.  It was fun hearing about the impending arrival, but I remember feeling sad, too.  I was still reeling from the loss of my two beloved "girls," Shadow and Mira, who I had lost in June and September of 2009.  Shadow had been my companion for 19 years, since she came to me as a kitten in May 1990.  I'd adopted Mira as a three-year-old in about 1996.  Losing those two was so painful, I didn't think I'd ever be able to open my heart to cats in my life ever again.

How wrong I was...  When Lori announced on Facebook on August 23, 2010, that Rue's kittens were born, I thought it would be fun to see them, since I hadn't been around kittens for 20 years.  And, I did get to see them when they were about two weeks old.  I was impressed by the fact that Rue practically dragged me to see her babies.  But, I still wasn't ready to become attached.  A couple of weeks later, Lori asked if I would consider taking some photos of the kittens.  Sure, I thought, it would be fun to get some fun kitty photos...  And that day was when I knew these two and I had to be together, so I asked to adopt them.  I am starting this blog to chronicle the adventures of my life with the addition of two very lively boys... Trotter and Maddie.

Trotter's name came quite easily, because he trots.  Maddie took a bit longer to reveal his name, and his gender.  Until a few days ago, we thought Maddie was a girl.  But when I was coming up with her name a few weeks ago, we still weren't quite sure of her gender, so the name Maddie came up.  It was either going to be Madeline (if female), or Madison (if male).  Also, Maddie's nickname for a while was "Trouble," so "Maddie, Maddie, Bobaddy" seemed to fit.  Now that we know he's a boy, I like his name as Madison/Maddie.

And they were born...

Here is a screen capture from Facebook on the day Maddie and Trotter were born.