Animal Antics

As anyone who lives with animals knows, our furry friends make life interesting. (Notice I don’t say “anyone who owns animals”—I’m pretty sure they own us, not the other way around!) Since May, Rachel & I have fostered two puppies, two kittens, and one adult dog. Alice and Alba, our two foster puppies, were both adopted in August. Just before their adoption, I picked up our foster kittens, Hide and Seek. About a week after Alice was adopted, we got Cody, our adult foster dog (who, by the way, was adopted last weekend!). It’s been quite the experience, not least because of the funny animal stories I’ve gotten out of it. Here are a few of the gems I’ve collected.

One evening last week, I was sitting in my bedroom when I heard a tinkling noise out in the hallway. I knew Cody had come upstairs, so I was a trifle unhappy when I heard that. Uh oh. That can’t be good, I thought. However, when I went out to see what sort of discipline might be needed, I discovered that Cody had peed in the litter box! Clearly, he wanted to save Rachel & I the effort of taking him outside before bed.

Later that evening, I was soaking in a bubble bath. Both Hide and Seek love to play in the bathtub, so when they saw me there, they had to investigate. From his perch on the side of the tub, Hide leaned down to sniff the bubbles, then reached out and patted them. After determining that the bubbles were safe, Hide then decided that they were fine to walk on. That’s right—Hide took a full-dunk in the bath! His reaction was instantaneous and hilarious. After springing across the room, Hide spent the next few minutes turning in circles as he tried to figure out where to start cleaning himself off!  Poor baby. (It really was pathetic, but I was laughing so hard I didn’t have the chance to comfort him.)

The kittens aren’t just fastidious in their own hygiene. They also like to “help” me clean. I have a rubber sweeper from FlyLady that’s great for getting pet hair, dregs of litter, cat/dog food crumbs, etc. up. Hide and Seek think it’s just the greatest thing when I use it—they consistently bat at it, tackle it, follow it around, and chase it whenever I’m trying to clean. They also like "helping" me make my bed. More to the point, they don’t want me to make the bed without them in it! See the video below for evidence.

Not only are Hide and Seek very tidy kittens; they’re also technologically advanced. Every time I work on my laptop, they make a beeline for the keyboard. After a few minutes of walking around on the keys and batting at the cursor, they curl up on the keyboard. I use this as an excuse to pet them instead of using the computer. In the course of their computer exploits, they have managed to: post Facebook messages and statuses, open documents on my desktop, change document names, play games of solitaire (they’re not very good), and click on links to various websites. My favorite was when one of them clicked on a link that opened an eHarmony ad. My immediate thought was, “are they trying to tell me something?”

My final silly animal story goes back to where I started this: cat litter. If I fill the litter box too full, they (I think Hide is the culprit here) scoop piles of litter out onto the floor. I’ve watched Hide do this. He looked absolutely gleeful as he swatted pawsful of litter out of the box. He would dig vigorously in the litter, watching it fly out of the box. It was clearly one of his favorite games! I've learned my lesson--don't put too much litter in the box.

Hide, Seek, and Cody

UPDATE: CODY WAS ADOPTED!!! HE'S NOW LIVING IN HIS FOREVER HOME :)

Hide and Seek have a new friend in the house! His name is Cody, and he is a Shepherd-Collie mix (we think). He's about 3 years old, and is as sweet as can be! He arrived Saturday afternoon; he adjusted to his new home with no problems.

 Meet Cody, our new roommate!

He isn't phased by the kittens at all (although he's definitely interested in their food!). Hide and Seek have taken a little bit to accept him into their home, but after a few hours, they seem to have gotten over their initial annoyance and warmed up to him. By the end of the evening, they were both out in the living room playing with each other and us humans in full sight of the dog--this is big progress for them :) This is a big step closer to adoptability for both the kittens and for Cody; being accustomed to other animals is a huge plus for foster animals.

Such a good boy!

In other big kitten progress, I had a friend over this afternoon (it was great seeing you, Angela!). Part of the process of getting basically feral kittens to the point of being adoptable is socializing them. Part of socializing them, of course, is having them meet and interact with new people. Hide and Seek did so well! They not only came out to see Angela, but they let her pet them and give them treats. They totally showed off for her! There were some very cute moments--especially some windowsill posing--that were clearly intended to impress their guest.

Seek stretched out in the window, enjoying our admiration.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Hide and Seek enjoying the view of the back yard

Both kittens are at the point that they'll let me pick them up & cuddle them (usually only for a minute or so, but sometimes for long snuggle sessions), and they'll come out to investigate a new person. I'm very proud of the progress these two are making! they've come from timid, terrified kittens who would barely come out from under the couch to bold explorers eager to meet new people and have new adventures. That's a lot of progress for three weeks!

I hope that all three animals will keep up their fabulous progress and find the perfect forever homes they need. :)