Getting in touch with the kitten.

WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE NEW PUPPY GETS HOME?

Hello dear human who are reading.

Pina has just asked me to write a few lines, as a cat, about the adoption or the fostering of a new puppy, she needs my feline opinion about this delicate subject. In fact, no one better than me knows what it takes for a three-month-old kitten that leaves the house where he lived with his mother and siblings for good.

Take me and Byron, for example. We were born in Bergamo in the kennel of Dany, an affectionate, concrete and determined woman. She witnessed mother Ukiko’s birth, and brought us and three other cats into the world. Our dad name is Martin. It seems he and Kiki love each other like there’s no tomorrow! Lucky them! Byron and me, on the other hand, fight constantly.

Byron and Belle, ears up, ready for a fight.

But I’m digressing, so immediately return to the point in question: the welcome of the new cat. Here, in fact, I would say that the first meeting should take place when the puppy is about a month or forty days old. Obviously both the litter and the humans must be in good health, otherwise it is better to wait. A simple seasonal viral infection, I’m not talking about COVID-19, is lethal for newborns. They catch bronchitis and pneumonia, that send them to the creator.

I remember that our breeder invited Pina and Chiara to visit us. The first time, they came to see us in the nursery, a protected and aseptic room, where mother Kiki fed us at the breast and continued to lick our skin – we were naked – to keep us clean, and no other cats were allowed. The humans could not even touch us, however, before leaving, they left us two toys and a white and blue blanket woven with crochet from grandmother Fedele, that scented so much of her.

“To get them used to our smell”, Pina’s comment.

The second meeting was more eventful. We were already sixty days old, very lively and frolicking in the games room among the adults, we were climbing the scratching trees under the watchful eye of Dany.

“They are polite, already use the litter box,” she informed, all proud of us. “I started weaning with soft baby food: mono-protein mousses and pates. So, in a month, you take away the “befanina” (little witch) who always reprimands her brother,” she said, and all three giggled.

The humans laughed at me, for I growled when Byron jumped on me, grabbed me by the scruff, or nibbled my shins to entice me to play. First of all, I’m Belle, not just an old witch, and then … then I saw certain reactions, when the deranged Byron jumps one meter high, and bites the ankles of humans. But that’s another story, I’ll talk about it at the appropriate time.

Now I’m tired of pressing the black keys, a snack of kibble and a nap on top of the fluffy turret suit me. But first, I want to pull the strings – mew, I like so much to pull the threads of wool, the twine, the ties of the bags – I said the strings concerning the relationship between the kitten and the human. It is always a good idea to know the habits, the behaviour, the health of the new friend, before bringing him home, you want it is a purebred puppy with a long and articulated pedigree, you want it is a common kitten, the puppy of the neighbors’cat, or a guest in an abandoned animal shelter.

Remember, human, it is still wise to know the kitten, before he gets home, and you find yourself unprepared. We, cats, have nine lives and nine thousand strategies to surprise you!

Mew, mew! See you soon, Belle of Tatamoon.