The Purr-Therapy Room: If Only....

Well the kittens did return on the 3rd of July but they went straight to the vets for spaying and neutering. Squish, Milky and Whimpy remained behind but JoJo was doomed to wear the bucket to keep her away from her stitches.

Family Portrait (from L clockwise) - Milky, Wimpy, JoJo & Squish

The three stooges that returned

JoJo (who's crazy as a YoYo) isn't a huge fan of being kept confined so I was offered the chance to foster her again until the stitches came out. Such hardship for me (rolls eyes).

Well, I never really bonded with JoJo (still Judith by RSPCA papers) when she was one of the four kittens, in fact I tended to gravitate towards Squish because he was happy to hang out whereas JoJo was off being a...well YoYo...

Some Examples of JoJo's YoYo-ness

Come and get me! ~ JoJo

SPROING!!

CHOMP!! (JoJo laughing maniacally at her brother)

SPROING!!!

Can I has some halp? Bit Stuck ~ JoJo

Now that I've had one on one time for over a week I've seen a different side of her. The title of this new post is a reflection of 'If only I could keep them all'. Yes, JoJo has wiggled her way into my heart and if I didn't have Leo I probably would be darn tempted to sign some papers.

Alas I do understand that three cats in one household is enough and Leo would get his nose out of joint if he had to share me any more than he does now. There's also nothing to say JoJo wont change out of her cute behavior as she gets older (seriously doubt that).

So what does JoJo do? Well its not really anything that every other cat doesn't do. She purrs, she cuddles, she doesn't want to be left alone and she's a cheeky little girl.

Normally when a kitten is sick I enjoy cuddling them and watching them sleep while tucked up around my neck. By the time they get better they don't want to sit still and hang out. JoJo isn't sick and yet she'll just hang out with me purring and snuggling against me and generally turning those big expressive eyes on me.

Cuddles with little Jo

Hey look I found a warm spot (sitting on heater vent)

Side Note: While wearing her hood little JoJo also slid down the treadmill belt when she accidentally wandered onto it. She wasn't overly worried about it or the noise...the vacuum is another thing...

On Friday she went to the vets to possibly get her stitches out but the vet advised to leave it until Monday. Everyone was enchanted with her little sock.

****Story of the sock****

The hood of doom was not JoJo's cup of tea and one morning she managed to get herself into an awful mess. Somehow while using the litter tray she'd managed to shift the neck part of the hood to nearly down to her waist and had trapped her front legs in the hood also. If I'd thought about it a picture would explain much better but either way she couldn't get out of the litter tray and had spent quite a bit of time struggling and getting poop everywhere. (exasperated face)

Since the altered socks with leg holes and the toe cut off seemed to work with previous kittens we went down that path with this one and beyond walking like a drunk kitten for a few minutes she soon adapted to it and motored on like nothing was different. (She never showed any signs of pain from her spay site to the point that even with a hood she managed to climb cage walls).

JoJo modelling her sock

Cat Walk

Side View

On Friday I was introduced to another kitten Cleo who's story is quite a bit sadder. She was born either feral or semi feral and has never had decent human interaction before the RSPCA. Her brother reacted in a manner which was dangerous and unadoptable and the shelter manager bore some nasty scratches and bites. Cleo however seems to freeze when handled but you can tell she's not happy or comfortable with humans hands on her or when she's off the ground.

Cleo ~ I'm watching you

She was adopted out for a full three days before being returned as unsuitable for that home.

I've had Cleo now a heading close to a week. I see a kitten that is trying but is also very distrustful. She is 15 weeks old so the window of turning her into a cuddly little purr bucket has kind of passed.

Cleo stalking JoJo

HISS!!

Taking a breather where its 'Safe'
(Meaning I was on the other side of the room)

Within moments of having room to move in the big cage she was tentatively playing with some toys (she did have a freak out at a dome bed hissing and swatting at it like some monster until I removed it) but otherwise she was fine and did nothing more than hiss or shift to the other side of the cage whenever I had to clean/check something.

I began offering her bribes of nice food to try and get some sort of level playing field. By late day two I think it was the first time Cleo accepted and sought out some attention. Depending on her mood sometimes she'll purr up a storm and head butt your hand allowing you to pat her on the head and down the back. Legs, belly and movement to pick her up is rewarded with her tensing or backing off.

The last 3 days (stitches all out by Monday for both Cleo and JoJo) I've been giving them supervised 30 minute play sessions. It saves Cleo from turning her cage into an absolute trash site and gets her interacting with another kitten. She's quite a bit bigger than JoJo so I cant leave them alone together. Mostly it seems they're playing but occasionally it seems to get a bit nasty from my view (probably normal behavior but I try to split them up if I hear too much hissing or yeowling when ones been tackled).

Cleo and JoJo playing Hide and swat

Cleo still totally prefers to stay away from people rather than be with them and is overly cautious of going near or past a human (which makes catching her again quite difficult because I don't want to just pounce on her and ruin all the trust).

Long term with a patient loving owner I see Cleo being a quite affectionate cat who might be a lap cat but only on her own terms. I cant see her tolerating being picked up and carried around or cuddled at least not anytime soon. I also believe she'll be shy around strangers but alas I'm hoping she'll prove me wrong in all areas.

JoJo will adapt anywhere but I'm pretty sure given the right attention she'll return it tenfold. The trips to the vet have been quite overwhelming for her and she trembles like a leaf tucking herself closer to the side of the box that I'm on or trying to squish herself through the bars. When out of her carrier she tucks in and cowers on my lap but is quick to purr up a storm if she's reassured and given scratches.

Both JoJo (Judith) and Cleo are available for adoption and once paid for can go home immediately as they're both desexed. I will probably have these guys until Monday but if anyone is interested in them I'm happy to swing by the shelter with them so you can meet them.

If interested ring the Portland RSPCA and inquire after Judith (JoJo - is what I call her, Judith is what her paperwork says) or Cleo or Kim's Foster Kittens.

I'll be soaking up all the love from JoJo I can get in the next few days and working on Cleo's fears of humans.

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Leo the Loony Boy