Warm Fuzzy Updates

Kitty S and Kitty P have been making themselves at home. They really like having their own safe space in the bathroom, and really like exploring in the house. The puppies are practically beside themselves. Every morning now, they run straight to the bathroom door to see if we will open it so that they can play with the kitties. Kitty S is really warming up to the puppies and loves the opportunity to play with them under the dining room table. Kitty P is warming up a little. She doesn't mind being in the same room with the dogs, or even inches away- as long as they don't try to lick her or play with her at all. She's not that kind of cat...
Today, Mr. M got to play with Kitty S for a little while. This was his first time really up close with the kitties, so Mom wanted to give them her full attention in case he got a little too excited- hence the lack of pictures. He did surprisingly well. Then Miss M got to visit with them again. She really didn't understand why Kitty S didn't appreciate all of her puppy kisses. After all, they hadn't seen each other all night. Miss M did the logical puppy thing, seeing Kitty S first thing in the morning- she chased her under something and then licked her, tail going wild. She was soooo excited to see her kitty friend. 
A little later in the morning, Mr. C was allowed to play with the kitties for a while. This time, we got out the camera since we were convinced that he wasn't going to eat the cats.

A little bit of ear cleaning was apparently in order. Mr. C took care of that. If pictures had sounds, you would be able to hear the cat purring at this point.

Then she rolled over so he could check her belly too.

When he was finished cleaning her, she started playing with his paw to get him to play too.

We decided that the cats were doing well enough to go ahead and put collars on them. So, they are now officially part of the family. They didn't even mind us putting the collars on, which surprised us, and haven't tried to take them off at all. 
In the afternoon, we decided to go ahead and let Miss S meet the cats. Up until this point, she had only seen them through the baby gate because she was just too excited. We were really surprised at how well she did with them. Kitty P even came out to see her. When Miss S got too close, Kitty P just growled at her and she backed off. After that, she would look at Kitty P but give her plenty of room whenever she walked by. Miss S was content to play with Kitty S, and the feeling seemed to be mutual.

Miss S checking out Kitty S with Kitty P in the background. We are a little surprised by how calm the kittens are.

This is the look the puppies get when they think about getting too close to Kitty P. It's accompanied by a growl. Any puppies willing to proceed beyond those gets swatted in the face. Just ask Miss M.

Miss S: "Hey, Kitty P, we match." Kitty P: "Whatever."

Once the introductions were out of the way, it was time to get down to the important stuff: PLAYTIME.

If you weren't paying attention, you would think that the dogs were harassing the kitties, but as soon as the puppies try to back away from the chair, or walk away, Kitty S goes after them to play some more. She is either a very brave cat, or a little slow in the head. We aren't sure which it is.

Kitty S: "Where do you think you are going? I demand full attention."

Miss S didn't really know what to think about this next pose and just stood there for a minute. I think she was expecting the cat to get stuck.

In true cat fashion, after a few minutes of fast paced fun, she collapsed on the floor under a bar stool. Miss S didn't really know what to think about that and sat on Mom's knee trying to figure out what the cat was doing.

"Mom. What do I do now? She's just laying there. Is that normal?"

Kitty P to Kitty S: "What did I tell you about playing with dogs?"

I think we are making definite progress. The kitties are still not comfortable with having more than one puppy out at once- it gets a little too rambunctious, but they are very comfortable with one at a time. This whole cat thing just may work. Tomorrow we may try Miss B. Her first meeting with the kittens involved her chasing Kitty P across the neighbor's yard, so we'll see how that goes.