Dobby, the house-elf-kitten

Let’s pretend I’ve barely blogged for two weeks because I’ve been on a fabulous cruise through the Caribbean, and I couldn’t drag myself away from the buffets and shore excursions to find an Internet cafe.  That’s a fun excuse, right?  It beats the truth, which I haven’t actually figured out yet.  I think it can only be blamed on, “Time flies”.  Damn Time.  I believe that Time tends to fly fastest towards the end of summer, and when you need to mail packages to arrive in time for Christmas.

I know I quickly mentioned “Dobby” a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn’t uploaded a picture.  So, here’s a cute photo of our newest foster/rescue (there are a few others in my Flickr account, and on Flippy;s blog:

Dobby_9_weeks (4)

To recap, Dobby was living somewhere on our street, and I’d seen her sitting on our block wall, and running into the yard of the vacant house next door.  She was eating copious amounts of food from our front porch feeder each night, but it wasn’t until she came into our backyard that I got close enough to see how tiny and skinny she was.  I’d assumed she was a young adult, but when she darted past me as she ran through our yard, I realized she was just a kitten, and a very young one.  So, I set the trap and nabbed her very quickly.  She was hissy and frightened and extremely skinny, and her coat was in poor condition.  She acted very “feral”, (although I have limited experience with ferals), because she took to our cats immediately but hid from us whenever possible.  If I picked her up (I had to scruff her to do this), she’d purr, but she’d hide her face in the crook of my arm, and would panic and jump down as soon as she made eye contact.  We took her to a vet for shots and he guessed her to be 7 or 8 weeks old, at most.

We’ve had her for a couple of weeks now, and she’s looking a lot better.  She isn’t skin and bones anymore, and is really solid and stocky.  She still won’t let us touch her voluntarily, but she’ll come right up to me when she wants to eat, she’ll lick food off the end of my finger, and she’ll take kibble pieces from Flippy’s hand.  Since her arrival the cats have “expanded” their territory, and every evening Dobby, Bunny, Carlo, and TJ gather in the living room (a room that only Derek regularly visited), and they romp and have kitten parties.  I put a new litterbox in there and in the mornings I can tell that there’s been plenty of cat party action going on while we sleep.

I’d like to get her to come around a bit more, and to be less skittish, before sending her to a new home.  We’re around all day and she sees us constantly, so I assume that’s the fastest way to acclimate her to people and to encourage her to become more sociable.  I think she definitely needs to go to a home with other cats, because even though she’s young, I think it’s established in her head that she’s a cat, and she wants to be with cats.

We still have Greg and Spiderman as well, so we’re as full as full can be.  I try to let them out of their bedroom to roam the house for at least a couple of hours each day, but they’re boys, and they do upset the gender/hormonal applecart around here, as I suspected they would.  We just have too many male cats.  Surprisingly, it’s not Jackson or Frank who’s being ass-y to Greg and Spiderman, it’s Tie and Scampi.  I thought I’d raised my children to be more civilized than that, but apparently, cats will be cats.  Spiderman is the most innocent thing in the world because he tends to just perch in one spot and observe, yet Tie has been sneaking up on him and smacking him in the face.  How nice… my sweet little cat is beating up on a blind cat.  I can’t wait for Greg and Spidey to find new homes (or to go to Best Friends), because they’re getting bored and need room to roam.  Bunny and Carlo play with them (I think Bunny has a crush on Spidey), but they need a real family and laps to sit on.  I’d bet they miss children, too.


Posted by Leigh-Ann on 08/29 at 03:11 AM

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  1. Dobby is such a great name for her. Green eyes and big ears. smile She’s beautiful! Hand-feeding her like you’re doing should help her come around. Once ferals see humans as Bringers of Yummy Things, good progress often follows...at least in my experience.

    Posted by Helena  on  08/29  at  07:10 AM

  2. I love her expression in that picture.

    Posted by Helly  on  08/29  at  08:26 AM

  3. I love her expression in this picture too.  Reminds me of TJ - http://flickr.com/photos/flippyo/325855176/in/set-337767/ .  Damn, I love kittens.  It’s taken me 41 years to discover that there is really nothing I love more than kittens, not even chocolate...although they’re in a tight race with the internet.

    Posted by Flippy  on  08/29  at  01:55 PM

  4. She’s so cute!  It sure looks like she loves the camera, or whoever beckoned her to pose.
    I love what you do.  Wish I could, and I just might someday!

    Posted by Ryssee  on  08/29  at  03:33 PM

  5. Dobby is adorable...and definitely a good enough excuse to not blog for a while wink With her good looks, and the work you’re doing with her, I have no doubt you’ll find a great home for her1

    Posted by Therese  on  08/31  at  06:08 PM

  6. Dobby is a bit hard-headed, and we haven’t made very much progress with her.  She’ll come right up to us for food, but doesn’t want to be touched or picked up.  We’ve had her for about four weeks now, so I’m concerned that she’s not more tame.  No one will want to adopt a kitten they can’t touch.  I may have to seek expert taming advice.  She sure loves the other cats around here, though.

    And Ryssee, now I know who you are!  I emailed you a note earlier this evening.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  09/03  at  04:00 AM
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