New kittens
 

My new kittens, both female, moved in a few days ago.

The picture shows them cuddled up together in their nest-box which is in the laundry - it is not great, taken at night with a flash

They have very different personalities - the tortoiseshell is an extrovert but the black one is very reserved though I think that I am earning her trust - she now lets me pick her up and purrs when I do that. They get on well together.

The vet, somewhat solemnly, told me that the black one is called Blackberry (sounds good) and the tortoiseshell is Layla, which I am not convinced about - any suggestions?

So far I have given them access to the kitchen, laundry, my computer room and the upstairs bathroom - they have spent a fair bit of time together exploring those places. In a week or so I will introduce them to the rest of the house.

I am really enjoying having them in the house :).

Oh, they are lovely.

Thanks for posting their portraits.

We have had many black cats, and have noticed that they have unique personalities. All of ours have tended to be timid. But also they tend to be very sensitive and intelligent.

Torties have a reputation for being eccentric in some ways.

Our most recent cat, Maya was a feral and never lived in a house. She lived in our friend's rescue in a large cage for about a month. So when we got her on vacation, she hid for about a week. We enticed her out bit by bit with food tidbit treats ( chicken, bacon, salmon) and toys. She eventually came out and decided to join us... Here is a photo of her accepting the sofa...which she discovered no one used that part, so it became hers. We had just succeeded in taming Maya, when we left for home (an all day car trip). she started hiding again, so it was another week of "where's Maya?"

We also kept the new kitten in the kitchen with a small litter box. As soon as I saw them use it regularly, I let them out.
I did keep them out of the basement and attic until they became adults. One never knows what kind of "trouble" they can get into being so small! ;)

As far a naming goes, we usually go a week or so until the kitten sort of names itself with some behavior. Maya was our only exception...I had that name picked out in advance.

I try to have each name slightly different so they can tell who is being called etc. A name ending in the eeezy sound and one that ends with an "a" sound or something else.

When we had 3 their names were Sheba, Tippy, Oreo.
I don't think this is a big issue since Maya always comes when we call Weezie. :o LOL

Little baby Maya just LOVED the little bits of real human food we offered her...she had never had before. She is a shrimp girl now like our late Sheba was. Those early hiding days I think ended because of the once a day small treat we offered her.

Thanks mrsD - Maya is lovely :).

The vet loaded me up with two giant bags, one for each of them. Kitten food, a topical drug (Selamectin) which is apparently effective against worms, fleas and paralysis ticks, which are an issue here - I will read the instructions carefully and get back to her if there is anything that I don't understand.

She also gave me some food treats (one chicken-based, the other fish-based) which they need to chew, which helps with tartar - I will try them out on those.

I found a couple of ping-pong balls which I will let them chase tomorrow when they are exploring.

Our current cats really love PAPER... I get unprinted paper sometimes in Ebay boxes. The cats LOVE boxes too.

So we have some packing paper, in parts of the first floor rooms, which they play on and under. Maya especially loves the paper.
I figure it is something to do with being feral? So Weezie has learned it too. They found some green tissue paper in a box recently and brought it upstairs to the living room and sit/lie on it now.

Here is Maya with a recent paper nest:
and secondly, Little Maya on Vacation when we adopted her
in Aug of 2012. I used to say loudly.... "Where's Maya" and she'd appear from under our old Cushman antique furniture upNorth,
like a phantom. That spot was our play place...where I did feathers on a stick and string, and other toys. She liked to have small boxes around, to sit in. We called them safety boxes. She had decided I guess that we don't step there, so she was safe.
The safety box in the kitchen was the most used.

Our other cats were not so "crazy" for paper and boxes...

This is a drawing I did in pastel recently about the paper and boxes issue:

I mention this, because after 40+yrs of cats, we found the new
paper and boxes, the best playthings of all. Maya does not go outside because we lost a cat before her -- the first time ever, so we don't let her past the screened porch. Weezie does go out and she trained herself to come in around 4-5pm, to avoid predators (Coyotes or whatever got poor Houdini). She stays around our house as we have lots of rodents for her to stalk.

Your kittens are adorable. :circlelove:

One of the outside kitties I feed is a Tortie and I named her KitKat. There is a black cat, too, and I named her Hershey. There were two more in that litter that were boys. Since I had already started "candy" themed names I named them Snickers and Taffy. :D

Your idea about paper is great mrsD :). I really like your drawing.

This morning I tossed them a couple of pieces of crumpled paper. They spent about 30 minutes chasing them and each other around the kitchen. After that they needed a morning tea snack...

Kitty, I really like your idea of themed names :).

As far as the tortie is concerned, I am leaning towards Waiwaiaa - it is Maori for "beautiful".

Yeah Kiwi! They are so cute! I am so happy for you. :trampoline:

What a bunch of joy to have in the house. The thirty minutes of play sounds like a blast. I am imagining all the adorable and hilarious things kittens do during play, the front legs thrown open in a standing "attack" and the getting ready to pounce butt wiggle. What fun!

Waiwaiaa is a nice name and picks up the "a" sounds. Blackberry is cute too. Congrats on the new additions to your family.

:hug:

Mrs. D, great photos and drawing. I had two Bombay over the years myself and they really are wonderful cats.

Thanks Littlepaw :hug:.

I had a bit of an adventure today - I needed to go out so locked everything up so I thought that they could not go outside.

When I got back they seemed to have vanished (cue panic). Loud purring in my computer room/study was a hint - they had managed to burrow behind the books in one of the bookshelves there and had snuggled up together - whew ;).

hey kiwi

Congrats on the new arrivals to your family - adorable - Waiwaiaa is a great name - I was a bit late coming to the naming party, having been off line a few days and when I read your first post, and MrsD's comment about torties being eccentric, it made me think of the name Lola (as in The Kinks song and a variation on the original name Layla).

Hope you have lots of fun with them and I'm sure they'll give hours of amusement as the grow up.

Blackberry and Waiwaiaa continue to thrive. They have figured out what a litter tray is for so I have opened up the rest of the (carpeted) house for them to explore, which they are having fun doing :).

They got some standard anti-viral vaccinations a few days ago (which I checked out ahead of time). The next day they were a bit off-colour but are now back to their usual lively selves :).