Alley Cat and Gemma

Soapmaking Forum

Help Support Soapmaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Messages
3,078
Reaction score
3,197
Location
Montana
After putting down both of our old, wonderful cats in the last 13 months, we have young blood in the house again. Meet Alley Cat and Gemma! They haven't met each other yet (at least not face to face), as Gemma just came today and is sequestered in my bedroom. But I assure you, she truly IS a gem that we won't be hiding forever!

Alley Cat entered our lives in March and probably feels a little territorial by now. The advice we got from Rescue Mom was to keep them separated up to 2 weeks so they can be more gently introduced though scents, sound, sixth sense, and the tiiiiiiiny slot under the door. It seems to be working so far -- no one is mad or shredded!

Both were strays fostered by rescue groups, and about a year old. And both are full of spunk and in need of a good jousting! My plan is for them to be playing together by the end of the week... and for many many years. But for now their curiosity builds behind closed doors.

Alley came to us as Batilda, not fitting at all for a girl of her beauty. As a play on words, I actually intended to say she went from alley cat to Aliy Cat (in honor of the female Iditarod musher Aliy Zirkle who inspires me so much). But she's such a little hellion in her kittenhood, I need to wait to change the spelling! Gemma seems a fitting name so far, but we'll see as she shows us who she really is.

Anyway, here are my girls. Alley Cat is the cream tabby, and Gemma is the pastel calico. Wish us luck in bonding the family!

P1020276.jpg


Gemma.jpg
 
Aweee they are adorable. I wish I could have cats but I'm allergic. I have my soap dog who wants to eat my lard lol. Maybe I'll post pics of her when I get her mascot shirt made :) I love your kitties.
 
Thanks guys! I worked at home today to make sure there was Peace on Earth and that my bedroom door didn't get shredded, lol! Happy to say it was pretty uneventful. Both kitties seemed pretty happy in their own spaces, even after swapping them so that Gemma could explore the big house again for awhile. I gave lots of love to both of them and can't wait til we can have a three-some!

Aweee they are adorable. I wish I could have cats but I'm allergic. I have my soap dog who wants to eat my lard lol. Maybe I'll post pics of her when I get her mascot shirt made :) I love your kitties.

godschild, Alley Cat likes my soaping oils too. She went nuts trying to get the box that was wrapped around my tallow shipment, and licked up the coconut oil I dropped on the floor making popcorn. Also, I use a 3-oil combo for facial OCM, and when I've forgotten to put the lid on the small bowl I mixed it in, she has licked it clean! See, she really is an Alley Cat!
 
Firstly, my condolences on the loss of your two older cats, CaraBou... and then secondly, CONGRATULATIONS on getting two new cutesy little furballs! They both look so adorable!! Those are two very pretty girls you've gotten yourself. Congrats!! :D
 
Beautiful kitties! I hope they bond well with each other (and you).
 
I used to foster cats and found once it seems like they're fairly familiar with the other scents in the house, I would put up a baby gate and leave the door cracked. Then, if all went well, I would leave the gate up and open the door. All the fosters would make up their minds when they were ready to come out and mingle by jumping the gate and coming on out. I have 4 other cats who were pretty used to the rotation though, so they were always accepting of the fosters, which left it up to the foster when they were ready. I would put money on your two doing well together!

I just had to put one of my dogs down and her name was Gemma. I'm happy to see another beauty carrying the name banner!
 
OMG....I could so easily become a crazy cat lady and have a houseful of cats. How could anyone look at those faces and not want to take them home? They are beautiful! I think you are very smart to quarantine them from one another. I wish I had done that with my two. I tried, but Basco's cries from behind the closed door made me cave in, and I think that may be why my guys don't get along to this day. Good for you that you haven't made that mistake. I hope you get two cats who enjoy each others company and sleep curled up together, like I had hoped for. They are absolutely gorgeous, wishing you luck with the mingling!
 
newbie, I'm sooo sorry about your precious pooch Gemma. It is so hard to let them go. Life is never the same without them. I love the name Gemma and now even more so!

navigator9, I had never tried this method of separation before (it has been sooooo long since I've had 'new' cats). But I think it's a good idea too and I am optimistic that some day they will eat, sleep and play together. We have yet to hear any blood curdling yowls or see blood be drawn -- I'm glad to be avoiding it!

Gemma has been very quiet inside the bedroom, but a couple days ago she bolted out and said it was time for mingle hour. The baby gate would have been a great idea before it got this far. They aren't exactly best buds yet, but Alley has been decent and Gemma is holding her ground. We still separate them when we're not watching them, when we're sleeping (Gemma sleeps with us), and when either of them get too riled up in each other's company. I really feel for Gemma -- she was in a shelter then a foster home before coming here, and seems tired of being confined to small spaces. She's still a kitten, she needs to run and play! The good thing is, she seems so comfortable where ever she is (as long as Alley isn't too close) -- I think she knows this is home!
 
Aww. Thanks for sharing your kitties with us. I miss my Sheba so much, but am not allowed to have another cat (owner agreed to allow Sheba since she was so old and "limited in time". Ha! She lived 2 years longer than owner expected!! Owner is...um...overly impressed with her own "intelligence")

I miss kitty cat purrs. Kitty cat eyes. Whickers. Pads. Heck. You get the idea. I'll shut up now.

Congratulations on having two such wonderful additions! And please send more pics!
 
Back
Top