Thursday, August 20, 2009

Tough Week


We've all had a long, hard week. All three of my cats have had the run of the house all night every night. Sometimes Vante spends the night with me and growls away the other cats and other times spends the night elsewhere in the house. Perhaps she is hunting down cockroaches.

I woke up Monday morning to find that she had left a bowel movement outside her litter box, but only about a foot away. I'm not sure what that was about.

Wednesday morning she got into a physical fight with my youngest cat, Callie Mae. I wouldn't have guessed those two would get into a fight because Callie Mae is so laid back but we all have a final straw. I heard growling, hissing and then 'screaming' and tumbling. Anyway, by the time I arrived on the scene Callie Mae was under the ottoman batting out at Vante and Miss V was hissing up a storm and batting right back at her. Thanks to both of their previous owners, neither of them has their front claws, so nobody was hurt.

Last night Miss V was so cute trying to hide underneath my quilt, but her tail and sometimes her hiney was sticking out. It was so adorable that I couldn't help but laugh.

Vante is such a good cuddler. Now if she could just learn to ignore her younger sisters our household would be much more calm and relaxed. I think it's just going to take time.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Vante the Spokeskitty

Once again Vante is proving to me just how famous she really is. Her face is on the poster for the Best Friends 'No More Homeless Pets' conference this fall, right here in Las Vegas! Ain't Vante a cutie pie?!

She spent 10 years at Best Friends, so it just goes to prove that there is a home out there for every cat, dog, bird, rabbit, and friendly 'beast'. Sometimes it just takes a while for the right human to come along that passes muster.

If you want to see it for yourself, go to this website: No More Homeless Pets Conference, the conference is October 23-25 at the Rio. (If you do go, I highly suggest going to see Penn & Teller. My husband and I enjoyed their show immensely last year.)

Sidenotes:
1--I left Vante, Amelia & Callie Mae alone and free-roaming the entire house for about two hours and all was well upon my return. They still hiss and all that jazz but no blood.
2--When Vante cries in the middle of the night for me to come to her (the bedroom door is open but she doesn't want to come to me) it sounds like she is saying "Hello" or "Hi." It's quite unnerving.
3--We've passed the 1 month mark!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Brush-lover


Miss V loves to be brushed! She absolutely adores it and all I have to do is hold the brush and she brushes herself, well her face, cheeks and neck anyway. She is just so adorable when she does it. I often wonder if she's hurting herself because she's pushing so hard on the brush, but she's not. She just loves it. And I'm all too happy to oblige.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Sleepover success

We had our first 'sleepover' last night where all the rooms in the house were left open for all the cats to move from room to room as they please. It went well enough.

Vante likes to cuddle on the bed at nighttime and unfortunately my other two cats like to be on the bed also. (Thank goodness we have a king size bed.) However, whenever one of my other cats would get on the bed or move, Vante would growl and wake me up. Needless to say I didn't sleep very well last night.

It was a success in the fact that there were no aggressive actions taken by any cat. Just some growling. So I'm immensely pleased.

To return to a previous blog subject - Amelia is STILL eating Vante's kitten chow. I haven't caught her in the act but I have noticed she isn't really eating her regular food. I'm going to have to think about how to remedy this situation. Any suggestions?

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Vante's Daily Routine


Vante has been with us for three weeks! The photo is of her newest hiding spot behind the TV Entertainment Center.

AM
5:45 - breakfast of wet food and more dry kitten chow
6:05 - jump up on Ashley's lap for morning pets and scratches
6:15 - hang out in bathroom while Ashley gets ready for work
6:50 - go back into room for relaxation and napping

PM
5:00 - suppertime
5:30-8:00 - relaxing, exploring the house and ignoring my sisters
7:00 - play with ribbon or some other toy
8:01 - while walking through house, I see my sister lounging and growl at her
8:03 - still growling off and on
8:04 - distracted by toys Ashley is throwing towards me
8:05 - TOYS!
(while the time may vary, the sequence is almost always the same)
9:00 - end up WAY too close to Amelia - lots of growling, posturing and hissing
9:02 - somebody ends up walking away or shooed away
10:00 - Ashley and sisters go to bed in their room and I get roam of the house
10:30 - paw at their bedroom door, Ashley comes out and brushes me and tells me goodnight one last time

AM
midnight - paw at their bedroom door (be ignored)
3:30 - paw at their bedroom door and cry loudly
3:33 - Ashley finally opens the door and takes me to my bedroom for some pets, and puts me to bed
5:45 - start it all over again

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Continuing to progress

Vante has found the birds in the backyard! The other day she was 'chirping' at them and it was beyond adorable. She was clearly fascinated by them and spent several minutes watching them and enjoying their shenanigans. I'm guessing she was picking out the ones that were the yummiest. I'm encouraging her to go for the pigeons first, then the cowbirds. (Don't worry, she's just looking through the glass at them.)

She is eating well and we've finally gotten Amelia to stop eating her kitten chow. I had to place it on top of the desk that she frequents, knowing that Amelia won't have enough time to find it before she's caught.

Miss V spends lots of time in her room and only occasionally comes out. I wish she would hang out a bit more, but I don't want to push her outside her comfort zone. I've been letting her roam the house at night and she seems to enjoy it. At least until 3:30/4:30 a.m. when she begins pawing at my door and crying out for company, pets, scratches and love.

I truly think it's because she's lonely and is used to being around all the other cats all the time. If you think about it, that's a very drastic change for her. She's made so much progress and I think she'll continue to progress but it'll just take time. I've got lots of that and limitless love to shower upon her in the process. She's just awesome.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Vante's Likes & Dislikes

Like… the kitty cat water fountain.
Dislike… Amelia trespassing into my kingdom and eating my food.
Like… the old cat bed bought years ago and used by many other cats.
Dislike… new cat bed bought just for me.
Like… having my own kingdom (room).
Dislike… closed doors.
Like… dumpster diving (by dumpster I mean trash can).
Dislike… hearing Momma Ashley say ‘Annnnh.’
Like… snuggling on the couch watching TV.
Dislike… fans, but I’m learning they’re ok.
Like… being brushed.
Dislike… coffee, although I tried it the other day. "Yech!"
Like… the string that’s on the cat fishing lines.
Dislike… the toys that are on the end of the string of the cat fishing lines.