Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Tabby & Torbie Tuesday

Tabbymom Jen here with a quick update!
Look Out Behind You!

As you can see, Victor and Nina are getting along.

Victor Likes Nina... A Lot

In fact, Victor's a little over-enthusiastic about Nina.

I Nom U, Nina!

Nina's not timid but cautious and knows Victor is twice her size. She has been hanging out first under the model train layout, then under our bed. But she emerges for us as soon as we find her and spends every night on our bed. And, after the 2nd or 3rd night, Victor decided he could sleep there, too.

However, when Nina tries to leave her hideouts, Victor is soooo excited, he races up, bites at her affectionately, and throws his "arms" around her. Also, I saw him jump over her in the hallway and block her from going to the basement! She reacts by returning to one of her upstairs hideouts. That wouldn't be so bad, but 2 permanent litter boxes are downstairs and 1 temporary one is in the upstairs bath. Victor has been using the upstairs box exclusively (how convenient!) AND preventing Nina from getting to any of them.

She had an accident on her purr pad and snuggle Sunday night. At least those are washable. Last night, she used a brand new, not so washable bed. Sunday, as soon as I cleaned the upstairs box (I didn't realize how much Victor had used it), she did #2 there. So last night I added another temp litter box IN our bedroom, near where her accidents occurred (she goes there because she doesn't have to go through Victor to get there). As soon as I put it out, she did #2 in the box. She knows better, but can't get past Victor.

Victor's not being mean or chasing her away, but he's soooo eager to pounce on her and play with her, he causes her to retreat and she waits as long as she can, but... We have commenced play therapy. Our goals are to wear Victor out and help Nina gain confidence. I found a toy Victor will chase up and down the hall until he's too tired to pounce, and Nina is CRAZY about the red dot.

Git the Dot!

You can just see above that there are food and water bowls under my bed. That's because Nina has lived in a cage all her life and doesn't know to come find food; it comes to her. Naturally, guess who eats her food and drinks her water? Luckily, he's not one to over-eat and it's easy to make sure she gets enough food and water. We've seen them eating and drinking side-by-side.

Mornings in bed include a disagreement at 5 AM over who can crush my feet - it's Victor's spot! But Nina's there first. But it's Victor's spot! This morning, it got serious enough for me to shove him off the bed. He didn't believe Nina's growling was serious. By 7, we have harmony and Victor grabbing Nina's tail.

Got your tail!

I'm about to rename you Victor Troublemaker. Of course, in 2.5 years, I only found Victor and Bonnie on the bed with me once. ONE time. And as soon as Bonnie spotted Victor stirring, she left. What an adorable nuisance!

32 comments:

  1. How cute to see Victor and Nina together! When Minchie came to our house I (Laila) was the same way. I was so excited to have a playmate. I'm still like that. Mom says it's because I still have a lot of kitten still left in me.

    (((HUGS)))

    Laila and Minchie

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  2. Yes, It's cute!!! And I don't think about renaming Victor, cats are like that!

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  3. Awwww, I think it's just a matter of time till Nina gets over her cautiousness with Mr. Playful! They really make a great pair!

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  4. Oh that is so excellent, they will be smooching, playing and cuddling in no time.
    Victor is just trying to show Nina that he is boss, and we achieve that by always being on top of the other kitty, it won't be till Nina lays on her back and succumbs to Vic being the boss that he will be more playful.
    But Momma and I both thinks they are off to a great start, you just gotta keep out of it humans unless there are bad fights and let us work out our thing :)

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  5. Victor and Pierro would get along wonderful... he is such a nuisance!
    Pierro does the same thing to me, but I do not have box issues, I am an old and stubborn!

    I like Nina, pretty name and very pretty girl. I love her stripes!
    Victor will find all of this very old after a while. Meantime, keep giving Nina lots of private time and encourage gentle behavior. Extra litterboxes are a superb idea!
    Nina needs to feel very comfortable and that she can trust the mom.
    purrrs

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  6. We're sure Victor and Nina will get along great together. She just needs to build a bit more confidence. Everything is new and different for her.

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  7. Sounds like the beginnings of a great relationship.

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  8. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwww that is so sweet!!! i am so glad Victor is excited to have a new sister to play with.

    i think Bonnie would approve since she loved Victor in her own way. i think she is probably watching from the Bridge sending Nina "whap him just once" thoughts.

    poor Nina not knowing how to go for food. she'll learn soon enough.

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  9. sounds like they're settling in and getting used to each other. how happy Victor must be to have a sisfur again!!! They will get the litterbox thing straightened out.

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  10. Nina, you need to whap Victor good just once. Then he knows you mean business and get get to your box to do your business!

    Extra footwarmers for your mum and dad too.

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  11. You are so lucky!!

    Ana and Zar are together for almost 2 months and they are not accepted. Ana had never rejected a cat previously. Really I think that they never are going to be happy together. I have tried it with feliway homeopathy, Bach Flowers, homepatic... nothing has been possible.

    :-(

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  12. They look cute together. I'm sure they will get it all worked out soon.

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  13. It looks like they are going to do great together. I guess Victor is overly happy to have someone who will play with him.
    Now you'll have kitties in bed to snuggle with.

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  14. Speedy was a little to 'enthusiastic' with Zippy at first too. Then one day she just flipped over and bunny kicked him to the head and they've been friends ever since.

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  15. We're so glad they're getting along! Now, if only Victor can calm down a bit. It must be so fun to finally have someone to play with.

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  16. They will settle it out between themselves ! It's always difficult for a newcomer to find his place. I had it with Pookie when she moved in here. Now it's all forgotten. Arthur has quite a rough time with little Rosie, but he loves her !

    Victor and Nina look very cute together !

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  17. We fink Victor is just a little excited right now with the new kitty in the town..but he'll soon adjust and so will Nina and things will hopefully get to normal within a couple of weeks..sending them both many purrs..

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  18. Things will get better soon. They look very cute together though!!!

    I think I would be pretty excited to get another cat here too. Shade just kind of stays to herself.

    purrs Goldie

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  19. Hahaha, dat all sownds lyk fun ta me. I do all da sam fings ta Shadow. I nok ova his fud dish wen he iz hungry. I whap hiz hed wen he walks by. I pownce on hiz tail wen he iz sleepin. Its jus too much fun not da do dose fings.

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  20. Victor and Nina are just adorable! We are so happy that Victor is a big brother! Purrfection!

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  21. Aww Victor you luv her so much you can't let her alone. Yes play therapy is good, it tends to wear even Kaze out!

    Chase

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  22. It sounds like Victor is excited to have a friend. We will purr for Nina to get adjusted and for Victor to give her the space she needs!

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  23. It's so good that Victor is happy to have a little sister. I'm sure they will work through their litter box issue. (Hopefully before the house takes too many hits)
    --Jasper

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  24. I think wearing Victor out with play is a very good idea.
    When I saw the pictures of Victor nuzzling Nina's neck it reminded me of how Sunny would try to mount Ollie (Ollie wasn't spayed yet), but Nina's spayed. Nina must smell really good ;-)

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  25. Now, see, this is why I wanted to trade. Victor and Buddah would get along perfectly. They could tumble around all day long. And I would let Nina use the box and sleep where she wanted (mostly) and I'd be NICE to a girl kitty. I think. Maybe. Hm.

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  26. It will all smooth itself out soon!
    Victor sounds so cute & enthusiastic over his new housemate! And Nina sure sounds like she is trying her best to be a good girl. How wonderful they are on your bed at night! I'm jealous! -SSS's Mom

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  27. I admire Victor for being such an enthusiastic new brother, but I can see how that might be kinda overwhelming for poor little Nina.
    Your buddy, Jimmy Joe

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  28. Victor, are yoo tryin to make Nina yer gerlfrend? Sumtimes win I git lonely for Daisy, I try to make Rocky my gerlfrend, but he's not wild abowt the idea. Nina looks more reeseptive.

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  29. Poor Nina! But I also understand Victor's point of view..he's a little like Billy Sweetfeets..he wants to PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!!

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  30. Victor dude...calm down and wait for Nina to feel more at home, then she'll feel like playing. And let the poor girl use the litterbox, OK!!!

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  31. We are glad to hear that Victor is so excited to have a sister. We just hope that Nina gains a little confidence so that she can eat and use the litterbox in peace. We are thrilled that they are both sleeping on the bed with you.

    Tiki, Tavi, Cody, Camie and Miss Jade

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