Transcript:
Welcome back to the Fish Kitten litter. See Octopus hovering in the background there? He wants to join in and play but I’m on the couch so it’s too close. Goldfish on the left; Mackerel on the right. They’re pretty relaxed, as you can see.
Here’s Goldfish in a fierce mood. Still has that adorable, slightly bewildered, slightly sad expression. But he’s fierce, believe me! Oddly enough, it’s Goldfish and Shark who are most likely to fully eviscerate their toys.
Here’s Mackerel again, with Octopus on the left and Shark on the right. Mackerel is relaxed; others not so much.
Now here’s Octopus getting patted and tolerating it, because he’s in a bag—a cat carrier—he’s surrounded, so that makes him stay still and tolerate things.
Mackerel on the couch again. She’s obviously so relaxed she’s happy to sit close enough for me to pat her, and just have a fully relaxed wash. It’s always a good sign when your kittens start washing while you’re around. And here’s Goldfish, also very relaxed.
Mackerel still flinches a little when I go to pat her; Goldfish is totally tolerant now. And these two love each other. In a moment, Mackerel will hop up and join Goldfish.
With biting.
Some grooming.
Mackerel’s even more relaxed with Goldfish next to her, so no flinching when I pat her.
Here they are with a bit more energy. That’s Octopus.
Shark’s under the stairs.
This is an outside cushion that I hung up so the kittens can have a really great climbing experience. Octopus is nearby but not too close. Amazingly, Goldfish has climbed this enough times that he can descend more or less elegantly.
Aha! I managed to lure Octopus onto the couch. Little by little, inch by inch, I got him comfortable a little closer and a little closer to me. Of course he’s more relaxed on the floor.
Turn this up, because this is Mackerel and Goldfish purring.
Zooming time!
Here is sweet innocent Shark who has caught the zoomies and is surprisingly fierce.
This is what a typical play session looks like. I love the fishing-pole toys, which give the cats a bit of emotional space. They separate my limbs from being clawed and bitten, which is good for not teaching them bad habits; and they’ve all got space to run around and climb up and down and play with things. I particularly like ones with a bell or some other noise, so I can make the noise to signal to the kittens that it’s play time.
Goldfish will stop mid-play to come and check on me, and it is just the sweetest thing ever.
So this video is from about ten days at the end of December—from roughly nine weeks to ten weeks of age.
It’s funny; Octopus is the biggest and Shark is the smallest, but Shark plays with everyone. It’s actually a very gentle litter, which is lovely. And everyone loves a box with a hole.
Shark also checks on me, in the sense that he looks up to check I’m not attacking. But the longer I spend not scaring him, the braver he’ll get.
This is a funny little battery-powered toy.