New Kitten Competition - Feline Family Quartet - Carole Wilbourn
Carole Wilbourn, The Cat Therapist, has been the leading voice in feline therapy for over 5 decades. She has helped thousands of cat moms and dads explore, face, and resolve cat behavioral and health issues. Carole is truly the most trusted Cat Therapist in the United States.
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18 Nov New Kitten Competition – Feline Family Quartet

Posted at 21:44h in Blog by

New Kittens trigger female rivalry and stimulate the built-in radar …..

Mehta and Moses the new kittens

New Kitten Competition
(Female Rivalry, Cat-Sense — Built In Radar)
“This isn’t what we expected”, they said.  Emma and Gus had recently adopted two kittens to join Kitty and Shanti, their two five year old spayed, female sisters. The sisters were an inseparable pair. Shanti was always the adventurer. Kitty was the climber.

As I took their case history, Kitty staked out her position on the climber, whereas Shanti stretched out on the floor or wandered in the other room to check out the kittens. Gus told me how Shanti was entertained by the kittens, but Kitty’s appetite was off and she spent a lot of time under their bed. She always liked to scurry under the bed, but now it was over-done. Sometimes Shanti would crawl under to keep her company; indeed, the good will ambassador.

Shanti contemplates the next adventure

Although the sisters were chummy with each other, lap cats they were not. So Emma and Gus had decided to adopt two kittens, who appeared to be very people-friendly. The plan was that a male and female kitten could be the role models for the sisters.

“We know the kittens haven’t been with us that long, and it will take awhile for the transformation to happen, so we wanted your evaluation so our two sisters wouldn’t be compromised,” said Emma, “and already Kitty is upset.”
“Well four’s an even number, and there’s at least one male to defuse some of the natural female rivalry. Let me give you some tips on how to treat your feline family quartet.”

Treatment Plan For Integrated Feline Family Quartet

  • Make sure you say a couple of words to the sisters whenever you touch or talk to the kittens. Remember, the sisters were used to “all” of your attention before the kittens moved in, so you don’t want to exclude them.
  • And don’t think they won’t be affected if they’re not around when you interact with the kittens.  Their “cat-sense” built-in radar that enables a cat to sense a change or fluctuation in environmental or atmospheric energy kicks in. It’s their means of instinctual survival. They may not react immediately, with a snub or aggression to you or the kittens, but don’t let this mislead you. Their “reaction” could surface later out of nowhere.
  • Remember that we all like to be acknowledged, and verbal acknowledgment is easy and goes a long way. Don’t worry about the kittens feeling neglected. You’re sharing their attention, not excluding them. All you have to say is “right girls” or whatever comes to mind.
  • Spend some private time with Kitty and Shanti. This way they won’t be overwhelmed by the high energy of the kittens.
  • Remember kittens will be kittens. You may have to sit with Kitty while she eats. As time goes on, she’ll need less paw-holding.
  • Since Kitty has always slept with you at night while Shanti has slept around, you could always close the bedroom door and she will hang out with the kittens.

Kitty the climber

“So far the kittens haven’t sat on our lap, they’ve been too occupied with play. When they do, what do we do?” asked Emma.
“You can tell them how it’s so good of them to hang out with you, and you can thank the sisters for their company,” I said.
“Got it,” said Gus. “As long as the sisters get the feeling it’s because of them, they don’t freak out.”
I nodded, and as their music played, Kitty stretched out on her climber and Shanti followed her lead.

I explained that they may one day end up with four lap cats. Or, the sisters could continue their path of resistance and the kittens will fill in for them. But with this treatment plan even if they don’t copy-cat the kittens lap-wise, peace will prevail.

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