|
 |
|
| Name: |
Pepper
|
Age: |
Fourteen Weeks old
|
| Gender: |
Female
|
Kind: |
Manx/Bobtail Tabby mix
|
| Home: |
Michgan, USA
|
Pepper is a very sweet, very loving kitten. She's full of energy, but she never turns down the chance to cuddle. She is patient and attentive, and she learns very quickly.
My husband and I found a posting for her and her siblings online. I was looking for a small furry friend for a couple of reasons... The first reason was for myself. I had a very loving and well behaved little ferret who died from a congenital heart defect she was born with. It was sudden, scary, and heartbreaking. I felt despondent and helpless because there was nothing we could do for her. I couldn't get another ferret so soon but I really wanted something more playful and in my face, because my older kitty is getting a bit lazy at 11 years of age. I don't blame him, and I don't want to wear him out either. He has earned his lazy days.
The second reason was for my aforementioned old boy, Cougar, who had become fast friends with Skootz the ferret. When she went away, Cougar seemed bored and listless. He suddenly became much more needy about my attention and seemed stressed. The first night, he sat outside of her cage, waiting for her. The second night he meowed and wandered the apartment.
His mourning doubled up for me with my own and I couldn't handle it. We were so sad, and my husband didn't like to see either of us like this.
So when we saw these tiny, six-week-old kittens, we knew we needed to go and meet them. It was a short 40-minute drive and one of my younger brothers joined us. A hot day at the end of July, with just a small breeze. We had a carrier with us and some money in case we met the right kitty.
We found the home easily. A modest and slightly old-timey place with a southern comfort feel that was just displaced from town enough have acres between them and their neighbors. A dog greeted us with a friendly yip through their door and a sweet older woman followed, taking us right to a couch occupied by their own personal itty-bitty-kitty-committee.
Pepper was the only girl of the kittens, and the only tabby. Her siblings were patchworks of black and white. We sat near the kitties and gently petted them. The boys were all up immediately and ready to play with us, but the girl took her time getting up. She complained about her noisy brothers and went back to sleep at first, actually! So I petted her some more, speaking gently, and she stretched out lavishly, yawned wide, and blinked up at me with a curious gaze. She was quiet, and she watched everyone from a distance before joining in. She took things at her own pace and she was just a bit cautious. She took hertime climbing all the people too, sniffing our faces, before playing.
I wanted a kitten for the energy, but I wanted a companion for my big old kittyman as well, and Pepper's calm demeanor was perfect. The people who owned the home and took care of the cats got to know us a bit, and eventually decided that we would be a good home for the kitty.
We found the home easily. A modest and slightly old-timey place with a southern comfort feel that was just displaced from town enough have acres between them and their neighbors. A dog greeted us with a friendly yip through their door and a sweet older woman followed, taking us right to a couch occupied by their own personal itty-bitty-kitty-committee.
So we put the as of yet unnamed kitten in the slightly oversized carrier we had with us, and headed on home. She complained about the car the whole time, and my brother sat near her to try and keep her occupied. It helped a little but she was not thrilled to be moving so fast.
We made sure to stop by the pet store to grab extra toys and treats and litter too, and she was a star in the store.
We got home after that and set her up with us in the bedroom so as not to rush things with Cougar, and the first things she did were sit on my shoulder while we set up as if she were a little bird, and then lick habanero pepper sauce from myhusband's fingers (which helped us in naming her later on)! In the past 8 weeks since we have had her everything has been going very well! Her and Cougar are great buddies, though we still limit their exposure to each other due to age and size difference for now. She has done well adapting to her litterbox too, though she had a few accidents at first... The biggest one was her running to my husband, meowing, asking for help because she forgot where to potty... And she peed right in his lap because he didn't know what she wanted xD. He was not thrilled, but since then as she grows she has been doing very well in earning back his trust on the matter of the potty.
She is a little nippy still, and enjoys charging headlong into things sometimes, but she is very responsive to our training and learning fast. She sleeps with us every night, and loves to lick our chins and faces all to death before bed. Her favorite spot to sleep is right between our heads and behind our pillows, so she can wake up with us when we get up. Of course, if my alarm goes off and I am not up soon after, she makes sure to lay right on my neck, purring like crazy, to get some extra pets and cuddles.
We recently took her to her first vet visit as well and she was so brave!! The doctors and nurses all thought she was just the sweetest little thing. She got her first shot and a clean bill of health.
Of course she complained in the car there and back. She doesn't seem to be a fan of that still!
|
|
|
|
|
