So this kitten has been hanging around for a few weeks, little black Halloween thing, cute as a button, but scared to death. It became obvious I was never going to get near it, so I borrowed a Hav-a-Hart from The Hungarian. Succeeded on the first attempt, whipped it over to the vet, tested negative for the nasties, and turns out he's a male--about seven months old! Even the receptionist and head tech thought he was around 3-4 months. He's just a little munchkin kitty.

He's in a large cage, at the moment, unfortunately, got to get him a little socialized before he can stay out. And we named him Zucco. ("Zoocho") It's Italian for pumpkin. (Our vet is Italian.)

Yeah, I know I said we weren't gonna have any more. But what're ya gonna do?

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Answers

A black pumpkin? Won't he develop issues when he grows up?

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

We're taking sensitivity training. Snort!

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Yeah. and I said said no more bottle kitties...

So here I am with a little orange fur ball sitting on my shoulder, purring in my ear.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Wow, am I relieved!! When you said you were going to get a trap I thought maybe you hated kittys!!!! >:) Congratulations on your new addition.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

diane, Git and her buddy the Hungarian invented loving kitties. LOL

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Oh God, no! It's a humane trap, no other way to get 'im! We had to get him quickly because there are big bad urban, gangbanger raccoons around here and winter's getting real close too. We really thought he was a baby, as noted, even the recep and tech. Still, seven months is kinda young to be out there by himself. I daren't tell you how many cats The Hungarian has.

So you have a ginger kitty, huh, BK? Did I mention we call them marmalade cats in UK? We have two, a peachy one and a buffy one. The buffy one, Ginger, has targets on each side, except on one the middle looks like a cave painting of a buffalo. Neat. Christmas is a regular tiger type and is such a huggy kitty.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

I've always liked the term "marmelade cat" :)

We have a collection of them: Max, Moe, Minnie, Little Ears, Homer, Curly, Shemp, Goofy Eye, Puff Ball, Clemantine, Goober, and Taz (the bottle kitty).

We had one named Tanner, who is nearly PINK. He is now the very happy king cat at a farm a few miles away. Apparently, he doesn't miss us at all, lol.

-- Anonymous, October 30, 2001

Zucco is going to be a kitty slut. He loves to be petted, didn't take long to get yhim used to it, about half an hour. Late last night I put a heating pad under his blanky and he wasso tickled, he didn't know what to do with himself. Rolled over, got tummy rubs, licked my hand, nuzzled, purred like a motorbike, amazing transformation. I'm able to pick him up and cuddle him, although he gets a bit antsy when the other kitties gather round in large numbers.

I've ordered a large cage from F&S (4 feet tall, wheeled) because it's going to be a while before the other cats accept him and he's way too small to let loose right now. Here's what it looks like (I ordered the conversion kit too):

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

OG, Want some more?? I have two boy kittens outside that are just about twins and so cute.... They think they need to be house cats....

Saw one of those great big kitty condos at a pet store and DD thought we really needed to get one for our kitties.. NOT

There was a show on Extreme HOmes or one of those shows about this family that had walkways up near the ceiling, through the walls into other rooms with various sleeping places for their cats all through the house.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001

Oh those pet store condos are SO expensive. But F&S has some in the affordable range. I was going to buy a playpen at PetsMart last night but then I saw the price--OUCH! The F&S version is actually a little better and "only" $150 (with the accesory pack) compared to $270. I'll get lots of wear out of the playpen; it would have been ideal for Sooty when she was ill and I'm sure we'll have a couple more of those at some point. Besides which it can double as a perching place when it's not in use as an isolation pen.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001