Careful readers may recall that we got the girls kittens for Christmas. This was shortly after our beloved elder cat died, and I was nervous about taking in new kittens so soon, but it seemed like the right time for the kids. We have one fuzzy black one named Genevieve, and one calico one named Amber.
Amber, it turns out, spends most of her time practicing being invisible. She is very good at it. So good that we actually called animal control the first week we had her because no one had seen her in three days and we were afraid she’d gotten outside.
Eventually we found her hiding spot. She was hiding in a drawer of the entertainment center. She’d crawl in through the back while the drawers were closed, and any time I opened one to look for her (which I did repeatedly) she’d slip into a different drawer before I got it open. I have also found her hiding in the crack behind the kitchen cabinets, and in all manner of closets.
Recently she’s started to make her presence more known, and even let Rio hold her a few times. This is great, because Rio has been pretty sad about not having a kitten she can love and hold and snuggle and play with.
She’s handled those feelings very, very well, which is amazing. Especially in the face of her sister’s very different relationship with her little black kitten.
Genevieve is more content to be treated like a stuffed toy than any animal I have ever seen. He sleeps with Serena, tucked under her covers like a doll. They watch cartoons together, with the kitten propped up on his butt like a baby would sit, legs awkwardly sticking out in front. Serena carries him around like a handbag all day long: while she eats, when she goes to pee, while playing or reading or anything at all.
He loves it. When she sets him down, he lies there limp, waiting to be picked up again. When she holds him, he purrs like a freight train. He is so docile that a friend watched them together for 20 minutes, at the end of which Genevieve wandered away and our friend startled and said, ‘Whoah! Is that thing REAL?”
Until today. Today, the inevitable finally happened and Serena tried to pick Genevieve up by the face while he was hiding in a closet and got bitten for her trouble. This was probably the least unprovoked kitten bite in the history of kittens, but to Serena it was like being thrown out of Eden. Her kitten bit her. She sobbed bitterly for half an hour, pointing at the mark on her arm and screaming “OWW! OWWIE!”
She would have none of my comforting arms, or snacks, or any other help I could offer. Eventually I left the room. Sure enough, she quickly quieted down without an audience to appreciate her woe. Or so I thought. I went back in to peek when she was quiet and found her as you see her in the picture, fast asleep with her adoring kitten on her lap, doing his best to make things up to her.
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Sierra Reply:
February 2nd, 2011 at 5:06 am
What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing!
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