The Kitty and Pepper Show

Roll up! Roll up! The Kitty and Pepper show is currently playing approximately three times a day in our home, hopefully for a limited time only!

Kitty and Peppy have been spending a lot of time practicing their intimidating martial arts moves on each other. Kitty adds some kind of judo-speak to his routines, as you will see in this video, but we can't quite figure out if he is saying 'I am going to kill you!' or 'please don't hurt me!' What do you think?

Peppy used to be quite gentle with his little brother when they were playing, but since Kitty has gotten much bigger Peppy has been roughing and tumbling with him with increasing gusto. There's no making allowances for Sebastian's kitten-ness any longer. He's definitely a big boy now!

Having Sebastian around the house is one part exhilarating and one part exasperating. I was trying to count some coins this morning that I'd fundraised by selling chocolates for the Teddy Love Club, and every time I made a carefully-counted pile he came along with his cute kitten paw and knocked them all over. I was so crabby at him. But then, when I was sitting on the couch and having a little cry about how much I missed Max today, he came right up close to my face, as is his custom, and licked away the tears that were falling down my face. I couldn't believe it. He is such a special little cat.

As I sit rugged up on the couch on this freezing cold day, head spinning with so many thoughts and plans and questions, Kitty and Pepper are snuggled up beside me on the pile of blankets we're all sharing, and making me feel like I'm surrounded by the best company in the world.

A big week for a little cat

It has been a big week for our little baby cat. Today Sebastian went into hospital to be de-sexed - a procedure I have been dreading for weeks! I know it's for the greater good (and indeed a condition of his purchase) but I just felt so cruel subjecting him to it nonetheless. The thought brought up all these horrible shuddery feelings, much like I get when I think of circumcision, and it makes me feel all sick and sweaty.

I have an overactive empathetic response in general, and in this case it provided me with many thoughts of what it would be like in a parallel universe where the animals are in charge and they send me, a mere human, along to be compulsorily sterilised without considering my opinion or asking for my consent!

Our vet, whom I trust implicitly, told me that the procedure would really not be a big deal for our little cat, though, and that he would not feel any different afterwards. Apparently it's quite a simple procedure for a male cat, and stitches aren't even required, so I was pleased to hear that he wouldn't have to wear a big bucket around his tiny little head to stop him from chewing them out!

We've cleared our calendar for the next couple of days to look after our baby just to give him some extra tender loving care.

Contrary to the example set by his big brother, Sebastian wasn't at all hard to catch and put in his cage. In fact, Leslie opened it and he came right up to it and walked in of his own volition! He got some serious brownie points for that. It's always so traumatic trying to get Pepper into the cage and he's very adept at sensing when you're thinking about it, and hiding himself up inside the couch where there's no chance of getting him out!

Poor Sebastian did disgrace himself on the way to the vet by doing a poo in his cage. Consequently I spent the entire trip dry-retching and shivering as I had to put all the windows down and it was bloody freezing!

When I got home from dropping him off, Peppy seemed so happy to have the house for himself! He was even batting around a few toys (which he hasn't done since Sebastian's arrival) and is now resting on my well-loved electric lap blanket and keeping me very good company while I type this. Bliss!

Peppy making the most of Sebastian's absence!

In the lead up to his operation this week, Sebastian has been very busy.

There were rooms to wreck that needed a kitten's touch:

All of these things were previously on the kitchen table...

And games to play with his big brother:

And lots of sleep to be had on the top floor of Peppy's tower:

The black lump on the bottom floor is Peppy!

There was also a crawling baby to launch himself upon. I had a visit from a friend and her ten month old son yesterday. Said baby was smitten with Sebastian, and Sebastian was intent on tormenting said baby in every way he knew how. The baby would chase him and Sebastian would lay down as if he wanted to be caught but then scramble out of reach at the last moment, leaving baby very perplexed!

Sebastian also found it highly amusing to sit on the arm of the couch and threaten to jump on the baby's head when he crawled past. It was quite stressful trying to predict his next move so as to try and prevent serious infant injury. Lucky this particular friend is an animal lover!

When it came time for them to get home Sebastian made himself comfortable in the tray underneath their pram and seemed keen to stow away. At this point, I would have gladly parted with him for a night so I could get some peace!

Sebastian is home from his day in hospital now and is recovering well. He's quite sleepy and extra clingy, but otherwise seems unscathed. Richard, the vet, said that he and Sebastian had a one hour nap in the surgery together today as he (Richard) had been up until 3am the night before! The staff were not keen to give my baby back at all and were all gushing over what a beautiful animal he is.

It was so cute when we finally got home because Peppy seemed glad to see him after all and gave him a lick. He has been looking out for his little brother all night and they are both sharing the electric blanket as I write this. This blanket is the hottest property in the house (ha ha, no pun intended) so it means they must really be feeling friendly towards each other if they are not fighting over ownership rights!

Sebastian on the car trip home from hospital

Home at last and snugged up on the electric blanket. It's a cat's life!

The Adventures of Pepper and Sebastian

The adventures of Pepper and Sebastian so far go something like this:



Other times, they are more like this:



What is an established fact is that Simon's cartoons pretty accurately describe the antics of our household, and can always be relied upon to make me laugh. When I'm at my lowest, Leslie often plays one to me and I can't help but be instantly cheered up. We love Simon's Cat, and if you love cats too, then you'll really enjoy watching all of his videos!

We love our own kitties even more! Pepper and Sebastian are, despite Pepper's public shows of disaffection, getting along quite well. It is quite pathetic, though, to watch little Sebastian try so desperately to be Peppy's friend and for Peppy to constantly rebut his heartfelt attempts! Mind you, Sebastian does often commit stealth attacks on an unsuspecting Peppy (and us, as well!) so he really brings a lot of it on himself!

One of the main 'adjustment' issues we are having with them is that they both constantly want to eat each other's food. As Peppy is on a special diet for his digestive issues, it is important that he gets the right food. Sebastian's kitten food is also very high in fat, and from sneaking it every time he gets the opportunity, I can already tell Peppy has put on some dreaded kilos, which means we are going to have to do something about it fairly soon. At the moment the only way we can prevent them stealing from each other is shutting Sebastian in another room to have his meal, or by one of us standing by each of the bowls to prevent straying. Meal time has become quite a stressful event!

Sebastian is still peeing on our bed, which is the worst. If he does not stop doing this after he is desexed in a fortnight's time then we will have to think about consulting an animal behaviourist! Come on, Sebastian, if you stop doing this we'll let you sleep with us all night and won't even mind if you wake us up by putting your tongue up our noses!

Max's roses

Though summer's bloom time is meant to have come to an end, Max's rose tree seems to have had a second season, sprouting more flowers than it did the first time. I must be doing something right! I had religiously dead-headed the fading blooms, and more grew in their place which was such a lovely surprise. It has given me much joy seeing it come to life again when I thought it was done.

The rose bush's second bloom

The weather is a bit inclement at the moment, so I cut some of the flowers to bring inside to enjoy rather than see them get ruined by rain and wind. Sebastian was very curious about these soft, silky petals and kept rubbing his little face against them and licking them. Here is a picture of him exploring my floral arrangement, in which you can see the beautiful blooms Max's plant has given us as part of summer's last hurrah.

Sebastian enjoying baby Max's pretty roses

Mummy, daddy, Max and the roses, which help us remember him

A single, perfect bloom

Kitten chaos

Sebastian has made himself well and truly at home. He knows every nook and cranny in the house and bounds around excitedly as if everything in his path is an especially designed object of prey. He has a bunch of toys that he loves - little mice, big mice, balls, pom poms - but he'll just as happy take something like a piece of screwed up paper and make it into a game all on his own. He has a distinct pattern of eat, play, sleep, which he cycles through during the day. When he's asleep, he's fast asleep. He has the most adorable habit of suckling in his sleep, like he must be dreaming of his mummy. It's hard to catch on video but it is truly the cutest thing you've ever seen.

I wouldn't say that he and Pepper are the best of friends yet, although Sebastian would dearly like them to be. Peppy is tolerating him really well most of the time, and will sit next to him giving him occasional licks, but he's just as likely to hiss, growl or take a swipe at his face if Sebastian really oversteps the mark - which he does all the time!

Peppy pretending that Sebastian really doesn't exist

We were very excited the other day to witness them playing a little game together, though - the first time that Pepper has really played with his new little brother. They have a tunnel which is just about Sebastian's favourite thing in the world. Peppy used to love it when he was a baby too. They chased each other through it, and then Pepper hid in there and was teasing kitty with his paws from one end of it. It was very cute. 

Sebastian is bringing much joy to our hearts. He is such a loving, affectionate little boy. He's warm and cuddly and he purrs like a machine. It's very relaxing having him on your lap.

Sebastian snuggled on my lap

It's not so relaxing to be trying to do something on the computer when you have a kitten around. He insists on being on top of the keyboard or chasing your fingers around it. It is really frustrating after a while and he won't give up!

Catching up on his online reading

Sebastian is also quite a silly cat and is very entertaining at times. The most memorable of his crazy endeavours is when he fell into the toilet - while I was sitting on it! He cannot stand to not be on your lap if you are sitting down. I was preventing him from jumping up onto my lap while I was on the toilet so he instead went around the back of me and jumped up behind me, quickly falling into the gap! It was simultaneously hilarious and very disturbing! Here he is being funny whilst asleep:

And here is Pepper taking refuge from Sebastian from up high in his tower!

Sebastian is not without his problems, as we've discovered! We are having real trouble with him wanting to eat Pepper's food, and with Pepper consequently exacting payback and wanting to eat Sebastian's food. This is problematic because Pepper is on a special diet for his stomach issues. Kitten food is high in fat and this is very bad for Pepper and will make him sick. It's also a problem because if Sebastian does not eat his own kitten food he will not grow up big and strong! Kitten food has lots of extra nutrients for growing babies and he really needs to not be eating grown up boy food!

The bigger problem at the moment is Sebastian's inappropriate toileting habits. It is starting to get beyond a joke and we are not amused! He knows how to use the litter tray, and will do so 8 times out of 10. At least once a day, though, he will go to the toilet in his bed, on his blankets, or even worse, on our bed. We have had to wash one doona four times now, and dry clean another. We've taken to locking him out of our room completely but this is clearly not a long term solution. I just wish I knew what the problem was! I've emailed the breeder twice now but she has suspiciously not replied. I've never had this problem with a kitten before - usually they are so fastidiously clean and tidy about that kind of stuff!

We also had both cats at the vet last week as we suspected that Sebastian had brought ringworm into the house! Leslie developed ringworm on his arm the very same week that Sebastian arrived. We couldn't believe our bad luck. The vet was unable to find any visible signs of ringworm on either cat, though, so we still aren't entirely sure if it came from Sebastian or if Leslie caught it coincidentally from somewhere in the environment. At any rate, I had to spend almost an entire day cleaning the house and disinfecting every surface, and washing all our bedding and clothes with an anti fungal wash. The house was gleaming by the end of it, but it was really exhausting! So far we have not seen a recurrence of the dreaded thing, so I hope that the fungal disease has been well and truly banished!

Despite his few little problems, Sebastian is a very helpful little boy. Here is a final picture of him helping Leslie to find his passport!

Brotherly Love

Pepper's not yet a great fan of Sebastian but the two of them are getting friendlier. Pepper doesn't seem to mind him being around, but he doesn't want to make actual bodily contact with Sebastian, whereas Sebastian wants to be all over Peppy. He's taken to trying to rub up against Peppy when he walks past, to which Peppy responds with an unmistakably 'back off' kind of hiss. They have started tentatively sniffing at each other, however, whenever they meet. I hadn't been able to get it on the camera until now as it didn't last long, but today they sniffed each other's noses for at least 30 seconds.

'So, we meet, in the place of the comfortable cushions!'

'Let us put aside our differences and sniff each other's noses
to ascertain the other's history and intentions!'

Kitty looked a bit bereft when Pepper hopped off the couch after that. I think he fancied the two of them snuggled up together in a friendly feline embrace. 

'Peppy! Where are you going! Don't leave me!'

Instead, he had to make do with me and Leslie's Hawthorn blanket, on which he is currently snuggled up.

'I can barely keep my little kitten eyes open!'

While Sebastian sleeps, Peppy gets on with the business of investigating every single place the little rascal has been, looking for signs of damage.

'I need to find the evidence of wrongdoing that's going to ship him outta here!'

And, it turns out, Pepper was right on the money. Sebastian had earlier smashed a very special ornament that was given to me after Max's died by pushing it off this very bureau. I was upset with him, but it was really my fault for not putting special things out of his reach.

Evidence of Sebastian's first major catastrophe that Peppy is filing away for later!

Proud of Peppy

I'm writing this with a warm, purring kitten on my lap. Well, more specifically, around my neck. Our kitten can't seem to get close enough to your face, no matter how hard he tries. He actually tries to get his face up your nose and I've already had to remove my earrings as he nibbles on your ears and I was getting paranoid he was going to rip my earrings out as he decided he liked to chew on them!

Last night kitten met his big brother Peppy for the first time. I was incredibly anxious about it, not because I thought they would hurt each other, but I have been so worried that Pepper would be upset and feel like I didn't love him anymore. Despite my worries, their meeting went so well, though, far beyond my expectations. When Peppy first saw kitten inching his way down the hallway his eyes went so wide, and his expression said it all - 'What. The. Fuck. Is. That?' He was not amused. He did not seem that surprised though. I think the couple of days we spent getting them used to each other's scents and sounds really paid off.

As kitten came closer, Peppy began to hiss at him a few times, and crouch down low to the ground with really defensive body language. They sheltered from each other, one under the couch and one behind my computer screen, for about half an hour before they started getting braver and tentatively approaching each other. Kitten is a bit too brave for his own good. Pepper's tail was swishing back and forth in clear sign he was pissed off and kitten decided it would be a good idea to start play attacking it. He has a lot to learn!

We sat with them both on the floor, handing out biscuit treats for every positive sign they made toward each other, and much to our surprise and delight, by the end of the night they were rubbing noses in a clearly friendly gesture. Pepper is still not too keen on having kitten come too close, and he does not seem interested in playing with him yet, but he seems content to have him around. He's stopped hissing and meowing at him and is just doing his own thing. Pepper spent a lot of time puffing his fur up and sitting in door ways to intimidate kitten. It was quite funny.

I should stop call him kitten, as we finally decided to keep calling him Sebastian, which is the name his breeder gave to him. Actually, it was more a case of not being able to come up with anything that suited him better. He really seems like a Sebastian. The breeder must be very good at naming cats by now as she really did choose a name that suits his little personality.

Once he got free reign of the house, Sebastian was absolutely unstoppable. He was bouncing off the walls, climbing on top of and all over everything in sight. He also raced up and down the hallway chasing his toys and sliding along on the hardwood floors. He's so pleased to have so much space and so many things to explore. After all of those adventures he slept soundly through the whole night. He must have wiped himself out!

I am so proud of them both, but especially Peppy, who has taken Sebastian's intrusion in his stride. I love him so much. I think they will actually become friends once they learn each other's habits and Sebastian learns better manners and how to read Pepper's signs.

I'm feeling quite sad today. It's dark and overcast outside, but it's really lovely to have my two babies and their lovely, positive, cheerful energy in the house. I am so lucky to have them.

Here is Sebastian purring as loud as a jack hammer!

Salut Sebastian!

Kimara Silvana Sebastian had some eager new owners on his hands this morning. Our alarms went off at 4.30am and we stumbled into the shower, made a cup of tea for the road, and headed out to the airport to collect him from his overnight flight. It's just that somehow there was a mixup with the flight times. We arrived to pick him up on what we thought was a 5.30am flight, but it turns out his flight did not arrive until 6.30am, so we had a nervous hour and a bit to fill in the darkness of dawn in Tullamarine - not an easy thing to do!

I was so ridiculously excited to meet him, and suddenly there he was - the tiniest kitten you've ever seen in a big airline travelling cage. He was snuggling into his bedding and emitting little high-pitched meows. He seemed alert and inquisitive and I was immediately smitten! He was shy and unsteady for about the first five minutes of the car ride and after that he relaxed and started rubbing up against my hand through the cage. I cannot explain to you how little his face is, and how big his paws! He is going to be a fair-sized cat one day if those are anything to go by!

It was a quick trip home and we bundled him through the door without Pepper even noticing what was in the cage. Once we got him into his room, though, he gave another meow and Peppy stopped dead in his tracks as if he'd seen a ghost! That was all we got out of him though. It's been a strange day with Peppy. He seemed crabby with us but was not overtly distressed or upset. He hid under the couch for most of the morning giving us dirty looks but by the afternoon he was out and about and snuggling up beside us again in the lounge room.

We have kitty set up in the spare room for a few days so he can get used to things slowly. Every time we leave the room he starts crying, so Peppy can hear him, except he hasn't bothered going to the door to sniff or scratch and seems to just be ignoring it, which is very strange for him! I've given him kitty's blanket to sniff and have spent all day going to and fro between them, trying to get them used to each other's scent.

Kitty has taken to us, and his new home, as if he's known us for decades. He is certainly not a shy little boy, but so friendly and loving. I actually fear that he will love us to death. He's the kind of cat that just can't get close enough to you. He's licked our eyelids and our noses, climbed onto our shoulders and heads, chewed on my ponytail, and is so playful! He was like a kid in a toyshop when he first came out of his cage - he did not know which toy to play with first and was going back and forth between all the play things about every 10 seconds. His favourite toy so far seems to be a little toy mouse, which also happens to be a favourite of Peppy's.

He's very agile, but a bit clumsy too. It's so cute. He can't quite judge the distance to jump up on the bed, so he's missed and slid down a few times. He also thinks that there is another kitten in the room when he sees his reflection in the glass doors of my bookcase. He tried to jump up and touch the kitten and ended up banging his head on the glass - it was so funny!

He hasn't been that keen to eat or drink since he arrived. We gave him some cooked chicken, as his breeders suggested, but he threw it up. I think he might just be feeling a little over-excited and out of sorts. He's exhausted, that's for sure. He and I ended up having a long nap together this afternoon - him curled up against my neck and wrapped around my hand, purring like a machine. He is the sweetest thing ever and his arrival has made me truly happy today for the first time in so long. He feels like he belongs here, and it seems he feels that way too!

I'm not sure how much sleep we're going to get tonight as he doesn't like being left by himself. I spoke to his breeder earlier today and she said he's a really touchy cat, he always needs to have a paw on you or a part of his body up against yours. We want to keep him in his room overnight and separate from Peppy for at least another 24 hours. Our vet recommended a few strategies for successfully introducing the two of them and separation for 48 hours is one of them.

So far I have just fallen in love with him, and I really hope that Peppy learns to love him too. We have given Peppy lots of love and extra fresh meat today (bribery!) so that he does not feel left out or slighted  by what's going on the other room. Leslie is also totally in love with our little skinny kitty. He cannot get enough of him and it is so gorgeous to see them together - a big man and a tiny squeaky little kitten!

Here is a photo of kitty sleeping off his big trip:

And here is a video of kitty playing - the first of what I'm sure will be many updates to come!

PS. I'm referring to him as 'kitty' as we still have not decided on a name for him! All of the names we've come up with seem too big for him somehow!