Festive Gothmog kitten

[bunn]

Not the best time of year for photography what with all the rain, but I did manage to get some photos of Gothmog kitten today.   She went in for her post-spay checkup and first vaccinations, and was very good.  She's very much at home and getting more cuddly by the day!
   Still no sign of poor little Fankil, who has taken up residence behind the printer in Pp's study and sneaks out furtively to eat when we aren't looking.

Comments

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful kitten! Is she totally black? I love all black cats!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

She is indeed entirely black. I've never had a completely black cat, so I was pleased too. It makes her a beautiful little silhouette.

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

She has such a sweet face. I hope Frankil stops being scared soon.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think all we can do with him is give him time to come out when he chooses.

[timetiger.livejournal.com]

She's darling. Lucky you getting to cuddle her!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

She is completely adorable. Pp and I keep saying 'she's so cute when she is asleep!'

'... and when she is awake!'

and similar inanities.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

What a sweet girl - and it's wonderful to see her looking so at home!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

We were expecting her to be more flighty, but she has settled with astonishing speed!

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

She looks as if she's going to be quite large.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I don't know. She has been spayed quite young, so that might keep her a bit smaller, possibly, but then a lot of the cats from that area seem to be quite large round puddingy animals, so who knows!

[narya_flame]

Awwww! So cute :D look at her enjoying her scritches.

[grundyscribbling]

How adorable!

[chainmailmaiden]

Awww, she looks gorgeous! And so relaxed with you too. Fingers crossed Fankil gets a bit braver soon.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

If she was much more relaxed, she'd be asleep. Which currently she is, though she knocked over my pot of paint-water earlier, presumably in order to uphold the Honour of the Kitten.

[howlin-wolf-66.livejournal.com]

Such cuteness! <3

I hope Fankil is overcome by a sudden fit of bravery, soon. :-(

[bunn.livejournal.com]

We thought it would take a while for Fankil to come out, but he really is being very secret at present... Fingers crossed!

[angelica-ramses.livejournal.com]

She looks like my Ramses reborn in a girl! He had the sweetest temper I've ever found in a cat and pretty Gothmog (sounds strange!) seems just like him! A really pleasure. I hope that Frankil starts feeling more confident soon too!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think she's going to be pretty clever. She's quite a problem-solver, which makes a change from the Bungles, whose idea of problem-solving was more to charge at whatever it was headlong and assume whatever it was would get out of the way.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

From my experiences with Tybalt, who had been born in a feral colony and had about 3 months of very limited human contact before he moved in with us:

Tybalt mostly hung out in the office, because there were places to hide there, so I spent a lot of time in the office sitting on the floor working on my laptop or sewing or whatever. I talked to him a lot too, mostly narrating what I was doing, because it really didn't matter what I said just that he got used to people talking to him.

With feral or really skittish cats, the cat behaviorists say don't make eye contact. The recommendation is to look at the top of their head between their ears, so you can see their facial expressions but you're not making direct eye contact.

Standing people are extremely scary. Quietly sitting people are generally much less scary. Treats also help. Tybalt was particularly fond of chicken.



[Sadly, he had been born with FeLV and succumbed to the associated leukemia a year after he came to live with us, but in that year he became socialized enough to come up and snuggle with people, because pettins were AWESOME. Standing people were still pretty scary, though.]

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Good advice... It's difficult with Fankil, because the spot he has chosen behind the printer, you can really only look down on him. And of course we do want to check occasionally that he is still there...

Talking to him might be worth a try though, we haven't done much of that. He took treats at the rescue, but since we got him home he really hasn't touched anything when we're in the room. He just sits crammed behind the printer and doesn't move.

[pixel39.livejournal.com]

I did a lot of hanging out and quietly talking to Tybalt while he hid behind the boxes that live under the Spouse's desk. We also talked to him anytime we had to go into the office for anything. Basically, narrating what we were doing to him so he wasn't startled.

There are some good resources here: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/socializing_a_feral_cat.html
https://bestfriends.org/resources/how-socialize-very-shy-or-fearful-cats

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

How lovely she is! And I hope Fankil will feel more secure soon.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

She's a little monkey! Trying to keep her in one room has proved impossible, she darts at open doors with incredible speed!

[r-blackcat.livejournal.com]

Absolutely beautiful cat, and a natural actress it seems. One of the bottom photo could be used as a New-year postcard picture.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

She's definitely going to grow up to be a big personality!

[ylla.livejournal.com]

Oh dear - I hope you don't need to print anything!

Gothmog looks beautiful and adventurous - I hope Fankil decides to emerge into the wider world before too long.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

The printer is on top of a cabinet, so he's behind the cabinet, really, and not too close to the printer. I wish he'd venture out though!

[ylla.livejournal.com]

That's not so bad, then - all the printers I know make startling noises at times!

[alitheapipkin.livejournal.com]

She's gorgeous! The advice about sitting in the study and just talking to Fankil sounds promising, I hope he starts to thaw to you soon.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I went and read my book aloud to him earlier. I don't know if he enjoyed it!