We've adopted!

Our family has adopted a new baby! She is approximately 9 weeks old, very energetic, happy, vibrant, has green eyes, and is black. Our new kitten, jinx, was found in a CVS parking lot by a high school classmate of mine. She (Jennifer) couldn't keep her because she has 4 dogs and 7 cats of her own.

When we got her one week ago, both my husband and 9-year-old cat Piper were very cranky, and I was in the doghouse for sure. (pun! ha!) Since Jinx was so little, she has no social skills and doesn't speak English. (Ideally, kittens should be 12-14 weeks old when separated from their mother to ensure proper kitty social skills). She is a tiny thing, and I suspect Jenn dosed her with caffeine before giving her to us, because I have only seen Jinx sleep 3 times in the last week. She is a biter, but she is teething and we are teaching her not to bite. It seems to be working (A puff of air blown in the face is a good, "No, no!" to a kitten.) She was litter trained and able to bathe herself when she was found, so that is excellent. She chases and tries to play with Piper relentlessly. at first, Piper was growling and hissing (as is appropriate to set boundaries), but was more submissive than I would have liked her to be. A good swat creeps in occasionally Now, Piper even shares her favorite toys and her food with the kitten without protesting. I'm not sure if this is maternal instinct or learned helplessness, but I hope to see kitty canoodling soon.

We originally tried to do the proper introduction by isolating the kitten for two weeks and allowing Piper to get used to Jinx's scents and sounds before a direct introduction. This lasted about three minutes with our ADHD kitten. We did try to keep her isolated in the bathroom when we were at work or when she kept Jeff awake, with plenty of toys, food, and a litter box, until she grew out of it 4 days after we got her. How, do you ask? I arrived homw from work to hear more baby screaming than usual. Typically, I would play with Piper alone for 15 minutes or so before letting Jinx out. This night, I let her out right away because she seemed so agitated. I opened the bathroom door to find the toilet paper all unrolled. Hilarious and adorable, but for the fact that the end of it was in her water bowl and had soaked up all her fluid, and she had made herself sick from being so upset. She's free-range now, and doing fine.

Pics to follow when Jeff uploads them. Baby Jinx has her first dr.'s appointment next week.