OK, so clearly my 365 project fell apart. Turns out that Daisy has added quite a bit of work and stress to my day, and taking a photo a day just fell by the wayside as a result.

Oh and by the way, I changed her name again obviously. Lucy just didn’t feel right either.

The thing is, I’ve never “found” a kitten, or any pet for that matter, and then kept it. Any time we’ve brought a new pet into the home, especially a little one, it has been planned for in advance, and mentally I was prepared for the work it would take to break it in. Not so with Daisy. She just showed up on our front porch, and well, now she’s here to stay.

I just was not prepared to deal with kittendom again, and as it turns out, neither were all my pets, or was Daisy for that matter. Unlike in the past, Daisy has not adjusted quickly to being here. For a solid week we had to keep her in the master bathroom because she would not venture out at all, and she hissed and growled terribly whenever another animal came into her view. And by the way – I absolutely HATE the hissing stage. The sound of a hissing cat just freaks me out. Don’t get me wrong, I adore cats – but I can definitely do without the hissing.

Simon, as he did when I brought Violet home, has been the first to adjust and welcome the new addition. He is just a super-friendly little boy, and from the start he was doing his best to get close to Daisy. But Daisy hissed and spit and growled and scratched for a solid week before finally allowing Simon to get close to her. She still mostly wants to attack him, but she does so playfully, rolling over onto her back often and making a lot less awful noises. Simon has been a trooper throughout the ordeal, sniffing around her, batting her down when needed, and backing off on occasion before persevering in his quest to befriend her. It’s interesting to watch this play out, and once Daisy calmed down enough to stop terrifying me with her hissing, I’ve spent a good deal of time watching and admiring how good Simon is with new kittens.

Violet however – she’s another story. For the most part she’s just stayed away, and the few times she’s been in the bedroom when Daisy has ventured out of the bathroom she’s hissed her head off. This morning, she even hissed and growled at Simon, I suppose because he’s spending so much time tussling with Daisy that she’s either jealous or just pissed that he smells different. So, this whole acclimation process is going to take more time than I would like, but it is what it is.

I’ve even wondered if we should find her a new home, because I really am stressed over all the different animal attitudes floating about the house right now. We already had two dogs and two cats to care for, and a third kitty just wasn’t in the plans, but she just bounded right up to me and into my arms as if she already belonged to me, and when she’s not acting insane I love to cuddle her – even though I am still having to hang out in our bathroom to do that because she’s not yet comfortable being out in the house. I think it’s OK to not love the kitten-introduction stage, and that it doesn’t mean I’m not cut out for a new furbabe. Truth be told, I’ve been desiring a new kitten off and on for the past year, but at the exact moment Daisy came into my life I just was NOT prepared for the extra stress. And as I said, this is a different situation from any I’ve ever dealt with before when it comes to pets (the dogs, by the way, really could care less about her existence, but Daisy of course hisses and growls at the sight of them).

So, I don’t even have any new photos to go with this post which is unusual for me. Sorry about that. All I’ve been doing the past week is stressing over cats, getting my schedule filled back up for tutoring, and then stressing over cats some more. It’s very time-consuming. 😉