Carrie's started to post pictures of the kittens tagged as #barncatfail.
She's not wrong.
They've moved in.
They're both high energy and adventurous. Aria ("My cat") takes the lead....and gets up and into all sorts of places.
Including surprising ones! Carrie heard noises coming from the cabinetry and found Aria on the inside.
She shut the door, perhaps in disbelief, and when she opened it again Aria was on a different level!
It seemed impossible, but Carrie discovered the builders left a kitten highway with priority access doors. Aria taught Tsuki her trick and the kittens have accessed the shelves through the top and the bottom.
They're brazen about jumping up on counters and looking for food. No matter how many times I drop them off, they seem to hop right back up.
I've caught them standing in the sink......and yes, I turned on the water. They still come back!
Thankfully, no one has jumped in the trash can (but I caught Aria looking!).
I would have thought Carrie would be more concerned about the kittens clawing and climbing up the couch, but kittens get a pass no other species does (Rank favoritism, I say!).
Morning and night, the kittens get an attack of the 'zoomies' and start tearing around. I sleep through it, because I shut the bedroom door. Sometimes Carrie falls asleep on the couch and wakes to a kitten ricocheting off her chest as her sister jumps over her head in pursuit.
Carrie's started to let them outside for morning barn chores to run off some energy.
And she's been letting Max join them.
However, it makes sense. Max is 14 years old. There's no telling how many years she has left and she loves being outside. She leads the kittens to the door and starts singing and pawing.
So far, she's always come back. She ranges farther than the kittens and I had to herd her away from the corn one day (I was worried she'd lose track of where she was if she ventured in!).
Happy doesn't get to join the outdoor festivities. She ran off into the woods once and we're not chancing a repeat. That was a rough night with Carrie having a panic attack, Shane crying, and me tromping through the woods on a winter's night that I'd prefer only happen once in my l ife.
She's adapted to the inside life. We've given her a middle name due to her jelly rolls: Happy Fat Cat.
Loki loves all his feline friends. Carrie's taken to throwing him out with them in the mornings.
By himself, Carrie will sit on the porch when let out. With the cats, he will happily romp around and use the bathroom. If anything, he'll herd the kittens back closer to the house at times!
He doesn't think it's fair that Carrie secludes him to dry off when he comes inside.
Not that we have the crate inside anymore, because Aria has started to pee on anything that smells like wet dog.
We don't know why. Cat pee is a terrible thing, so the crate and dog bed went outside. Loki hates them, so don't worry about him.
If there was any drama, I'd have grounds to return the kittens to barn cat status. But all the cats get along famously with each other and the dog.
Max, Aria, and Tsuki even eat together.
Happy is the odd cat out, but she's usually sleeping somewhere and doesn't seem to care.
The only drama worth mentioning is comical. Sometimes Max gets fed up with Loki and he takes it as a cue to play. She'll growl, hiss, and charge.....and he'll end up bounding after her. He'll try to imitate her swipes and paws the air!
Shane's on permanent litter patrol, but I end up doing a lot of double-checking. With him at Nana and Pop's it's somehow become my job again.
Carrie does take care of a lot of things I don't want to do. Like worming. Her vet tech training comes in handy.
And Aria's curiosity earned her second place in line.
Happy didn't learn much from Aria's mistake either!
Learning when to make yourself scarce was an important part of my childhood.
So.....4 cats. That wasn't in the marriage vows, but if it keeps Carrie sane and I get to keep my dog it's the way it's going to be.
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