Josie & her pussycats

Welcome to my new foster family, mama Josie and her kittens Finnegan and Sammy!

These cats came to my home Monday night and were very frightened. Finnegan in particular is very scared of me, every movement I make, and especially my hands. Fortunately, he’s brave in other areas, confidently exploring his new territory and playing with everything that moves. If I sit still in the room, he will happily play around me. If I move (or think about moving) he darts away to safety.

Sammy is a funny little kitten. He’s much smaller than his brother, but he is already starting to come around and is tolerating me rather well. He has weird loud breathing that I’m a bit concerned about, and an extra round belly (likely full of worms) but he’s full of spunk and has no idea how tiny he is.

Josie hasn’t quite decided what she thinks of her new circumstances yet. She’s eager to chow down on food, and she purrs when I pet her, but she also spends a lot of time growling for no apparent reason. I imagine she just needs some time to decompress and feel safe.

Right now my focus is on respecting the boundaries these cats have created and on building their trust. By pairing things they’re afraid of, hands/touch, with happy activists such as play and mealtime, I suspect we’ll become fast friends soon.