Hunter

A few weeks ago, Dave went to help our friends Christopher and Rocio put together a new shed in their backyard.  On his way out the door, one of their new kittens followed him to the car.  Christopher suggested that Dave take it home on a trial basis, depending on how Rebel handled it.  When he got home, Dave brought me a gift of organic beef from Rocio, but made no mention of his little companion.  I heard the girls yelling “Kitty! Kitty!” in the living room, and thought they were referring to Rebel.   When I came around the corner, there was Eva cradling a fuzzy orange bundle in her arms like a proud new momma.   She was in love.  The kitten was about 8 weeks old and already litter box trained.  The first couple of days it went around the house meowing for its mother, and Rebel would hiss at it whenever he came within sight.   Eva took it to bed every night for awhile, before it kept waking her up trying to play.  It wasn’t long before it was confidently stalking, pouncing and attacking everything in sight, so Eva named it “Hunter.” 

 

Now at about 12 weeks, Hunter is full of mischief.  He tries to climb the furniture with his claws, jumping onto the table or high chair to eat the girls’ food.  He lurks in corners and under furniture to spring on unsuspecting toes.  He launches sneak attacks on Rebel, pouncing and then dashing away.  Rebel calmly tolerates it until he gets his fill, at which point he’ll promptly flip the kitten onto his back and show him who’s boss.  The girls are learning to be more careful around a cat that actually has claws, and to steer clear when the kitten goes into what we call “hunting mode”.