About Vera

Vera is a teeny bit bigger than Allo was when I got him, as she is two weeks older... but at the same time, not by very much. She's still a fit-in-your-hand kitten with soft bones and barely any weight to her. We're fairly sure she's a medium-haired cat even though we were told that she was a short hair, she is overly fluffy for that.

Allo, once he got over the initial OMG WHAT DO I DO WITH ANOTHER CAT?! stage wants nothing more than to play with her 24/7. We have to keep an eye on it as he is much bigger and sometimes he's gotten a little TOO rowdy for the little girl, but for the most part she is happy to have a friend that isn't the dog to play with. However, the puppy seems to sense that she is just a little baby still, and doesn't try to play with her. We "caught" the dog curled up with the kitten and grooming her. Vera looked QUITE unimpressed, but tolerated it without complaint.

Allo is SO HAPPY to have another cat around. I think, though we figure cats can be solitary animals, they always need a friend to play with, another CAT so that they can just be a cat.

My roommates picked up Vera because of me, I think.

I was discussing getting a girl cat with them, for Allo to play with, a cat that would calm him down a bit and give him a playmate that wouldn't be too rough for him like the puppy sometimes is. Also, when he is around Vera, he is no longer whiny or nervous or suffering from his odd "abandonment issues."

I honestly think this was just the thing he needed.

I had to give my roommates info on kitten-proofing the house, and I helped them set her up with a litter box, toys, and food. She is happy and healthy and I hope this will help Allo quiet down and not get continually harassed by the dog.

Picture time!

Welcoming a new member of the family!

Kitty Tracks welcomes Allo's counterpart... ready? Vera.

Veridian is a kitty that came home yesterday and is completely Allo's opposite. Female, pure white, and quiet as a kitten can be, she is ten weeks old and sweet as can be. Welcome home, Vera!

Moving into a new home!

Well I haven't updated lately because my kitty and I up and moved homes. I now live in the city with three roommates and a puppy.


Now, moving houses with cats isn't as hard as it might seem. I just moved everything in, set up his food, water, and litter, and then moved the cat in. It's like when I first got him; I showed him where his food, water, and litter is, and then made sure there was no trouble he could get into.

We first introduced him to the dog when they were both on leashes. The puppy was fine with him but he, obviously didn't like the dog as it was the first animal contact he'd had since his mom. However, keeping a close eye on them both and making sure the dog let Allo have his space was all he needed and now he loves to play with the dog. We've even caught them grooming each other.

Teaching cats to sit.

It's a much easier task than it may seem! I'll try to go through a step-by-step guide to help anyone who may be interested out.

The first thing to remember is that cats aren't going to do it if they don't think it's worth their time. Therefore ample rewards and praise is needed through this whole thing. Right now, Allo gets treats every time he sits when I say so, but never when I don't say so.

The first step in teaching a cat to sit is getting him to follow your hand. Wave your hand in front of them so it catches their attention.



Then call them over while moving your hand away. It may feel like you have an invisible connection between your hand and the cat when they move towards you. When their interest disappears and they walk away, the connection breaks.



During this time, you may need to call them verbally to get them to comply. All you need is them interested in your hand (whether you have a treat in it) and walking a few steps (they have to be standing for this to work). It helps to teach your cat to follow your hand when you want them to, as it's useful for the smallest things, especially when they're following you around the house.




And then once you have them walking towards you, move your hand up and over their heads. This naturally tilts their head, neck, and shoulders back as the go to follow your hand. As you do this, say "sit" firmly. The way their heads go up naturally rocks them back on their haunches, and they sit as long as they're following your hand.

After a while, all you'll need to do is call them over and point at them while saying "sit." The sudden motion/change of your hand will give them pause, and they will hopefully recognize the command and do as you ask.



Remember to praise and reward them as training goes on.


Here is video of Allo learning how to sit on command if you want to see it. It's gotten to the point for him where I can say the command without hand motions almost every time and he will sit. One time as you will see I had to use my hand but other times he was perfect. And now all that is left is practice, consistency, and weaning him off of the treats.

Hopefully that was helpful!

Kitten update!

Okay, so it's been a while since I updated, but I've been pretty busy. Between raising my boy and trying to set off on my own, life has taken a busy turn.

Allo still whines but now I've just taken it as ritual. Nothing seems to be wrong with him and he's growing into a wonderful cat. Growing FAST, though! He's going to be a big kitty, despite his seemingly small start into this world.

I've been slowly training him to sit and walk on a leash, and boy is he SMART! Gosh. He picked up sitting almost perfectly within 5 days and he is slowly getting there with the leash. Patience, patience, patience.

And so with that update, I give you yet another handful of cute overload:


Allo has a case of the Mondays... HOW DARE YOU WAKE ME!



He fell asleep on my leg and kinda fell off of it. I had to hold onto him so he didn't fall off of the bed...



Going out for a walk...



Okay and another version of going for a walk. He sits on my shoulder while I go walking or running. He isn't bothered by the jarring, apparently, he loves to sit up there and watch the world go by.



"O hai! Iz ur gift!"



"No moar pictures!... how u do dat?"

Growing pains?

So a little bit of a size update:




As you can see, like any young animal, he is growing like crazy. However, sometimes he will start crying for no reason and just snuggle up to me and continue crying no matter how much I pet him.

Do kittens get growing pains? And if so, is there a way for me to help him?

So cute he'll make your head spin!

There's not much to really say! Everything has gone by so smoothly. The kitty's name is "Allegro" or "Allo," and he's doing just fine. He hasn't had any accidents yet and he eats a healthy amount. He's very active and sleeps through the night and thus far has failed to get into a large amount of trouble. Of course I am very scratched up from playing with him but it's okay.

I have a couple videos for those of you who haven't seen him, the fist being Allo discovering mirrors and then Allo falling out of bed.

And of course, pictures!

He is adorable when he sleeps! Just try to not smile looking at these:





And then it turns out one of his favorite things to play with is a pair of folded socks! He will wrestle with them until the cows come home...



And a VERY cute action shot... he was falling over after playing with my saddle strings. You can still see the string flipping up and him landing on the floor. Adorable.



But he bounced back up right away and was playing once more!



And he's a chewer, too. It's impossible to walk around in the morning after he's been sleeping for hours on end! As you can see... he is attached to my foot so good that... well, he IS suspended in mid-air. By my foot.



And he's a shoulder-kitty too! He loves sitting up there while I work. Which is adorable. But you know kittens, eventually they get bored...



And want someplace else to climb. I had to put a hat on to save what was left of my scalp.






So now that you have all had your cute overload of the day, go and hug your animals!