Territory

Brianna is the only human who spends any time sitting in this chair. Below are the usual scenes each day. The part of the cat is played either by Link or by Frederica, but since this is Freddie's blog the photos are of her.

I'm so please that Frederica gets along so well with the dogs. Cupcake joining the scene and Freddie wasn't bothered at all. In fact, she was quite interested... even happy.

Kitty days

Freddie has been enjoying the company of the dogs... I think it's because they nap less during the day. She likes to play with Cupcake and will pounce at her and then run away. Cupcake will do the same thing, so it seems like a match made in heaven.

Frederica still likes to hang out at the dog bowls while they're eating & drinking. She's given up trying to eat their food every morning & evening, but always drinks from their water bowl.

She likes playing with the dogs' toys, too. She's too small still to drag the toys around, but likes to chew on them... dog "sauce" - blecch!

...and of course, she likes to NAP... on the green plastic bag. I'm not sure what she's going to do when we finally take it off to the thrift shop!

Chillin' with Cupcake

After playing "chase" together for part of the morning, Frederica & Cupcake settled down for a nap on the chaise lounge chair. It had to happen sooner or later! :-)

Ah, Saturday...

I had a nice, peaceful start to the day. Before anyone else was awake and after the animals had all been fed their breakfast, I sat down on the couch to read. Puddin' hopped up and settled in for a little nap. After circling us a couple of times Frederica settled down, nestled in Puddin's tummy.

Later this morning, it was bath time... Freddie's 2nd bath since joining our household. I'm sure we'll all get comfortable with the process eventually. I haven't quite gotten the initially dunking down and it took a bit of handling to get her in a position where she couldn't easily twist and hook her claws into my T-shirt. Our bath time photographer today was Christine... nice job, sweetie!

She evenutally settled into the experience and we got her thoroughly cleaned and rinsed.

...it's definitely a 2-person job at this point!

I did a much better job at towel-drying Frederica so she didn't have to spend as much time being blown dry in the crate.

The dogs were very interested in what was happening in the kitchen.

Once her fur was blown dry, Freddie ate some treats and I brushed out her fur. She looks SO much better! She settled in for a nap (and some snuggling) on the couch.

Dinner time!

Below is the scene that's developing at dinner time. As soon as the dogs' food hits the bowl, Frederica shows up and immediately heads for Puddin's bowl. The problem is that Cupcake usually wolfs down her food and then shoves Puddin' out of the way and starts in on whatever's left in Puddin's bowl. Now Puddin' has TWO critters after her food!

Freddie's come a long way from the hissing at and hiding from the dogs she did 2 weeks ago!

Going to the dogs...

Frederica had an extended, supervised visit with the dogs last night. Dean sat on the floor between the kitten and the dogs and I sat beside the dogs to keep them calm. Cupcake & Puddin' were on their best behavior and Frederica gradually got closer and closer. Freddie has stopped hissing at them, but still isn't convinced that they won't do her harm.

Cupcake, our Bichon Frise, is very excited about getting to know Frederica. Her tail was wagging during the entire experience. I was glad she didn't do that whining thing she does when the other cats are around and she wants to play with them... it's more than a little off-putting. Freddie will undoubtedly warm up to Cupcake before Puddin'.


Puddin', our English Spring Spaniel, has thyroid issues and is, consequently, overweight. Her size, combined with the fact that she's, by nature, a hunting dog and never took her eyes off of the fluffy kitten, freaked Freddie out. Puddin's big brown nose is almost as big as Frederica's whole face! Puddin' was really calm during last night's visit and she didn't whine either. Our only concern with Puddin' is that Pud likes to walk around the house carrying her toys or the girls' stuffed animals or a shoe... anything, really, in her mouth. She's never attempted to tote one of the cats (when they were kittens) in her mouth, but... hopefully there's not really a first time for everything!


Given that Link is content to nap and play with the dogs, it's just a matter of time before Frederica does the same. Frederica clearly is done being contained in the master bedroom, so it's going to be a busy weekend of socializing... that and it's time to give Frederica a bath. It's' been MANY years since I attempted to bathe a cat - 'should make for an interesting post!