Why is life never simple ~ part 2

This morning when it all happened I really didn't feel like blogging the situation with 'baby cat' and I can't say I relish the idea now but a few hours have passed and having blogged the whole of the rest of the kitten hunting antics it seems only right that I make the effort with this part. I have gotten over the 'why does nothing seem to be going right lately' phase and pulled myself together a bit so here goes.

Firstly thank you all for your kind words, I seem again to have had a less than fabulous day and yet again you lot have been a great help.

The sad end to the baby cat story was not anything awful in so much as she was lovely, a happy, purring little soul and as fit as a fiddle, the problem was in the interaction between her and Ditto.

Introducing any two cats is not easy, there is always spitting, hissing and grumbling and a careful eye has to be kept on the combatants but in this case poor Ditto seemed not to cope at all, she suffered much more than any cat I have ever dealt with in this situation and neither she nor I could 'hack it' She wouldn't eat, use her litter box and finally went outside and sat miserably in the torrential rain until she was soaked through. No amount of persuasion would tempt her in and when we attempted her physical removal back into the house she turned into a wild thing, biting and scratching. Not the usual 'I am slightly miffed' kind of biting, this was the real deal.

We could have persevered a little longer, it had been a very short period of time but we felt after much snivelling and discussion that if she was that unhappy it would be more unfair for all concerned if ultimately we still had to take the baby back to her breeder. She would be more unsettled, Ditto might be even more stressed and to be honest it was just too upsetting for me as well. So we called the lady we got her from and explained the situation and she very kindly agreed to take her back. Her kindness added to our upset in some ways, we had got on so well with her and she had been so nice we felt like we were letting her down too.

It is far from the first time I have dealt with introducing two cats and it has never been anywhere like as bad, even from the outset, why I'm not sure. I did overlook the fact that 'baby' was actually 20 weeks old and was hence considerably more like introducing an adult cat, something I wouldn't have considered. That was my fault and lack of thought, my head just said 'kitten' and I didn't think it through. Maybe it is just those two cats or maybe Ditto will only ever be a 'one cat' cat....we have no way of knowing but whatever, I feel guilty for The baby, Ditto and the breeder and I feel miserable about the whole issue. The only good part is that in making the decision fast the little soul barely knew she had been away from her brothers,sisters and mum and was immediately comfortable and happy 'back home' and snuggled in with them.

We may try again sometime with a tiny kitten and see if Ditto copes better, if not then she can remain a happy single cat, but for now the kitten hunt is severely curtailed, I can't go through it all again in too much of a hurry :o(

So, that's the story.....onward and upward as they say, we did what we hope was the best thing under bad circumstances and I'm attempting not to dwell on it. I seem to have felt sad about one cat or another for weeks and I need now to try not think about sad stuff for a time.

Perspective gemmak, perspective!