Pepper Cat's Guide for New Kitten Parents

It's Pepper Cat again. Now that I have found my forever home, my new friend Blaze tells me that it is nice to help the 2-leggeds in choosing the proper items that will make us cats more comfortable.

Actually, I'm just tickled pink to have a roof over my head and a warm, dry place to sleep, but head cat, Mistress Blaze says there is much more to consider like bedding, toys and a litter box. What is a litter box?

I recently was lucky to have found a very nice lady and man who feed me and pet me and are very nice to me. They have two dogs named Rio and Chance who come outside. They like me, too.

Inside the house are 3 cats, Blaze (the head cat), Star Noir (who once lived outside like me) and big, orange Dax. Dax and I are friends and he runs outside sometimes to see me.

I am moving into the house with all of them and am getting to know the 2 female cats a little better. The head cat, Blaze, has recommended some things that I will need as a new house cat.

I have been to the Vet before, but it was quite a while ago. The humans there gave me shots and medicine. Blaze Cat says that I must not bring fleas or worms into the house, so the lady must take me back to the vet. Head Cat Blaze runs a tight ship!

Mylady uses Advantage Topical Solution Flea Treatment on Blaze, Star Noir and Dax. Dax hates it and I don't like the smell, but it kills the fleas that itch and cause tape worms.

Each of the house cats have their own carrier and bed. Mylady put a carrier with a bed in it on the screen porch for me to sleep in when I first was learning to be a house cat. At night she would lock the cat door into the house and let me come onto the porch where it is warm. They put what they call a heater there when it's cold outside.

Dax and I made friends a while ago when he kept running out of the house and playing hide and go seek with Mylady. He seemed to enjoy this game much more than she did. Once I made friends with Blaze and Star Noir, the lady unlocked the cat door so that I could go inside if I wanted to. Dax showed me how to work the door.

The carrier Mylady got for me is large enough for me turn around and stretch out in. She says that she wants me to be safe when we ride in the car. I don't really like to ride in the car because it reminds me of when the men with traps took me to the scary place.

My bed is so great! There are also comfy beds for us felines all over the house in sunny spots and near the big bed where Mylady and her man sleep.

I'm still trying to figure out this one. The indoor cats have boxes with dirt like stuff in them where they dig a hole to do their business. Then a little while later, the box makes a funny noise and digs the soil into a smaller box. Then Mylady takes it outside and dumps it in the bushes. There is perfectly good dirt and a box that doesn't make noise on the porch that I use.

The three house cats have been together for a long time and they share their food and water, but there are 3 bowls in different parts of the house. Mylady got a food dish and water bowl for me. Sometimes I catch Dax eating out of it, but that's okay, because she always fills it back up. I'm so happy that I don't have to be hungry any more.

I used to chase the little flying things when I lived outside and it was fun, but there aren't any in the house. The man and lady got us what they call toys and they play with us. I like the one that they wiggle in the air because it looks like some of the things I used to play with outside.

Wow! I never knew life could be like this. Rio the dog is my friend and I can sleep where ever I want. Here I am, safe and warm next to my biggest buddy. Second Chance and the cats, Blaze, Star and even Dax seem to like me, too. Sometimes Dax stares at me for too long, so I have to give him a little, "hiss", but no one has jumped on me.

I get all the food I want, too. I can still go outside (kind of) on the back porch. Sometimes I wish I could go outside and jump on the things with wings, but Mylady won't let me. She says that I am an inside cat now. But that's okay because now I don't have to worry about big animals sneaking up on me to catch me for their dinner.

Life is good.

All in all, I like living in a house, but I still like to go outside when the weather is nice. Sometimes I get to go out with 2nd Chance and Rio, but I have to come back in when they do. Dax is jealous because he doesn't get to go out often. If he wouldn't make Mylady chase him all over the place, he'd probably get to go out more often.

I am happy here, but I sometimes remember my friends in the old place where I lived after the big storm, Katrina. I wonder if they have found forever homes. Mylady says that there are organizations such as the Humane Society that help kitties like us and they need donations from good 2-leggeds so they can help more of our kind and dogs, too.

We are donating any money (what ever that is) that we make from this page to these organizations. Maybe you'd like to donate some too.