Gideon Explores the Outdoors

I love the way he frolics.

The Cuddly Mellow Yellow

When we chose Gideon, I'd heard about the male orange tabbies, affectionately described as "mellow yellows." I'd hoped he would embody some of this as he grew older, but thought it'd be a while before this trait might show up in him. Recently, I've been pleasantly surprised by Gideon and how calm he's been lately. While he's cute in all his kitten mischievousness, I selfishly hope it's not just a phase!

Gideon and his best friend, Ahri.

I think we've concretely established his sleeping routine and trained him to sleep during the day while we are at work. But in addition to this, lately he's not seemed nearly as rambunctious in the mornings. I used to be sure I woke up an extra 20-30 minutes earlier so I'd have that time to dedicate to playing with him. This is after already being up and going an hour and a half before I need to leave for work to get ready and walk the dogs for 45 minutes; needless to say, this just added to my exhaustion. These days, however, I've found his playfulness to be turned down quite a bit. He'll play and trot after a toy seemingly to appease me, but it's not with the same splendor he once offered (and continues to offer before bed at night). He's content with around 10 minutes now, which has been saving me a lot of time (and sleep!).

Furthermore, when we get home from work he no longer seems to expect a play session at all. He's content to mosey around, and, if you sit or lay down, is on your lap in an instant. This I've especially appreciated after a long hard day at the office when nothing sounds better than crashing and snuggling on the couch with my purr monster.

For the most part, Gideon's need for more intense, directed exercise and outlet for "killing things" has been mostly at night.  Before bed, I still spend 20-30 minutes with wand toys, getting him running around, up and down the cat tree, and all over our upstairs loft. After this, I give him his bed-time meal, and retreat up the stairs to our room; he still doesn't sleep with us at night, because I suspect he's not quite there yet. We've yet to have any complaints though; he enjoys spending his time with his canine companions on the lower level, and on the couch ;).

I'm impressed that his energy level has already dwindled so much.  He's only 5 months old!

Improvements!

Even since the last time I wrote, Gideon has grown up and improved so much already from the minor issues we'd been experiencing a week or two ago.

Meowing has been greatly decreased. As I thought, this tended to reflect his uncertainty and anxiousness, so since becoming more comfortable, has become mostly non-existent! He doesn't even meow at all during the night or in the mornings and patiently waits for me to sleep to my heart's content (on weekends anyway). He is comically always waiting by the door for me to open it in the morning, but has since not made a peep over the last week ^^. He is still shut out of our room at night, but that's because we need sleep and he's not sleeping through the night yet; the scenario has been working well for us though, and everyone seems happy with the arrangement.

Litterbox pains are much improved, thanks to the Modkat litterbox. The liner alone has made the chore much easier to handle and allows me to get the job done quicker. It's an expensive box, but I highly recommend it, and Gideon loves it! Additionally, we just ordered Okocat's long breed clumping litter, and I've started to transition him in the upstairs litter box (since it needed cleaning out anyway). I peeked in the room and it appeared that he may have used it, but I'll be sure to check tonight. Fingers crossed he accepts it, since this stuff is no-track, flushable, and much more environmentally friendly!

And finally, his energy has become much more predictable since he's been given full reign over the house. He still needs to be played with in the mornings and when we get home, and is most crazy around 9pm before bed when we really dedicate time to tiring him, but all in all, he's a much more chill cat where I can reliably tire him and predict his needs, which makes the job that much easier.

Today was noteworthy in that he explored some of the back yard for the first time on his harness! At first, he naturally hated the harnesses as most cats seem to, but upon being placed outside, immediately ignored it in favor of checking out the outdoor world surrounding him. As this is an fairly easy way to provide some mental stimulation, we're off to a great start judging from his enthusiasm!

Finally, the zoo life is starting to give us a little bit of a break ^^.

Ahri and Gideon, BFFs, just as we thought they'd be.

Living and Learning

Adding new family members is never without some sort of headache in some regard. With dogs, it's usually working on building up a routine, working on set backs, and maintaining firm consistency when the dog throws you a random curve ball. With Gideon being a cat, it's of course a bit different, but we're working through it nonetheless.

For starters, we'll discuss what's going well and better than anticipated.

• Gideon and the Dogs. I knew Ahri and Gideon would be pals, but I'm pleased with my greyhound's ambivalent reactions towards him and their patience as he enjoys pouncing and nomming on their tails and feet if given the chance. Ferguson has even taken a liking to him and tried to play briefly, though they will still need to figure each other out in time. The greyhounds are consistently muzzled around Gideon, however, just for safety's sake. I only worry about them behaving normally and snapping at him in annoyance and catching him. They are used to wearing their muzzles whenever unsupervised, however, and whenever outside together, so they don't seem to mind too much, as awkward as they look to bystanders. 
• Gideon's Eating Habits. I love that he is usually open to eating anything I offer and is not opposed to raw food. This morning he ate a whole 1.5 oz of whole ground chicken for breakfast, and will receive canned for lunch today per his timed feeder. He also eats sardines (though doesn't love them) and egg yolks (though also doesn't love them), whenever he is hungry. Goats milk is another favorite, and one I appreciate since it's and easy snack that doesn't instantly go bad. 
• Gideon's Collar Wearing. I was worried at first, as the two collars I'd purchased very cheaply for him were both too big and distracted him to where he hated wearing them. On a last whim, I decided to try a different style that could be much more adjusted to his tiny neck size, but is elastic for safety should it catch on anything. It's orange, so not my favorite color, but I'm pleased with how he is not bothered by it at all! He's been wearing it for days now with no issue. I'm glad he is happily wearing a collar and makes me feel better in case he should somehow accidentally get out. We will be microchipping him when he gets neutered at around 6 months of age. 
• Gideon's Affection. He sure knows how to make you feel loved. He always comes to greet me at the door and seeks out my lap whenever he gets sleepy and I'm around. Even though he is still a crazy little baby tiger like all kittens are, I swear that I can see his docile, affectionate nature beneath the kitten instinct and playful energy. When he's been all played out, he wants nothing more than to be with you. 
• Gideon's Grooming. He loves to be brushed, though right now I don't get much fluff off of him, regardless of what type of brush or comb I use. I do it every day or every other day, and it doesn't seem to matter much; I think he just doesn't have enough fur yet! He also tolerates his nails being trimmed, particularly if he is sleepy (which is good enough for me). 

Then there are a few things that are more challenging than I anticipated. 

• The litter box. Gideon's habits have been great and we've had no accidents. However, I am detesting the Precious Cat litter we're currently using and have another 25lbs of to get through. It is clay based, and while it does a good job of being favorable to the cat and covering any noticeable odor, I'm annoyed with how much waste sticks to the bottom of the tray to where it really takes some muscle to work out, which in turn breaks the clumps and makes the job that much more messy -_-. I'm planning on switching to Oko cat, a natural alternative, the first chance we get in hopes that it works a bit better like the reviews say. Additionally, due to Gideon attempting to use a storage basket for a litter box last night (he didn't, but it was close), I've relented and decided we will need a box on both floors of the house, just as everyone told me we would. Tonight, Arik and I will be going over litter box options AGAIN, and will see about getting one in the next few weeks. I don't think I can trust Gideon out unsupervised without a second box. 
• Gideon's meows. I'm hoping this decreases a bit with age and as Gideon gets more freedom in his life, but for now, his meowing is something to get used to. He doesn't do it A TON, and is generally quiet when he is content. However, if he wants something, he is persistent in telling you all about it.  Since we ignore him, I'm also hoping the behavior will extinguish itself in time, at least a bit more than what is going on now. 
• Gideon's energy. I've of course heard about kittens being little tigers, but imagined I'd be able to exhaust him with a bit of effort. While I can do this, it's not nearly as black and white as I imagined. I can spend HOURS getting him to play and he still doesn't exactly ever "crash" the way I thought he would. He also has remarkable recovery time. They don't call them "cat naps" without reason. He is good to go after a 20 minute power nap, and we're almost back to square one. I feel like this is even more noticeable because we've essentially conditioned him to sleep during the day, and also most of the night. I guess it's only natural that he's active when we're home, but it's certainly a lot more than I was anticipating. I've read that kittens are most energetic at 3-4 months, and that it steadily decreases in time after that. I am looking forward to this becoming more of a thing. I love playing with him and do designate 30-90 minutes a day to it, but it would be nice if this reliably did the trick for him in the future to be easier to predict. 

Gideon, sporting his collar while exploring the herb garden.

Every day is an adventure and a learning experience. It's exhausting much more than I thought, but I also know to savor it, as he'll only be this small and cute for a short period of time! 

Gideon and his Ahri-Bear

Ever since we first introduced Gideon to our home, he and our 1 year old pyr mix have been very drawn to one another. It may be in large part because of her large plumage of a tail that he so longs to pounce on, but Ahri, being a "livestock guardian" type of dog, is always enamored by other animals and wants nothing more than to befriend them. Being around 90lbs and still a lot of puppy, it's taken a lot of self control on her part to figure out how to interact with Gideon without being too overwhelming.  She's learned quickly she can't play chase with him or paw at him like he does to her, but we've recently had some breakthroughs as they're finally figuring out how to interact and play despite the language and size barriers, as illustrated in the video!

As the video also shows, our greyhounds are still not super sure or keen on Gideon, though they are both older and have no qualms with him so long as they can sleep undisturbed (one of the main reasons Gideon must still be confined to his safe-room when we aren't home, as there is no guaranteeing he'd agree to this type of bargain!). We expected this to be the case though, so we hope that he and Ahri can provide each other with more than enough entertainment.

So far so good!