Simon: June 22, 2007

Four weeks ago, Simon (known then as “little orange kitten”), was so tiny that he could fit in the palm of my son’s hand:

He’s certainly grown and changed a lot since then, with running, jumping and exploring being high on his list of fun things to do:

Even though I’ve tried to keep Simon separate from my other kitties until he’s been tested and vaccinated, my Lynx Point Siamese, Niko, has other ideas. In the past couple of days as I’ve tried to slip out of the “isolation room,” Niko has managed to fly over the gate and through the door — all to Simon’s utter delight.

The first time this happened, Simon was in full play mode near the door and as soon as Niko jumped in, Simon pounced on his head and started biting him! Niko responded by rolling over and gently hugging Simon. He started bathing him before I had the chance to grab him and escort him out, but these two really, really want to be friends.

Niko darted into the room again last night and he and Simon immediately went under the bed where I couldn’t reach them! While Niko looks “threatening” in this picture with his upraised paw, again he was really being quite gentle with Simon:

After taking a couple of quick pictures, I again escorted Niko out of the room. If all goes well after Simon’s vet appointment next week, I’ll let them have more of a chance to play and interact.

I know that my “kitten-sitting” days won’t last forever — soon Simon will be old enough to stay by himself while my son is working — but maybe it’s important for Simon to have the opportunity to be “socialized” by other cats, especially since he’s grown up without a mom-cat and siblings.