General Madness

Well, any thought of gradual introductions is almost off the table, since the boys exploded out of the room early and often tonight and I had to move up the priority of kitten-proofing the upstairs railing while they dashed about upstairs, trailed by a disapproving Rhea.

Rhea is a pushover now – if a kitten gets too close she might give a soft hiss, and she will give some anxious mews as she follows them from behind from time to time, but she’s not relaxed in their presence, but not angry or anything.  This is a lot like she was with Harrison, and the kittens mostly ignore her fussing.

Davout is about the same, except he doesn’t follow them around upstairs.

Once the greater half of the upstairs railing was covered, Sherman invaded the downstairs.

The medicine seems to be putting the brakes on his congestion and sneezes.  I’m not as sure about his eye ointment, but that might be just the ointment itself making him look more squinty.

Davout, like Rhea, made himself small and watched him go, only hissing when he rushed up too close.

He stuck his nose in every corner downstairs, then took a break to rest.   He even strolled into Anna’s room and got the same hate treatment everyone gets from her.  It didn’t bother him.

Andrea mentioned in a comment that Sherman seemed large compared to Rhea.  Well, most of the confusion is due to very close shots magnifying the nearby cat.  Today, by chance, there are more distant shots as I was busier, the boys more confident, and I was even more sure Rhea could be trusted not to smack them unfairly.

This Rhea and Grant picture is a good relative scale shot.  You can see the plexi taped up along the rails to avoid tumbing kittens.  No cats hanging over the rail shots for some time now.

And this is a good scale for Sherman,  I used some netting I have to cover the sloping railing.

General Grant is not too bothered by Rhea just behind him.  He hasn’t made the leap to rushing downstairs yet, though.

Poor Rhea isn’t sure who to keep watch on.

I think this is as far down as he has gotten so far.

 

Here he comes again.  He’s not shy about passing right by her on the steps now when he wants to go up or down.

Poor Sherman had a kitten-proofing incident downstairs. I had a removable shelf from a small fridge sitting on a low table which looked eminently climbable to him.  Since it was not attached to anything, when he jumped up and grabbed it, it come down with him, falling on him with a loud ringing sound and scaring Rhea, Davout and Sherman to the steps.

Sherman fled the least far, though.  And the rack is in the garage now.