Ripley Archives - Oh My Dog!

Why a kitten?

11•20•17

Since I introduced Ripley, this has been the number one question: Why did you adopt a kitten?

In other words: Y’all are dog people! What not a dog?

So, it’s time I addressed the kitten in the room…

First of all, I’m a pragmatic person. I lean toward the logical, even in my creative work.

But I also believe in magic. Wholeheartedly.

(INFJ… what can I say?)

Anyway, we talked–a lot–about adopting a dog so that Cooper wouldn’t be “alone” after Emmett passed away, but it was just so painful. It still is. Losing Emmett and Lucas so close together meant losing our herd, our pack, and we both logically knew that adopting another dog right now would only highlight that loss.

And then Violet came, and it made even less sense.

Time passed, of course, and I fell in love with a sweet pup on the shelter’s website. We wanted to go meet him on “Clear the Shelter Day,” but there was one big, huge, mondo problem: The event required that you bring your current dog to the shelter for a meet and greet.

Um.

Yeah.

No.

There’s literally no way Cooper could ever do that. He could never go to the shelter in the first place, but during a bustling adoption event? Holy moly. He would melt. the. heck. down. That many people and dogs, an unfamiliar place, the sights and sounds and smells of a shelter… there is absolutely no way he could do that and keep his head about him. There’s absolutely no way I’d ever ask that of him.

So, cross that dog off the list.

Then, one day, John and I were at PetSmart, and there was a rescue there with a gorgeous mama pup who was as sweet and melty as you can imagine. She was just darling. But, they said, we needed to bring Cooper–that day–to PetSmart to meet her.

Um.

See above.

{{Aside: It’s frustrating for me that two rescues had that similar requirement that we could literally, truthfully never meet. I’m not perfect by any stretch, but I feel like we’re pretty darn good pet parents who spoil the ever living daylights out of our animals, yet those were two dogs we couldn’t bring home because we couldn’t ask that of Cooper. Frustrating. Another topic for another day.}}

So, no dog.

We basically resigned ourselves to having to wait until the right dog came into a rescue where we knew the people or the people knew Cooper/us/our situation.

And then, one day, I was scrolling through Facebook, and I saw Ripley’s kitten pic.

Magic happened.

I saw her pic, and I instantly knew she was ours. John had said many, many times “no kittens,” but as soon as I showed him her picture, he just said, “When do we get her?”

The universe aligned that day, and Ripley–who, it turns out, is the perfect cat for our unique blend of personalities–came home.

She’s been with us two months, and we can say with complete and utter certainty:

Emmett sent us Ripley.

BTW, this is how Violet reacts every single time the kitten walks into view. It’s out of focus because they all move so fast.

Ripley has turned out to be so go-with-the-flow, tolerating Newt’s inappropriate biting, Cooper’s cat-walloping habit, the baby’s noises and smells and grabby little fingers, and she just is super laid-back about it all.

All, that is, except for one thing…

Food.

Ripley is insane when it comes to food. Seriously, you guys, I think I need to get dinnertime on video because it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Except, that is, with Emmett.

Ripley eats like Emmett. Any bite of anything she can get her teeth on, she gobbles it up without so much as sniffing it. I even talked to the vet about it at her kitten well check because I felt like her eating was concerning… though the vet said it’s probably just kitten curiosity that she’ll outgrow.

I’m not so sure about that.

In the span of the past few days, here’s what she’s eaten/absconded with: a hunk of peanut butter toast, a million mouthfuls of Violet’s baby food like squash and green beans, the nipples off two bottles of formula, lots of Newt’s cat food via shoving her out of the way, beets, spinach (which she growled at Cooper over!!), salt and vinegar potato chips, rice cereal, popcorn, and on and on…

When Emmett looked at all the kittens in animal heaven, he was clearly like, “That one. That’s the one my people need.”

And, so, that is why a kitten. 🙂

A Tale of Two Cats: How Ripley and Newt Became Besties

11•06•17

If I had written this post just a few days ago, I would’ve had a very different story to tell.

Luckily, I ran out of time and it took these few extra days because there’s been a twist.

First off, you guys are so sweet. So many people have asked how Newt is doing with the new kitten. I know I’ve primarily highlighted Ripley’s relationship with Coop because, well, her relationship with Newt was pretty tenuous and slow-going.

{{ICYMI: Here’s how it started with Rip and Coop, and here’s how it is now… prepare to swoon.}}

As you know, Newt is finicky. She’s particular. She’s just Newt. When we decided to adopt Ripley, we were nervous about how she’d do, but we actually had decided to adopt Ripley because Newt was starting to be a bit… um… even more… quirky. In other words: Newt was behaving like an asshole. Just a straight-up meanie. For instance, she bit us in the ankles all day every day for no reason except because we were walking in her vicinity.

We suspect that she felt jealous of Violet and also uncomfortable as Vi has gotten more mobile and more vocal. I did a ton of research and found sort of a general theme of this behavior caused by a new baby is one of the few (if not only) circumstances in which many experts recommend adding a second cat. That’s an oversimplification of the results of my research, but the basic gist was: baby + Newt’s bad behavior + Newt’s personality + our schedules and a new cat just made sense.

Then we spotted Ripley, and it was all over for all of us.

I picked up a few cat behavior books and talked to two cat experts, our vet, and a couple friends who are bonafide cat people.

The consensus was clear on the Newt + Ripley intros: Do it as slowly and safely as possible. Create a communal scent (that is, trading items back and forth so that their scents can co-mingle… with Coop’s, too). Introduce them first with food from a great distance behind gates, then slowly decrease the distance during meal times. Finally, allow super-duper short interactions, but separate them as soon as either one seems nervous.

And we did all that for about five weeks. Newt hissed a ton at first. Ripley hissed a ton at first. Then they kind of stopped hissing, so we moved onto the interactions, and the hissing started back up. We did that for another week to week and a half.

Then, Ripley went for her kitten wellness visit at the vet’s office last Friday.

The vet asked how they were doing, so I told her our whole plan, where we were, how they were acting during each step, and so on. Bless her, she didn’t judge, didn’t say a word, just listened, and then said, “You need to let it go.”

Whaaaaa????

Then she kindly, gently explained: We had done enough. We needed to now step back and allow Newt to set her own boundaries. Ripley will learn better from her than from us.

Um. Oh.

OK.

I called John on the way home and relayed that instruction. “I am NOT comfortable with that,” he said. “But OK. Let’s try it.”

On Friday afternoon, I returned home from the vet, opened Ripley’s crate, and… stood back.

There were some super tense moments that night. Like, when they both squeezed under our bed while hissing and swatting at each other.

But then they were kind of just like, “OK.”

Seriously.

It was like they both shrugged, decided on some general rules of engagement, and moved on.

With one exception: Ripley reallllyyyyy wants to cuddle with Newt. That’s unacceptable to Newt, and it’s the only time Newt hisses at her these days. And, if Ripley persists in trying to snuggle with Newtie, Newt growls and ends it real quick.

Otherwise…

How are they doing now?

via GIPHY

Yep.

I don’t think this all would’ve unfolded like this if we had just thrown them together on day one. Newt is far too particular for that. But I do think we were maybe being a smidge more cautious than we had to be in the end? But, you know, I prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to these guys.

I’ll close with this: I’m grateful to have wonderful friends who know so much about animals. So, after a few days of the “let it go” method, I took a video and texted to a friend with a single question: Is this normal? She texted back: Yep. 🙂 I don’t know what the official name of this is called, but we’ve deemed it Catball because Newt and Ripley form one ball of cats and roll around the house like a cat tumbleweed.

So, I leave you with this: Catball.

A post shared by Maggie Marton (@maggiemarton) on Nov 6, 2017 at 4:50am PST

Dog Training for Cats

10•17•17

I’m going to start with two disclaimers.

First, Newt is the only cat John and I ever had direct experience with, and Petey (remember her?) is the only kitten we ever had direct experience with. We made the mistake of assuming some behavior traits that were consistent between Newt and Petey would be consistent with Ripley.

In other words, we had basically no idea what we were doing when Ripley didn’t just dive in and befriend Coop and Newt right away. Although, in hindsight, you guys know us… our obvious assumption should have obviously been that this would be difficult because hello.

Here’s the gist: Ripley was scared of Cooper. Newt was scared of Ripley.

Second, I’m so lucky to work in the pet industry! I’ve talked to three separate cat experts and have three cat books (I’ll share my thoughts on those another day) to draw from!

The Newt + Ripley relationship is complex and evolving. That’s its own post. Who knew: Cats aren’t like dogs. They don’t just sniff butts and move on with their lives. #whoknew

As for the Ripley and Cooper situation, we have it under control. In fact, it’s maybe better than we could’ve expected in this short amount of time. So, I figured I’d share our experience in case anyone else is struggling to introduce a kitten to a dog OR struggling to help one pet overcome a fear of another pet. Tricky situations all around.

For today, I want to focus on one aspect of that complexity: dog training for cats.

We started out with one big advantage–that also provided some challenges. That is, Cooper LOVES cats. He loves cats. He loves kittens. He just loves ’em… a little too much. He wants to skitter with every cat he sees. He wants to bop them with his nose, flip them over, lick their faces, the works.

Cats, on the other hand, do not want that. Any of it.

Ripley, in particular, was horrified. And terrified. She first saw Cooper with him on leash many feet away, and she puffed up, hissed, and scrambled back into her safe space. The second time she saw Cooper, he was on leash, and she was many feet away, and she puffed up, hissed, and scrambled back into her safe space. Same thing with the third, fourth, fifth, we lost count how many times.

All the while, Cooper was like, “Hello, friend! Wanna skitter? Hey, where’d ya go?”

{{To be fair, the first time I sneezed around Rip, she hissed. The first time the toaster popped up toast around Rip, she hissed. The first time she saw her reflection, she hissed. Rip is a classic scaredy cat. So that’s our starting line…}}

So, ultimately, here’s what worked for us, and if you’re someone trying to introduce a kitten to a dog, I hope this helps:

Number 1: Cooper’s training.

Honestly, the first day, he totally blacked out (see previous most recent post re: this mental state for Coop), but we kept him on leash, reinforced good behavior with squeeze cheese, and he eventually found his wits. Even after he got his head back, he was on lockdown–on leash, on his bed, with cheese and praise–while the kitten was allowed to approach at will. She didn’t, of course, but she led the charge. When she was ready to approach, we kept him on his bed and let her sniff him. Thankfully, Coop is pretty solid with down/stay on his bed, and he’s been through this regimen with Newt and Petey, so he was pretty cool about it.

Takeaway: Before you introduce your pup to a kitten (or any new animal, really) work like crazy on a solid down/stay on a place like a bed or mat. That behavior, when it’s reliable, is GOLD.

Number 2: Let the cat set the pace.

For a couple weeks thereafter, I scootched Cooper’s bed right under my desk. I’d put him on the bed, clip on the leash, then bring Rip into my office. She decided if and when to approach him (or if and when to hiss at him). For a couple weeks, that was basically it. He broke his stay a handful of times to bop her with his nose, and when that happened she’d be a little more guarded for a bit but recovered pretty quickly. Bottom line: The cat gets to set the pace.

A post shared by Maggie Marton (@maggiemarton) on Oct 5, 2017 at 12:28pm PDT

Number 3: Push them… a little…

After it was clear Ripley felt comfortable around Coop when he was on his bed, I let him wander to the extent of his leash when she was in the room. At first, she was timid, but she had stopped hissing almost entirely. Every time I felt she was getting comfortable with a stage with him, I’d raise the bar a smidge.

I’m not sure how or when it happened, but one day, Ripley just started wrestling with Cooper. Like, all-out, maniacal, pummeling, and leaping wrestling matches.

It’s been six weeks, and the two of them are playmates, constantly wrestling and chasing. I actually think Cooper needs to step up and “correct” some of her behavior because she gets super rough with him (seriously.) and he kind of just takes it…

In this case, it was all about dog training for cats–getting Ripley used to being around Cooper. If you’re looking for training dogs to be around cats, I covered that waaayyyyyy back when Newtie first met the three dogs. Here’s part one, part two, and part three.

{{Incidentally, looking back at those now, Cooper and Newt started off the same way, with Newt beating up Coop in play… I wonder what it is about cats and Cooper…}}

I’m also super grateful that Cooper, despite his many, many, many quirks, seems built for kitties. Who knew.

I call this Ripley + Cooper case closed! The two are pretty natural brother and sister at this point… griping and fighting, but also loving.

Next up Ripley + Newt… this case file is going to be thick. Stay tuned!

Introducing Ripley

09•15•17

Sometimes your head and your heart don’t communicate…

So, in my efforts to Simplify All The Things, I may have had a misstep.

Just a small one, really.

Or, should I say, just a really small one.

And her name is Ripley:

Yeah. So, we adopted a kitten.

She’s teeny: 1 pound 8 ounces at her first vet appointment last Friday. This Saturday, tomorrow, she’ll be 9 weeks old.

Here’s what we know about Ripley so far: She’s the cutest little kitty ever. The toes on her right feet alternate black and white. Violet loves watching her antics, and she has a LOT of antics.

She’s also a bit of a scaredy cat. Every new thing, she gives a little hiss, then hides. She hissed when I sneezed even! Which means it’s taking her a bit longer to integrate with Cooper because, well, she’s pretty scared of him. He LOVES HER to pieces already and just wants to skitter–his favorite sport–but she’s not ready.

Of course, as y’all know, the great equalizer worked wonders for their relationship already:

Squeeze cheese for the win!

As for Newt, the two haven’t met yet. We took her to the vet as soon as she came home, and her doctor said to keep her separate from Newt for at least a week. For one thing, she definitely has roundworms, and for another, the vet said sometimes kitties have contagious respiratory illnesses that we need to give some time just to be sure. So far, she seems A-OK. In the meantime, I’ve been reading up on introducing cats (it’s WAY more complicated than introducing dogs) and chatting with cat experts to get tips on integrating the two of them.

Honestly, I think Ripley will do better with Newt than she’s doing with Coop.

We have started feeding them in sight of each other, and neither one has reacted negatively. In the pic below, Ripley is on the other side of the gate with John eating her dinner, while I sit with Newt as she eats hers. There’s a big print the same size as the gate that we have ready to slide in front of the gate in case of a negative reaction, but we haven’t needed it so far!

The only thing is that Newt knows Ripley is in the upstairs bathroom, of course, and we’ve been letting Ripley into our offices at various points, so Newt has basically stopped coming upstairs unless it’s a feeding exercise like the one above. I know cats are territorial, so I’m not sure if Newt’s saying… OK, kitten, you stay up there and I’ll be down here… or if she’s just nervous. I’m not really sure, so it remains to be seen.

Lastly, the kitten came home last weekend, went to the vet, we got our quarantine orders, and meanwhile–literally the day before–Violet came down with a stomach virus. Not only that, but she’s cutting at least one and maybe two teeth. She was a miserable mess.

Then we threw in the kitten with her quarantine and four-times-a-day feeding routine.

Along with keeping Coop and Newt happy.

And then Monday morning I left for a business trip to Purina’s HQ in St. Louis, leaving John with the whole big mess. 🙂 He did fine, though he’s a bit ragged today!

I’ll share more about the Purina trip later, but for now, they did give us a great big dog bowl that seems to be the perfect size for a tiny little kitten.

Welcome to the family, Ripley!

P.S. Can anyone guess the derivation of Ripley’s name?? The only hint: John named her! Leave a comment with your guess!