Zipper and Zoom: A taste for human flesh
Things are moving quickly today. Zoom now has a collar (which had to be cut down considerably), which should help people know she’s owned and loved if she gets away. So if she gets away and if I can’t lure her back and if she doesn’t come back quickly on her own… we should be able to find her via local community groups or vets or the RSPCA. It also helps us (and Zipper) have a better idea of where she is if we can’t actually see her.
(She is, as I may have mentioned, very small.)
I went shopping today (for the second time since getting Zoom, because she definitely counts as a medical emergency lately) to get the best possible quality cat food to start her transitioning off chicken; to get another chicken for her; and to do a diabetes blood test for me (which I have to do every three months). And to buy cat toys, because Zoom has a strong preference for human flesh.
When kittens are young, their teeth and claws aren’t sharp enough or strong enough to hurt, so it’s easy and fun to wiggle one’s fingers and let the kitten chase them. But that’s definitely not so cute in the long term. It’s been very clear that Zoom prefers human flesh to the makeshift toys (ribbons, paper) that we’ve been supplying lately, so I bought three ‘fishing pole’ style toys (that dangle beautifully, looking fun and exciting while also keeping human flesh a good long way away from those adorable little teeth.
She drew first blood on me… about two millimetres while I was so close to sleep it didn’t wake me. I suspect I turned over and she was sitting on my arm and then scrabbling to stay attached when I moved.
She and Zipper did chase each other last night, as I predicted! Well… a bit. Zipper is still stalking Zoom, but doesn’t dare actually make physical contact, so when the moment comes to attack she jumps out next to Zoom and then runs away. Which is hilarious. At one stage, Zoom was drinking some water and Zipper managed to creep up and sniff the very tip of her tail. That was their first point of actual physical contact.
Meanwhile, Zoom is desperately hungry. I just started transitioning her to a teensy bit of high-quality regular cat food (both wet and dry) along with her plain chicken, and feeding her more often… but she wants more more more. I need to put her off for now, even though she’s legitimately hungry, because her stomach is still very sensitive. I also tried feeding Zipper and Zoom next to each other (it’s supposed to give them positive associations with each other) which was an utter failure as Zoom wolfs down her food and then runs to eat Zipper’s. The first two times this happened Zipper warned her off and she subsided. After that I fed them separately, which was very difficult as I’d have to prepare both dishes, then put Zipper’s down and carry Zoom to the next room… which she did not handle gracefully. And on one occasion I made the mistake of letting Zoom out of my room when she was finished eating… but Zipper was not. Zoom charged right for Zipper’s bowl and Zipper baulked and fled.
Conclusion: Zoom is polite, but not when food is involved. I’ll be more careful in future.
Zipper loves bumping foreheads with TJ (it actually shares their scent, so a lot of cats love bumping foreheads), so he’s gotten very used to connecting with a cat face to face. It is utterly adorable… but somewhat risky, given Zoom’s penchant for using our flesh as a cat toy. Fortunately she also takes a lot of cues from our behaviour, so if we pat her she usually settles down (and if we dangle something, she usually bats at it), but I really need to get TJ to NOT do this for at least a month or two.
Zipper also had a good play with one of the toys—an exact copy of one she had as a young kitten.
As you can see, Zipper looks pissed off even while playing. But… could this be the way to finally get her to jump into the hammock with me?
Oh, and Zoom also had her first normal bowel movement—and in her litter box too. But she also did a wee on a bath mat… literally in the same room as her litter tray. So the litter box dramas are likely to continue for a while.
Felicity Banks 
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