Meet Doodles!

Doodles and the very hairy Grizzly Bear cuddling
on Farmer Man's lap.

Farmer Man had put his foot down a few years ago:  No more pets.  There was hardly any room in the bed for him between the little doggies and the cats.  But then, we lost Peanuts.  And then, he met Doodles.  Doodles is one of the barn kittens.  From the outset she was friendly, curious and would follow Farmer Man in that galloping, unsteady way that kittens have.  He described her as 'doodling around' the barn.  As the weather has taken a chilly turn the last few weeks, Farmer Man would appear, doing light chores, with the kitten stuffed in the front of his vest.  She would try to follow when he took the dogs for a walk and would end up tucked into his jacket, getting a full tour of the farm.  As we started to try to find the kittens home, to my surprise Farmer Man said that Doodles wasn't available.

Two nights ago, Doodles became a house cat.  Farmer Man brought her into the house and set her down to explore.  It was just kind of assumed she wouldn't be going back out to the barn.  It's a delicate situation with a small pack of doggies and one rather surly house cat, Blondie.  I got the pet carrier and set it up with an old towel for bedding, a small, plastic sandwich box for kitty litter and a small bowl for water.  We showed her to all the dogs and told them to be nice; growling or baring teeth received a correction.  We kept a close eye on her as she wandered and explored; it was all so exciting that she quickly settled in for a nap on Farmer Man's shoulder.

The good thing is the Grizzly Bear seems to have taken to her.  We still supervise every minute, but he really seems to be fascinated in a good way.  He's even given her a few 'kisses' and let her curl up on his back this morning.  If Doodles has been down and wandering, we just look for Grizzly, who seems to never be far behind.  He wants to play, but we admonish him to be gentle because he's so much bigger.  We're hoping they end up good friends.  The rest of the doggies are stand-offish and so far Blondie the cat seems to be afraid of the kitten!  Teddy Bear seems rather put off so far; poor girl started out as an only child and now has to share the attention with a number of other 'friends'!

At bedtime, Doodles is secured in the pet carrier.  When we left Saturday morning to do the Farmers Market, Doodles was secured in the pet carrier.  That will be the way, for a while.  There are hazards in any house, although ours is pretty pet safe!  We also can't completely trust the doggies and Blondie - these are animals and remain unpredictable.  And Doodles is just sooo small right now - and too nice for this crowd!