My life has been turned upside down.  On December 20th we adopted a Bengal kitten.  We lost our beloved Marbles the Bengal Cat last March and our family was finally ready to bring a new kitten into our home.  Once we found a breeder we liked we couldn’t wait for him to come home.  As any expectant mother would do, I decided to better prepare myself for the arrival of the kitten by reading – I choose the book “Think Like a Cat.”  I purchased it from Amazon and felt a little silly in doing so as I have had cats in my life for 40 years – why do I need to read how to parent a cat?
This book is AMAZING and I recommend it to everyone who has a feline or who hopes to adopt one.  Pam Johnson-Bennett addresses so many issues we fear as cat owners – the litterbox, furniture scratching, aggression, etc.  I now follow her in FB where she gives tips and advice for cat owners.  After reading this book I was a little nervous about bringing  the new kitten home – worried I wouldn’t raise the kitten properly and follow all the guidelines to achieve a well-adusted happy cat!  I was more nervous about getting the kitten than I was about bringing my 3 babies home from the hospital!

We did everything to prepare: we created a “sanctuary” in my daughter’s room where the kitten would live for a few weeks.  It included a place for the litter box, place for meals, a soft bed, and lots of things to scratch and play with.  I firmly believe in the idea of a sanctuary for the first few weeks of kitten introduction.

We were ready and we drove to Pasadena to pick him up.

He could not be any cuter.  We can already tell he has a nice disposition and loves to be around people.

The poor kitten didn’t have a name for almost a week.  It is very difficult for 5 people to agree on a name.  Some of the suggestions were: Napoleon, Leopold, Thor, Zulu, Stuki, Mowgli, Bagheera, Marvin, Harvey, Wasabi, Obi Wan, Fuzzy, Waffles, and the list went on and on.  We finally agreed on Mufasa from the Lion King.  We still call him fuzzy though.

The best way to insure a happy cat is to have lots of interactive playtime.  I ordered every cat toy known to man from Amazon.  Let me tell you which ones are Mufasa’s favorites.

Neko Flies – ordered from Amazon

You purchase a rod and then you can select interchangeable “bugs” to attach to the end.

These bugs are very realistic.  Mufasa loves the Kittycada the best.  He also loves the Kattipede, and the Kragonfly.  

The instructions say not to let the cats chew on the toys.  This is hard to do because part of the fun of chasing a bug is getting to catch it and chew on it.  Mufasa bit off the antenna of the Kattipede.  I quickly trimmed the antennas off the Kitticatterfly.  With any toy like this, when you are done playing the toys should be put away.

The next toy we love is from Go Cat called Da Bird  – I also ordered from Amazon.  This toy has a feather teaser at the end and also comes with 2 replacements feathers. For some reason we like this better than other feather teasers – maybe it feels more like a real bird?  What ever it is, Mufasa LOVES it!

All my kitties have always love the Cat Dancer or Cat Charmer.  Mufasa is no different – again, I ordered from AmazonA new kitten in the house feels a lot like having a new baby in the house.  I find myself whispering and tiptoeing around when he is sleeping.  When he’s up, he’s up and it is time to play and interact.  If I need to the leave the house I have to time it with his naps so he is not left home alone while awake.  He eats on demand and cries when he is hungry.  When he is tired I can hold him and he purrs and I know he’s ready for bed.  We clean the letterbox every time he uses it – much like diaper duty!  I want him to have a positive experience with the litter box so we keep it extra clean.  We make sure to give him fresh water several times a day.  It’s a lot of work having a new kitten.  We have gotten so attached to him already and we think he’s the cutest kitten in the world!!