Padme is our youngest cat. She was born in the summer of 2005. She is black and white with a dot on her chin. My husband is a Star Wars fan. He named her after the Natalie Portman character Queen Senator Padme Amidala. I thought that was a lot of name for something that weighed 2 pounds. Padme was adopted by our only other female cat, Toula.
I found Toula grooming her in our kitty paddock one afternoon. At first I thought that we had a hole in the fence, but then I saw the kitten run to the fence and push her head, then her body through the 2x4 inch fencing. I caught her by our shed. She had a bad burn on her nose. I found out later in conversation with someone on the street that they saw her fall out from under a car that was parked on Main street by the bar.
She walked through an abandoned lot and saw our cats and made herself at home. She stayed in our house for two months until she got big enough to not walk through fences. I asked my husband to put an ad in the paper for a kitten. I meant for him to say we had a kitten that was looking for a good home. Instead the put an ad in that said kitten found.
Like anyone is going to call us and say they were looking for their kitten. Finally, he admitted that he like her and wanted to keep her. She has earned her keep. Toula was adopted a year earlier and was not part of the pride yet. The other cats were picking on her. We were having to separate Pete from the rest of the cats because he was attacking them. Padme ended up being the tie that binds them all together. A week before we were going to put Padme out with the rest of the cats, we brought Toula in and left them together in the house.
We figured that she wanted the kitten, she could just help her out. That way, when we put the kitten in with everyone else, she would already have a bond with Toula. This seemed to help Toula with the other cats. She was motherly with the kitten, so she started hitting the other cats when they would come around. They stopped bugging her. Then the kitten starting pouncing and attacking all of them with no regard to the prides hierarchy. If she was cold or tired, she would insinuate herself in the middle of the boy cats and sleep where it was warmest.
Toula played with her, then realized she could play with the other cats too. When Padme was holding her own with our bigger cats and had muscled up some, we started bringing her inside to be with Pete, under supervision. He hated her. He would growl at her and hit her hard. She would just walk right back in his face and take it again. About a month later, we started seeing Pete play, alone, using the same moves he saw the kitten do. Another month went by and he began playing with the kitten. It sounded horrible, like he was really pissed at her. But she would always go back for more. When winter came, we started letting Padme sleep with us. Pete was annoyed and would leave.
But he got cold enough at night to come back. By spring we were able to put Pete outside in the kennel with the other cats for short visits. By summer, Pete was able to stay outside in the kitty paddock with the other cats for a day. Their kennel is an 8x10 building with 720 square feet of fenced, covered outdoor space.
The outside space has grassy areas, benches, a tiki hut, and lots of plants. Inside is a feeding area, beds and an interior window where they can watch Tom in his shop. Pete does OK in there now, he is not happiest in there but we feel we have accomplished a lot with him.
Padme literally brought all the cats together. She is a total goof, into everything and has boundless energy. She has no fear. She runs headlong into things without a care. She will run full speed across the floor and turn sideways so that she slides across the floor just because it is fun. Tom taught her how to fetch and she makes sure he plays fetch every night.
Padme is our youngest cat. She was born in the summer of 2005. She is black and white with a dot on her chin. My husband is a Star Wars fan. He named her after the Natalie Portman character Queen Senator Padme Amidala. I thought that was a lot of name for something that weighed 2 pounds. Padme was adopted by our only other female cat, Toula. 
I found Toula grooming her in our kitty paddock one afternoon. At first I thought that we had a hole in the fence, but then I saw the kitten run to the fence and push her head, then her body through the 2x4 inch fencing. I caught her by our shed. She had a bad burn on her nose. I found out later in conversation with someone on the street that they saw her fall out from under a car that was parked on Main street by the bar. 
She walked through an abandoned lot and saw our cats and made herself at home. She stayed in our house for two months until she got big enough to not walk through fences. I asked my husband to put an ad in the paper for a kitten. I meant for him to say we had a kitten that was looking for a good home. Instead the put an ad in that said kitten found. 
Like anyone is going to call us and say they were looking for their kitten. Finally, he admitted that he like her and wanted to keep her. She has earned her keep. Toula was adopted a year earlier and was not part of the pride yet. The other cats were picking on her. We were having to separate Pete from the rest of the cats because he was attacking them. Padme ended up being the tie that binds them all together. A week before we were going to put Padme out with the rest of the cats, we brought Toula in and left them together in the house. 
We figured that she wanted the kitten, she could just help her out. That way, when we put the kitten in with everyone else, she would already have a bond with Toula. This seemed to help Toula with the other cats. She was motherly with the kitten, so she started hitting the other cats when they would come around. They stopped bugging her. Then the kitten starting pouncing and attacking all of them with no regard to the prides hierarchy. If she was cold or tired, she would insinuate herself in the middle of the boy cats and sleep where it was warmest. 
Toula played with her, then realized she could play with the other cats too. When Padme was holding her own with our bigger cats and had muscled up some, we started bringing her inside to be with Pete, under supervision. He hated her. He would growl at her and hit her hard. She would just walk right back in his face and take it again. About a month later, we started seeing Pete play, alone, using the same moves he saw the kitten do. Another month went by and he began playing with the kitten. It sounded horrible, like he was really pissed at her. But she would always go back for more. When winter came, we started letting Padme sleep with us. Pete was annoyed and would leave. 
But he got cold enough at night to come back. By spring we were able to put Pete outside in the kennel with the other cats for short visits. By summer, Pete was able to stay outside in the kitty paddock with the other cats for a day. Their kennel is an 8x10 building with 720 square feet of fenced, covered outdoor space. 
The outside space has grassy areas, benches, a tiki hut, and lots of plants. Inside is a feeding area, beds and an interior window where they can watch Tom in his shop. Pete does OK in there now, he is not happiest in there but we feel we have accomplished a lot with him. 
Padme literally brought all the cats together. She is a total goof, into everything and has boundless energy. She has no fear. She runs headlong into things without a care. She will run full speed across the floor and turn sideways so that she slides across the floor just because it is fun. Tom taught her how to fetch and she makes sure he plays fetch every night.