Cute as a Button!

"CUTE AS A"
BUTTON

WATCH ME GROW!
Date	Weight
8/9/07	3lb, 5oz
8/30/07	4lb, 4oz
9/20/07	5lb, 1oz

I don't know if Button is the baby of Brownie's litter, but we were glad to finally rescue this last kitten of the bunch. The first attempt to catch her was a dismal failure. She entered my trap cage with her mother to eat, and when mom left, she started to follow. I think the door caught Brownie's flank or tail and did not close quickly enough, allowing Button to escape in panic. I was really concerned that she had been injured. For a couple of evenings, she didn't come up to eat. When next we saw her, she was very scared of the cage, and refused to enter it, even to eat. Instead of entering the cage to feast on cat food, she would chase the bugs around, catching and eating them. Finally, after several 'almost had her' moments, on July 13th, she followed her mother into the cage, and stayed behind when mom left. As soon as I was sure Brownie was clear, the door closed and Button came inside. Five days later, I underwent carpal tunnel surgery on my left hand and was limited in how much handling I could do with the kittens. So Button became our wild child. In this picture, taken two days after rescue, you can see how unsure she is of her environment. I was so glad to finally catch her, because I knew that I would not be able to work the cage for 2 weeks after my surgery, and was afraid it would be too late by then.

We had moved the play-pen upstairs that same evening, in anticipation of my surgery. So when Bruiser was finally captured, we kept her in the little cage, with the basic amenities, until the next evening when we allowed her to join the other kittens in the play-pen. For five nights, she cried and called, disturbing our rest, but finally found enough comfort in the other kittens, and became more accustomed to the environment of the house.

During my recuperation, when I only had one hand available, I was able to put the kittens out into a limited play area, but catching them was far more challenging. By the end of a week, we decided to leave the cage door open, as several of the kittens did not want to stay in it anymore, attempting to climb out whenever I opened the door to feed them or scoop the litter box. Button was really not quite socialized enough for this decision, and as such, typically could be found hiding amongst the boxes and electronics on the TV stand, where we could not reach her. As long as we did not approach the area, she would come down to play with the others, finding lots of fun tossing the little mice in the air, and attacking (and being attacked by) the other kittens.

If you read this page earlier, you may recall that Button's name originally was "Bruiser". After we confirmed her sex as female, my sister (and some others) felt "Bruiser" was not an appropriate name for a little girl, so we finally settled on "Button" since she is "cute as a button". (Also because she has huge eyes that quickly move into that "deer in headlights" look when she is startled. Here she is in August, just waking up from a nap.

As she became more familiar with her surroundings, Button found her way into my computer room. Imagine my surprise when I sat down and discovered a tiny gray kitten curled up on the shelf around my stapler and remote controls. I marveled at how few things had been knocked down as she climbed up and situated herself. In early August, when this was taken, Button was not yet fully "people" friendly. At one point, she and Odessa tried to hide behind my flat screen monitor, one on either side. Of course, I could "see" their bottom halves below the screen, but I suppose if they could not see me, they felt safe.

Now, in September, Button is a very friendly little girl. She loves to have her head scratched, and is always first in line for any meal. She has also found her voice, and uses it to call the other kittens to play. She still does not like a lot of cuddles, but she does suffer to be picked up occasionally. She is still a bug chaser and loves to run and jump after anything that files. Of course, when she catches it, she eats it! Ugh!

Button loves to play with little mice and balls. Usually every night, we play with a boa teaser that I bought. Button runs and jumps after the boa with such abandon, that she often lands on or runs into the other cats. In this picture from September 2007, she has played herself out, and is about to take a quick nap on the phone book addendum.