Kitten Whispering 101

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If it takes a village to raise a child, then it’s got to take something equally significant to get a small kitten to assimilate into a two-cat, one-dog, and two kid household!

Since her arrival, Plume has lived in Nathan’s room with her food, water, and a litter box. While there, she has spent a good deal of her time wrapped up in a blanket being petted in Nathan’s lap or under Nathan’s bed. She has had brief field trips to the family room. During those times, she was in my lap, wrapped up in one of Iz’s fuzzy baby blankets, while I stroked her gently.

She is a lovely little kitten, though a tad shy; however, this is totally understandable given that she’s been shuffled through three or four homes during her 7 months. And, sometimes I feel badly that such a shy kitten has been thrust into this hustling and bustling household, though I say, “She’s just got to get over it, and I will help her.”

I am a Cat Whisperer when I’m not a Technical Writer. (Hey, I should put Cat Whisperer on my resume and see if anyone notices!) Actually, the way Plume seems most comfortable is wrapped up or under cover (the bed).

Today, she reminded me of one of my cat whispering efforts long ago. I was pregnant with Nathan, and Quinn and I had taken our Saab in for repair. We heard that the mechanics were feeding two feral cats, and when I heard that, I looked at Quinn and said, “We must do something.”

Quinn, being the lovely cat guy he is, supported my effort to “rescue” them. (We had four of our own at home at the time.) And, this all occurred about the time my Mom died, so I guess more than ever, I really needed to save lives that I knew I could.

I remember we talked to the owner of the dealership about taking the cats. In turn, he asked the mechanics to get the cats into the garage, and when they did, they called us. Quinn and I went over on a Saturday afternoon.

The first cat, a black cat, was pretty easy to capture. He didn’t seem to be feral, only a very friendly cat without a home. The second cat, a tiger, was much harder to catch. We chased her over the Saabs and under the Saabs in the garage. We finally caught her and brought the two of them “home.”

We kept them in our basement initially. The black cat was very eager to mingle with our other four cats, so we let him. The tiger cat, who I named Cleo, was not. I named her Cleo after my Mom’s favorite cat, Cleopatra Puss.

The black cat got his name due to necessity. My Dad was in need of companionship, and he said that he always wanted a cat named “Bruno.” One night on the phone I said, “Dad, I have this lovely black cat, and you’ll never guess what his name is. It's Bruno!” Sold! And off Bruno went to live with my Dad.

Cleo was very shy. But, each night, I brought her up from the basement, put her in this little yellow cat sack I bought, and kept her on my lap and patted her while I watched TV. Slowly but surely, she began to venture out of her cat sack until finally she was sleeping with the “tribe.”

Quinn and I were just about ready to consider her cat dependent number five when my engineering manager at work said she might like a cat. Shortly thereafter, Cleo went to live with her.

Plume has been much like Cleo so far, very fearful and in need of a cocoon in which to prepare for life on the outside. Though today, we had to put phase 1 (quarantine adjustment period) behind us. We entered Phase 2 – You are Now Free to Move about the Cabin. I opened the door to Nathan’s room; thus, Plume could freely roam about the house if she wanted to.

With her new found freedom, Plume spent time on Nathan’s bed, under Nathan’s bed, and in Iz’s bedroom. I looked in on Plume and Iz.



Iz said, “Mommy, I’m a cat whisperer just like you! Indeed, she was.

Iz had been the only one for the last few days who could get Plume out from under Nathan’s bed. I finally realized why tonight after Plume ran up from the family room into Nathan’s room. Iz then said, “Mom, I’ll get her.”

Iz got down on the floor, and I watched in amazement as pushed herself (her whole self!) under the bed. Hello? She was the only one who could fit under the bed! Just then, Plume went under Nathan’s dresser, and I was able to pick her up and put her on the bed.

At 3:30pm, I found Plume on my bed, which was a huge surprise. It was huge given that her comfort zone was previously only Nathan’s bed. She had traveled, probably miles in scared kitten mileage, to be on my bed.

She was purring and curled up in my yellow vintage sweater. I started to rub her nose from the temple downward to the tip of her nose. Just then, Iz came in and said, “Mommy, that’s just the way you did it when I was a baby.”

As I said once before, I was totally floored when I became pregnant with Iz. It had been 10 years since I had a baby, but somehow, I instinctively knew what to do. As I rocked her, I rubbed her nose, just like I rubbed Plume’s then, and the funny thing was that human or feline, the expected soothing effect was achieved.

When I glanced up, I saw Liam on the bureau, watching Plume’s every move.



After a 15-minute stare down on Liam’s part, he jumped onto the bed, chirped “Bruppp,” leaned over to sniff her nose, but it was not before she leaned out to meet his halfway. And, when he sufficiently sniffed her, he jumped off the bed WITHOUT growling. Plume, not phased at all, promptly fell asleep.



I loved my job as a technical writer. It was always a challenge trying to get the words right to describe why calls failed. But today, it felt like I had succeeded in an even bigger way.

Failed calls were always the result of some tangible issue; however, a cat having difficulty integrating was always a matter of the heart, because I was trying to figure out how to give love and affection to one who could not speak or spew out code to describe the issue.

XML, ISOthisorthatstandard, Dreamweaver, electronics documentation guru, and "understanding the standards and data requirements set forth in the SOW, DIDs, and TMCR" are just a few of the many skills that are important for a tech writer today. Gosh, at the end of the day, I’m proud, above all, that I can make a scared little kitten feel at home after not feeling so for most of her life, never mind the XML! ♥