We’ve had two new additions at Castle Hamilton in the past couple of weeks. I’d like to introduce you all to Poppy and Willow, two sister ragdoll kittens.

Poppy was very nervous at the start, while Willow was a bit braver and headed out exploring almost right away, finding a small hole above the kitchen kickboard that we unaware of even after a weekend of cat-proofing the house. They both disappeared inside for 6 or 7 hours during which we grew increasingly nervous that they were stuck in there, and went without dinner for fear of turning on the oven and unintentionally baking them in the process!
While going through my tool box to work out the least damaging way to remove the kickboard and cabinet spacer to fish them out, a little head popped out of the hole for a look around to see what was going on. Crinkling a plastic food pouch created a sound that was interesting to Willow (although they are both unbribable with treats – they’d do Elliot Ness proud!), so she emerged to investigate.
We quickly scooped her up so she couldn’t get back in, then proceeded to crinkle the pouch for about an hour until Poppy got lonely and followed her sister out. We blocked off the hole and spent another hour crawling around on the floor looking for any other holes we might have missed (that was the only one!).
They then spent the next two days hiding behind the couch, coming out only for food. By day three, they’d advanced to their teepee. At least for sleeping time.

They’re happily fully settled in now, playing with reckless abandon, eating, sleeping, and pooping (they produce an unbelievable amount of poop). I’ll be sure to post more updates on their adventures as they grow!