Kiffle was not, strictly speaking, one of the Puttikins, as he was not a cat. Nonetheless, he was a beloved member of our family for many years. When he died a few days ago, we cried and grieved for the sweet little Chinchilla.
Chinchillas make fantastic pets for children and adults alike. You have to make certain that there is nothing in the way of paper, cardboard or fabric within reach of their cages, as they will chew on almost anything. Apart from that, though, they are clean and intelligent as well as quite affectionate.
When Kiffle died, the last thing I wanted was a replacement. I have enough trouble with the Puttikins, although I treasure each and every one of them. Freya's best friend Kait had been babysitting Kiffle while I was away at sea, and he died at her home. She and her mother, quite amazingly, had a family member who raised chinchillas and she offered us two babies...
Well, what can one say or do? Freya really wanted another 'pastry pet'. She named one Strudel even before we saw them. She told me I could name the other one, and I decided I wanted to name it Kiffle, even after she said, 'We're not having a Kiffle II like Snowball II!' (Any one who watches the Simpsons would know what that means.)
One cannot replace one pet with another. Each little creature is unique. I always felt sad that Kiffle was alone in his enormous cage, and if one is to have another Chinchilla, it is better to have a pair than one. They do love company.
We do not know yet what the genders of these two are. They only arrived at our house yesterday, causing a terrible upset in the Puttikins population. Quite amazing really. I had worried about the safety of the Chinchillas, surrounded by so many cats, but in fact, it was the Puttikins who responded with terror and hid!
In fact, Ashleigh had what I could only describe as an almost psychotic episode. Half of the Puttikins never became acclimatised to the big porch with the windows and when they continued to hide behind boxes in dark corners, I decided enough was enough and returned them to their original 'womb room' which is a disused bathroom without any windows. They were thrilled actually. Evidently, there is comfort in that room for them.
Cupid, Apollodoro and Beauty continue to inhabit the porch and now, the Chinchilla cage is there as well. Cupid went into hiding for half a day from the tiny creatures! I am not certain why I thought it would be better to move Apollodoro temporarily into the womb room with the rest of his family except that, at the time, I felt that the Chinchillas would benefit from as few Puttikins as possible in their environment.
I am not certain what happened really. There never has been any problem with Apollodoro and Ashleigh who is his father.... When I went into the womb room a couple of hours later, I found a total disaster. The litter boxes had been tipped and there was enough hair on the floor and walls to create a new Puttikins. Ash was in a corner baring his teeth, growling and hissing at EVERY ONE. He never has growled before in his life.
I removed Apollodoro at once and cleaned the mess but even after that, Ash continued to growl at the remaining Putti who resembled Apollodoro. In other words, the two other flamepoints, one of whom was his closest and dearest companion, little Leo.
Meanwhile, the Chinchillas did not appear to be paralysed with fear in thsir new room and Beauty and Apollodoro (when the latter was returned) did not appear to share any of the fear that Cupid demonstrated. In fact, I felt Beauty was almost too curious about the Chinchillas.
It is difficult to tell the two babies apart, although one has a slightly longer nose and a more timid disposition. The little blue house belonged to Kiffle who demolished it rather quickly even though it was made of hard plastic. I then bought him a wooden one which he demolished with the same alacrity and perhaps more genuine pleasure as Chinchillas love wood. The only materials they cannot chew to bits are metal and porcelain. You can see the pink porcelain bath in the background. I will find some new nesting houses for these babies soon... I did not even know they would be part of our family until Saturday, so was ill-prepared.
I believe that the baby in the blue house is Kiffle and the one who is out in the open is Strudel. That would make sense as well as Strudel is kind of fearless.
I spent quite a lot of time with Ash last night, but he continued to hiss and growl at his family. This morning, however, every one was loving and affectionate towards one another again. It is the most bizarre and unpleasant event ever. The most interesting aspect of it in a way was the fact that ALL the Flamepoints were treated by Ash as the enemy until he calmed down.
I had removed Leo as well last night, when Ash continued to hiss and growl at him, but Leo was desperate to return to his father and kept escaping out of the porch this morning to race towards the womb room. I finally surrendered to the inevitable and allowed him to be with his father. I hope to God there are no further problems.
I believe now that somehow the Putti in the womb room were aware of a change in the dynamics of the pet population, even though they did not see the Chinchillas. How else to explain all of this? I have moved Putti back and forth from the porch to the womb room without incident in the past.
One of Kiffle's favourite treats was made of wood. The treat consisted of a painted wooden stick. It was sold as a package of many different coloured sticks made of very soft wood. I do not know if the colours made any difference whatsoever to the Chinchilla. The colours probably were more appealing to the humans than to the animal. I daresay a Chinchilla would be as pleased with a natural, uncoloured piece of wood! In any case, I still had an unopened package of Sticks and I decided to give a couple to Strudel and the new Kiffle.
Strudel went at it like a veteran, demonstrating no fear, nibbling at my finger from time to time as well. His brother or sister, however, was less inclined to participate. I left a stick in the little blue house where he was hiding, hoping he would go for it after I left.
Freya is very fond of Strudel and likes his manic energy. I tend to be more drawn to the quiet little one, although I hate to think of him or her afraid. I will be happier when both respond to me equally. Meanwhile, though, it is highly amusing to see little Strudel exploring every inch of the cage, nibbling on the bars, on the wood, on the water bottle spout and everything else in sight.
This post was supposed to be about Kiffle and not the new Chinchillas. It is difficult not to cry when I think of little Kiffle. He was such a good boy, apart from the depredations he made on some of the furnishings. He was very clever. He would jiggle his cage until boxes moved close enough to allow him to chew on them. Quite often a box I had placed out of reach would end up in his grasp!
He knew his name and responded to my voice. When I asked if he wanted a Stick, he actually would become excited, knowing very well what I meant. He was very clumsy sometimes, though, dropping his sticks half-eaten through the bars to the lower section where only debris was supposed to fall for removal. When I cleaned the bottom section of the cage, I found dozens of wasted sticks.
I hope there is an afterlife for our beloved pets. Dear Kiffle, we loved you and miss you.
