Friday, August 22, 2014

The Princess in her Domain


I am quite pleased with the progress that Cammie is making with the other beasts. She still dislikes having them around and would prefer to inhabit a kingdom in which she is pampered by largely unseen servants, who treat her as the daughter of the sun and the moon, whom the stars raised to be queen of Heaven. It’s not for nothing that her breed comes from the celestial Orient.

Failing this, she acknowledges the other cats with disdain, sometimes accompanied by a hiss. It’s true that her reaction to Tungsten is different. The Siamese princess continues to lurk near the orange one from time to time, causing Tungsten to growl warningly. But the others, she could do without. Because I can’t, she has to tolerate them.

But things are getting better. Cammie has more than once jumped onto my lap while I was sitting on the couch, with Renn to my right and Tucker to my left, on the arm of the couch. This would have been unheard of a few months ago. I can’t relax much when she is so positioned, as I am trying to keep Cammie and Tucker from coming into inadvertent contact. Usually, they pretend that the other is not there, and settle down to what historians would refer to as ‘armed neutrality’. Cammie doesn’t stay long, but the fact that she is there at all is encouraging, to write the least. (I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of this, but my hands are busy at these times, petting both the princess and the roly poly, in order to keep things calm.)

As well, she ventures into the parlour, when I am home and the door is open. Otherwise, Kola is sealed in there, safe from Tucker’s provocation. When the parlour door is open, however, Cammie will stroll in, frequently to sit at the window. Last evening, however, I was surprised to find her settled in the late Bear-Bear’s old bed. Last night was chilly and wet, so the weather may have prompted this unprecedented action. I had put the bed in the parlour because Kola used it while it was in the sitting room. Due to Tucker’s continued depredations, however, Kola doesn’t venture into the sitting room just to lie down. So I brought the bed into the parlour. There, though, he prefers the covered cat-bed, visible in the photograph behind Cammie. After the Siamese princess’s snuggle in it, I may return the BB's bed to where it is more accessible to her.


Cammie still gives a hiss as she passes by a cat. But most ignore these dutiful warnings. Kola in particular seems unfazed by Cammie’s sibilance. I theorise that the more the other beasts treat her hostility as unimportant, the less she will adopt it. In that regard, I value Kola as an ally in taming the princess still further.

And in general, Cammie is more accepting of my touching her. I will stop when I pass her to rub her head or face, as I do with the others, but which has not always been welcome by this foster-cat. We are getting to know each other more and more, and with the other cats’ help, I will soon have her leaping into visitors’ arms in welcoming joy. I figure another couple of decades ought to do it.

9 comments:

  1. Cammie is making a very good readjustment.

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  2. Permanent foster? Maybe that will be the case. Whatever happens, she has a wonderful home with you right now, and plenty of opportunity for socialization.

    That's a good thing!

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  3. Cammie seems very happy with you. It is good that Kola is not fazed by royal ways and as you say, it probably is helping both of them.

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  4. Love the last line! Cammie really is making quite a bit of progress though. She and Kola are very lucky to have you :)

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  5. It's good to hear Cammie is settling back in, after her disappointing trip to Regina. I'm glad she is there with you, and it sounds as though Kola is a good influence.

    A couple of decades? I'm sure she's worth the time and effort!

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  6. Cammie is slowly rediscovering her trust in you. She loved you and lost you. Her heart was broken. Siamese build relationships with their owners
    (for lack of a better word) that are
    quite human in quality. She wants your love and attention very much, she just doesn't want it taken away again. And she will develop a close friendship with another cat , just watch. It's a Meezer thing....

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    1. Cammie is at a stage that I didn't think I would ever see when she first came to stay with me. I would love to have her and Tungsten become friends. The orange one is the only cat the princess never hisses at. Stranger things have happened!

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    2. A hundred million miracles
      Are happ'ning ev'ry day.

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  7. Sounds like our Miss Fitz. She avoids all others like they are the plague but has been climbing into my lap for extended petting sessions for the last month or so. Only took a bit over 3 years so there can be progress albeit slow

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