Home Again

The aftermath of Brazil’s return was not very bad, I can report. Catching him was easier than - well, not as difficult as - I thought it would be. I let him run about his room for a few minutes. Each time he abandoned a hiding spot, I turned it over or otherwise blocked it. He ended up on a window sill where I scruffed him and pushed him into his carrier. As before, when I first took him to his abortively new home, he could have made things much more troublesome - indeed, painful - for me, but he did not. Also as previously, he seemed to resign himself to incarceration when he was half-way into the carrier. The one advantage of his debacle is that I know now that capturing him initially was not a fluke; I can do it again if need be.

Released at home in the library, he ran into the closet, which I had opened for him. But he did not stay there long, and was soon out and smelling familiar surroundings. I kept him in the room until after snack-time. He was fine with his return. He sniffed the cats he knew and the cats he didn’t. The newcomers, Theodore and Chiff, hissed and growled at him, arching their backs, but this reaction seemed rather half-hearted; they didn’t fight and Shimmer accepted them almost without comment.

With me, he was shy but not frightened. By this morning, though, he was allowing me to pet him at any time, and rubbed up against me as of old while waiting for his food; when I left him to go to work, he was once again sharing the top of the taller sitting-room cat-tree with Renn.

Aurora’s spay surgery went well, though some of her baby-teeth (two of which I had found in the past few weeks) seemed to have caused a slight infection, so she is receiving antibiotics for that. You will note that she is not wearing a cone in the photograph. I watched her through the evening, and this morning, checking her tummy as well. She paid the incision no attention, and any grooming she did was over her fur, to rid herself of the hospital smell.

Naturally, the usual post-sterilisation instructions to keep the cat calm and inactive were to no point: Auro is a five month old kitten, living with two four month old kittens. Previously, though, she growled at Theodore and Chiff, and was inclined to remain aloof from them. Now, very suddenly, she is interested in them and even engaged in some play with them - right after her surgery! I tried to break up their fun without discouraging them, but it has done Aurora no harm.

Feeding seven cats in the morning was interesting, and some polishing of the routine will be required; more bowls, too. But it can be done.

The cat who seems most affected by the numbers of his fellow felines is Neville. He does not have Renn’s easy-going nature, accepting whatever comes along from other cats, and he wanted to find a spot to avoid everyone. I will help him find his comfortable place.

Imogen has yet to be bothered by the returned Brazil and Aurora. For her peace of mind, she is in the bedroom alone while I am at work. I will see how things develop among those three.

Some of the rescue-group’s members have offered to take cats off my hands, but the only ones they can take are Brazil, Aurora and the siblings. Moving Brazil again is out of the question, and Aurora is recovering from surgery. Theodore and Chiff would make a fine transition, I think. But the few foster-homes we have are also loaded with cats and, while they may have more room, and the people in them more time, I hesitate to shift anycat, simply because they’ve all been moved about already. I will consider my options again later, but for now, the Cosy Apartment will be the Crowded Apartment.

My principal sensation at having Brazil home again is, I find, that of relief. He would have integrated in his new environment; it would have worked. I feel that the will on the part of the people was not present. They were involved in a crisis with their other cat, it's true, but that did not preclude bringing Brazil into their lives. It was a friendly home but not sufficiently sympathetic to his personality. Will he go on another trial-adoption? It's not out of the question, but the circumstances and the people involved will need to be very extraordinary. For now, Brazil is home.