His Favourite Time

The favourite part of Moxy’s day is bedtime. He loves it. No matter where he is in the house, at bedtime, he will appear on the bed and start purring and kneading, purring and kneading. Once I am in bed, he will flop over and purr and knead horizontally, usually making his biscuits against my side. He will lie next to me, with his head up by mine, sometimes on my pillow. His purrs will start to fade, his kneading become less insistent. I always drift off before he does.

Mox doesn’t stay the whole night on the bed. It’s like he’s there to make sure I fall asleep safely. After that, he finds another spot, though he may re-appear through the wee hours. But the next night, at bedtime, he will be back, purring kneading, purring and kneading…

Wanting to Meet Sable

I’ve been spending time in the cat-room with Sable. While I was there on Friday, one of the other beasts expressed some interest in who was behind the closed door. Meeting Sabe, though, is yet in the future.

Sable normally comes out just at night, but yesterday, when I was bringing in fresh water for her, I caught her out in the daylight. She experienced a little panic at first, but then sat still on a cat-tree. I spoke to her for a minute, and told her I would bring her some more soft-food. When I returned, she was hiding again. But this proved that she comes out during the day, to use the letterbox and to eat from her hard-food bowl. I think she will emerge more often in the daylight, and if I spend time in her room, she will find coming out while I am present an ordinary activity.

I think this is a slow process, but a sure one.

Her Residence Begins

Though I have not seen Sable since she made her abortive appearance immediately upon arrival yesterday, she has provided some signs of a satisfactory adjustment to her new home.

Usually I do not leave food out for the beasts over night; I made an exception for Sabe. She ate half a tin of soft-food, and a good number of kernels from her soft-food bowl. She also correctly used the litter-box for both wetting and pooping. These are all things that need to be addressed by a newly arrived cat before I feel at ease with them. If they don’t eat or use the box (or don’t use it properly), there may be concerns, and with a feral cat, it is very difficult to address them.

Now, the newest member of the family begins her first full day with us. I don’t expect much to happen quickly, but a vague plan is to have the door to her room left open for next Saturday’s movie-night, and to monitor other cats’ interaction with the newcomer – interaction which will likely be no more than cautious sniffing. That occurred at her foster-home, and it will be a good parameter to set for a week’s residence. If Sable wishes to push them further, I would not feel upset.

And Sable Makes Six

Sable arrived today. She has her own room for now, of course, a double aspect room with plenty to see out the windows and cat-trees to access them. There are toys, if she chooses to play with them, a private litter-box, a water-bowl and food.

She initially poked her head out of the carrier in which she arrived, possibly in response to my voice, which I hope she remembers. The next time I came in to the room, she had vacated the carrier and had installed herself in a closely-enclosed cat-bed, brought from her initial foster-home.

She did very well in that home, eating soon after she was captured, using the litter-box, even punishing a scratching-post. I’m not sure if this unexpected change to her environment will set her back or, as with many felines who go through a foster-home, add to her development as a domesticated cat. I expect her to do most of her examining of the new surroundings at night, in the dark. For that reason, she will be left soft-food, as well as hard, over-night. In any case, she will be given plenty of time to adapt.

The Cosy Cabin will be Sable’s home from now on. She won’t be available for adoption. I think asking a feral cat, even if she behaves only semi-feral, to become a socialised insider will be a tough enough request; asking her to do it twice will be too much. This will, I hope, be the last jarring change in what I would like to be a hereafter long and happy life.

Living In Hope

Perhaps encouraged by the new surroundings, Brazil has renewed his attempts to make friends with Neville. The grey grump is having none of it, however. Twice in the past week I have seen Shimmer’s offers rebuffed, once with a couple of whaps for emphasis. 

Nonetheless, Brazil lives in hope.

Mapping the New Territory

The beasts continue to adjust well to their new home. It helped Imogen that she was the first explorer; in a way, she claimed the other rooms before the rest of the group showed up, and hasn’t been reluctant to go anywhere since. In the apartment, she was less willing to venture into the sitting room than other spaces, perhaps because she felt cut off from a retreat; though the other cats didn’t threaten her, she simply disliked being near them. She still does, but is more willing to put up with it.

Brazil, too, travels everywhere, though he is much more cautious about it. Indigo and Moxy don’t go into the sitting room much, but I think it’s merely because they feel no need for it. And old Neville is still comfy in the bedroom, where there is a bowl of water, a small hard-food bowl, his soft-food is hand-delivered and a litter-box is near by. But he has explored elsewhere, including the basement, which shows that he isn’t afraid of the new spaces.

But, like me, the cats like to adapt old habits to new environments.Toward that end, Imo has decided that the house’s refrigerator is as good as the apartment’s for lying on. She can’t see well out a window from this one, but it does provide her with that superior feeling toward her fellow felines. As with the previous residence, she is not allowed on the kitchen counters, though, if she is swift, she can use one as a jumping-stone to the top of the refrigerator. She’s learned that that is permitted here, too.

Back on the Air, Sort Of...

Well, that’s done.

The move on Saturday went well. It took longer than the allotted time, but not by much. There was apparently a lot of books, about fifty boxes of them. That’s a great deal of lifting. But the movers - two youngsters, not more than twenty-five, I’d say - worked well and steadily, and without complaint. I was in my new digs by two-thirty that afternoon.

The cats had to be dispersed to three different locations during the operation, spending time in bathrooms. Imogen behaved quite well, incarcerated with Moxy; Neville and Brazil weren’t going to cause problems; Indigo was alone, as she might scrap with either Imo or Shimmer in close quarters. All have come through the ordeal better than I had anticipated.

Imogen explored immediately, and seemed to enjoy the extra space, running repeatedly through the length of the house, sliding on the bare linoleum of the corridor. Since the others were slow to follow her lead, she was able to search out most of the building. Brazil then began his investigations, bobbing and weaving with every step, as if expecting an ambush. Indigo and Moxy were less inclined to scout out the new surroundings, but they did eventually. Neville was content with the bedroom (the bed is still as comfy as before) with a periodic trip to a litter-box.

Since then, they have arranged themselves on the bed at night, Indigo on one side of me, Moxy on another, and Nev at my feet. Imogen is a little put out, though if she weren’t so stand-offish with the others, she could have a spot, too, and sometimes does, forcing Moxy to lie between Indie and the Nevsky. But that doesn’t bother Mox.

The only problem with the cats is that Brazil is not eating soft-food. He did this before during a big change; he will come around eventually, and, in the meantime, is nibbling enough hard-food to keep from suffering any internal setbacks.

My internet is still evading me. The connection was intended for Saturday, the day of the move, but the technician discovered that the cable supply it had been cut, and the end that needed replacement was high up on an old telephone pole that had split too dangerously to climb. I was initially told that the city would need to replace the pole before anything could be done for me. I of course envisioned weeks of delay. But then it was decided to use one of the several bucket-trucks the internet company has; that is, after all, their purpose. I will have to make another appointment for the connection, but that should be completed by next weekend. In the meantime, I will access the internet, and my email, though my work-place. Delays in responses are inevitable.

I like my new abode. I have to buy some extra furniture - a couple of armchairs, a writing table - but am quite pleased with it. It is the same distance to my job as was the apartment, though it will take a shorter time to travel, as railway tracks and other impedimenta were in the way of the previous route. It will be easier in snow, too.

I have appended some photos of the new place, along with their residents. There are a couple of rooms that need completing - books to be put away, mainly, but also pictures to be hung - so their pictures will come later. Those attached will, however, give an idea of what it looks like.

I had a relaxing bath at the end of Saturday, but I had to put up with this guy watching me the whole time...

(Alas, I was not able to capture Cicero or Arliss. In better shape, and probably younger than Sable, they certainly have other food sources than Cafe Cosy (which is now shut down), so I am less worried about them than I would be about Sabe. She is still doing well in her temporary home, and will soon join me and the beasts at the Cosy Cabin.)