Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Cammie on the Road to Integration


My newest foster-cat, Cammie, is doing well. The back parlour is still her preserve, and her refuge when she wants to feel safe, but its door is open to the rest of the house now, whenever I am home. I don’t think she has ever met other cats, perhaps didn’t know they existed, and then she was confronted by five. They trooped into the parlour one after another to check out the new creature living there.


That was a couple of weeks ago. Cammie is used to the others but doesn’t like them much. There is a great deal of hissing, especially with the boys - Renn, in particular, is miffed because the window seat in the parlour is often taken by the new girl - but there has been no fighting. Bear-Bear has been receiving the most hostility from Cammie, who will chase the BB from one room to another. There is, however, little anger on the new girl’s part, at least that I can see. She seems annoyed with Bear-Bear’s proximity and makes it clear to him that he should give her space. I think if the BB didn’t move fast enough, though, he might be encouraged with a claw or two in the bum. Nonethelss, I’m not worried. Bear-Bear’s personality is a strong one but not violent or aggressive in any form. Cammie chases, he runs. Still, it must provide Tucker with a glow of Schadenfreude, since Bear-Bear enjoys annoying him, too.


Aside from Renn and Bear-Bear, the other cats hiss at Cammie and are hissed at in return. Josie sometimes hides under a chair when the new girl is loose, but that isn’t a big problem. Tungsten indulges her usual full-face scowling when confronted by Cammie, but that doesn’t stop her from eating from the newcomer’s food-bowl, or using her litter-box, the latter activity seeming an outrageous act of lèse majesté to Cammie.


Cammie is not a timid cat. She has taken to exploring the house, looking into all the rooms she can, probing closets and climbing cat-trees. She loves her Fancy Feast and trots out to the kitchen to wait when I prepare it, braving the presence of all the other felines to do so.


Reluctant to be petted, she now submits to that contact, and even seems sometimes to enjoy it. She no longer hisses at me as I pass her, and is used to me coming and going. I largely ignored her for the first couple of weeks, talking to her but otherwise leaving her alone, letting her see that I was harmless as I went about my business. Leaving the door to the parlour open has assisted the transition, as she now hears and sees much of what goes on in the household, and can grow accustomed to it. 


She is a smart animal, learning quickly the important things in life: the sound of dishes being filled, the words ‘dinner’ and ‘snack’ and knowing to use her litter-box, even if some interlopers feel that they can use it instead of trekking downstairs to use their own. Her progress would be facilitated greatly, I think, if she could move into a foster-home with fewer cats and a person or two who could devote more time to her. Even so, I think that she would do adequately in a multi-cat home, though patience would be required for her to grow used to everything. That needs to be done at her own pace. Some cats respond to a little prodding; Cammie isn’t one of them.

Given time, however, I think this beautiful, intelligent and small creature will bestow her affection on a lucky individual. I think she’s a choosy one, though, so it may not be me.




10 comments:

  1. We're glad she's growing more accustomed to all the other cats and the household routine. :-)

    Oh, Annie's fangs almost dripped venom at the boys, Nicki in particular. Glad that's not the case with Cammie!

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  2. She sure is a pretty kitty. And it sounds like she is getting used to her foster home. She looks like a nice cat. I bet she gets more friendly as time goes on. Take care.

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  3. She is beautiful and it sounds as though things at your house are going "okay" - given a new comer among the family.

    Cammie needs to find her spot among this new troupe and she will in time, but until then, she's safe, she's well cared for, and who knows, she may even make afew friends in the process! :))

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  4. Cammie is a lovely girl! It does sound like she is beginning to settle in, maybe even take over the household. I do hope she finds a home soon,

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  5. So nice to hear that Cammie is coming along!!! Does she get along better with the boys or the girls? I ask because a vet once told me that girls get on better with girls and boys with boys and mixing up the sexes sometimes causes trouble. You have a chance to prove/disprove the theory :)

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  6. Cammie is beautiful. We know she'll settle in soon.

    Thank you for your kinds words about our Clifford. We're still in shock and the thoughtfulness of friends really helps.

    The Florida Furkids and Mom Sharon

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  7. Cammie is such a gorgeous girl. It is so hard for them to trust sometimes. But once she does she will be a completely different cat.

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  8. Just answering a comment you had made on my Musings post yesterday.

    Yes, I'm on Lake Ontario. I can't smell anymore, due to allergies (cats, other things), but I do recall that when we first moved here from Halifax, it took a few years to adjust to the absence of the scent of salt water. We'd go downtown or anywhere on the water, and I'd expect that tang, that zing you get when you live near the ocean. Now, of course, it doesn't matter. :-)

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  9. Cammie sure is lovely looking. It must be scary being somewhere new.

    You asked about the hair thing. My straightners aren't used to make my hair poker straight, but to just settle the hair around my face into a tidy style that will last the day. Otherwise I looked like an escaped crazy patient that has slept in a bush. I am a pretty low maintance girl, and don't believe in spending much time or money fussing over such things.

    Thanks for visiting us.

    julie and poppy Q
    xxx

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  10. Cammie seems to have things well in paw. Our Lady Fitz is really just settling into the rhythm after 8 months. She gives the hiss to all and a fast whack if she is on the bed or by the dinner plates.
    It is said if a cat comes out and eats next to her peers there is no need to worry as it is just cat-cat communication and pecking order stuff.
    As Top Cat I agree
    Timmy

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