Friday, January 18, 2019

Darcy needs a home



Darcy is still with us. She came to us in October, scared and pregnant.


She was frozen with fear. She was okay to explore the room when I was not around (thank you web cameras for sharing that with me) but when I would visit her she made herself as small as possible and hid in the smallest cracks hoping I wouldn't find her.  Little did she know that was my mission in life.. to find her and pull her out of her shell.

She gave birth here and raised three beautiful healthy happy kittens who were anything but fearful.


She never lashed out, not once. Not when I initially touched her, not when I picked her up for the first time, not when I would weigh her kittens or changed out her bedding. Never. She bides her time and waits for her chance to leave and then does so at the first chance. I spent a lot of time reaching into where she was hiding and patting her hoping to help her understand that humans are good. I would get her to purr and several times I got her to roll over so I could massage her belly but each time I left I went back to being very frightening.

I was fostering another cat at the time and she was quite friendly. I was hoping that introducing them would bring Darcy out of her shell. Unfortunately she was very protective of her kittens and the integration of the two families took a very long time. Fortunately Darcy was totally willing to sit in her cage and tend to any kitten who showed up. Over time, Darcy made a friend.


She was willing to come out of hiding when I was around. I was able to pull her out with play as well. She loves to "hunt"



Then her friend found a home and we were alone again. We did a lot of playing and I did my best to show her that people were not bad. My husband would visit her in the mornings and she would come out and give him a sniff. I would pull her out of hiding and pet her and give her scritches behind her ears that she loved so much and I was able to get her to purr.

I then had another friend for her. Darcy wanted to be friends. She was very kind and went very slowly allowing her new roommate to get used to her, but this kitty wasn't interested in being friends. Darcy keeps trying so I know she would integrate well into a cat friendly cat household. She will not be a lap cat immediately, but because she likes to have her neck scratched I am sure in time in a quiet household with other cats to show her life with people is a good thing she would become your friend.



If you know anyone who might have room in their life for a very sweet and kind kitty, who either lives near NH or wouldn't mind traveling to get her, please let me know.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Behold, the power of Happy Bear.. or not



I know that many people have been waiting for the joy that is a kitty on Happy Bear again. I would like to say this happened because I worked my magic and Happy Bear worked his and encouraged Darcy out of her hiding hole for some love, but that was absolutely not the reason.. so what was?


Poor Butters has been stuck in the bathroom since mid December because I am a pretty strict isolationist when it comes to kitties and I don't like mingling different litters (I know I know, I just did, didn't I - hey, I said pretty strict, not an absolutionist)

I was hoping that either Darcy or Butters would have moved on by now, but at this point I haven't heard anything about either one of them moving on. Butters is starting to show signs that the bathroom is simply not enough room for her so I thought I would open up the door and see what happened.

Darcy wanted to be friends in the WORST way. She was kind and gentle and did everything right. She meowed when Butters' back was turned to her so she wouldn't 'sneak up' on her, she walked low to the ground so as not to be threatening, she held back and waited and waited, following when Butters got too far away..


It was and is an absolutely beautiful thing to watch. I'm kinda loving Darcy all that much more for this. Butters, after investigating everything, tends to hang out with me on the couch (she likes playing with the hair scrunchies I've been using - which I'm not a huge fan of) and so Darcy has taken to coming up on the couch to be near her but not too near her.


Butters accepts that Darcy isn't going to go after her, but she is still not ready to be near her. This was as close as they were willing to get to one another without hissing. Darcy respects that and was waiting for Butters to check her out.  I was able to reach over and pet Darcy and we had a nice few minutes hanging out together.


Butters is completely unsure about all of this, and shortly after this photo she hissed and lashed out at Darcy so I decided it was time to end this. I do not leave them out together when I'm not around. I keep telling Butters that Darcy is good people and she needs to relax, but she doesn't believe me.. yet.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Darcy is still with us



Darcy is still here. She still enjoys eating my food and pooping in the litter box I clean for her, but she is still not a fan of me. I pull her out of hiding each time I visit and hold her until she calms and I scratch her neck and flank which she seems to like.

Some times I ignore her to see if she'll come out on her own. Sometimes she will, most of the time she won't. She enjoys playing so that will always pull her out. The other day she came out, walked toward me and hid in the box near the couch (see photo), which I took as a sign that while she still doesn't trust me, I've been promoted to benefit of the doubt.

And then last night...


She stays with me because I gently restrain her and redirect her when she starts to leave. After I've held her for a while, I stop redirecting and if she wants to leave I let it happen. Shortly after the above video, I had hoped she was happy enough to stay but she left just as soon as I gave her that option. It hurt a little that I couldn't convince her to stay, but I have to remind myself that not all cats are lap cats.

As much as I enjoy her here, it is beyond time for her to go. I hope her people show up soon

Monday, January 7, 2019

Meet Butters



Meet Butters. I was originally going to name her Berries, but when I tried to call her that I said Butters instead of Berries and it just kinda stuck. I was going with Sweet Cream Butter Milk but that was an obnoxiously long name.. Then I thought of Cream or some sort of Ice Cream, but I kept coming back to Butters.. so, as I said, Meet Butters!


Getting a good photo of her is not easy. She is extremely affectionate and wants to be in my lap or in my face or sticking her nose in my armpit or my cleavage. She likes to give what we have affectionately started calling "full Smedleys" although I haven't been in a spot where she could rub her entire body all over my face but I have the feeling she would if she could.


I received her mid-December. I didn't introduce her because there was the speculation that she might be pregnant. The vet thought she felt an enlarged uterus so I took her in and started feeding her well in hopes of kittens.


She eats well, very well, exceptionally well, downing four 3oz cans in a day if I would let her. And I did initially, hoping that she might be eating for six. She can eat a can of food and lick the bowl clean in under three minutes.





Turns out she is Fakey McFakerson.. (actually, she never said she was pregnant, so I suppose that is kind of a mean thing to call her) and we have no babies. I am fairly certain she went into heat for a couple of hours the other day, doing the rear foot shuffle and the 'broken tail' stance when I touched her behind - which she is not doing now.

She is an absolute love, I mean a "some people might return her to the shelter because she is too affectionate" absolute love.. I mean her name should probably be Bacon kinda love.. 😼

Not sure how much longer she will be with me as she should have no issue finding a home as she is very young and quite affectionate. Darcy has had a couple of inquiries but she is still here at the moment. Hopefully, she will be moving on soon and I can start contemplating paint colors for the kitten room. The yellow that is in there is nice but it makes it hard to get good photos. I'm considering a gray or mossy green. I'm also contemplating doing different colors so I can have options when taking photos. I have some climbing shelves to put up and a cabinet to put together for storage.

but you know I'd rather have kittens..
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