It’s going on two months since we adopted Jet from the Fort Smith Animal Haven. We were heartbroken when we lost Abby, our cat of around 13 years and were delighted when we found this beauty was ready to be adopted. Our lives are now forever changed.
We don’t know what Jet’s life was like before we adopted her, except that she had a litter of kittens in the past, and was spayed by the adoption facility vets. She was really shy and was going to have to adapt not only to my husband and me, but also our 95 pound yellow lab, Amber.
I set her up in the half bath beyond our utility room, with food, water, her kitty litter box, a bed, etc. Now we have a door latch that allows her to go in and out at will, but doesn’t allow Amber to go in. This has been wonderful. We also got a loud bell for her collar so she can’t hide from us unless she remains motionless for a long period of time – something that is almost impossible for her.
We put her in the bathroom with the door shut when either we are eating or Amber is, to avoid any problems. She and Amber have now reached a stage of disdainful detente, mostly allowing each other to live and let live. They will probably never pal around or be affectionate with each other, but this is enough.
She can be quite affectionate and companionable, but has a quirky, weird side where she almost bounces off the walls at times for seemingly no reason. You can also pet her and suddenly she bites you or scratches you. She does give clues, though, and I am learning to pay attention and modify my behavior. My husband – the bull in the china shop – not so much.
She is gaining confidence, exploring and showing more and more of her personality. She wants to drink my drinks on my table beside my chair in the living room or the office. My coffee cups are usually on a warmer, so she sniffs, but doesn’t go farther. My cold drinks, however, are a problem. I have some heavy coasters, and I’ve been putting one on top of the glass to keep her from sampling. A couple of days ago, we had an altercation where the glass was bobbled, causing a spill.
My husband made a wonderful glass holder for his table tray, since he was dumping a drink on a regular basis. It is made completely of metal, fashioned on his lathe. It’s a thing of beauty and he hasn’t dumped a drink since he has been using it, though I have to remind him to USE it occasionally.
Here it is. He’s going to make another one for me. It’s quite a laborious process. He promised me he will only work on it first thing in the morning and will quit and come back into the house when it starts getting too warm in the shop. This is the third day. So far, he’s keeping his promise. I told him I don’t care if it takes him all summer to finish it, praising him for coming in when he should.
I have a rolled-up newspaper to defend myself when Jet decides to bite me after leaping up into my lap. I start to pet her. Sometimes it goes well. Other times she bites me. She is getting the idea that biting results in a loud noise and quiet tap if she does this, so that’s good. My SIL suggested a squirt bottle of water might also be useful, so I now have that sitting on the table beside me and will keep it with me when I move to the living room. “Armed and dangerous….” :0)
Jet is rapidly changing from a shy, quiet cat to a demanding, meowing, intensely curious, quirky one. It’s really interesting, but challenging.
She discovered a bag of cat food sitting on the floor in the pantry. She ate a hole in the bag and ate quite a bit of food before we discovered it. Now the food is in a plastic bucket with a lid. She goes into the pantry several times daily to see if the cat food bag has magically reappeared.
I got some shoes a couple of days ago (I ordered purple sneakers with the wide toe box and ‘barefoot’ feel like the ones I discovered recently.) When the box hit the floor, Jet immediately jumped into it. She looked out, big-eyed and full of mischief. She jumped in and out, rolled it over and over, danced around it. We have decided that is one of her toys now, and will let it live there until she tires of it. :0)
The old folks around here are adapting pretty well to Monster Cat, and life is full.
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