So fortunately today is a slow news day in my rescued cat world. I am almost sleeping as well as I did before I trapped Bambi over two weeks ago. Have I emphasized how cool these extra litter boxes are? You've gotta love $2-each solutions. Of course it's very uncool in a human esthetic kind of way, but the cats really like being able to go the the bathroom in each and every one. It helps them feel safe and bonded to have their scents in these key areas just like the other cat does. They actually go a little in each box which is pretty funny. Down the road when they are both much more comfortable I will gradually reduce the number of litter boxes. Right now there are four in the "house," a one bedroom apartment. My fiance isn't really in love with the esthetic value of the litter boxes, but as I say it's a temporary abundance. :-)

Wednesday December 27th, 2006

Feeding is still the same deal but now if I wait about 10 minutes Bambi will come a bit out of the hiding place so that her head is out as she eats. Zen still needs me to distract her by throwing pieces of dry food into the living room. At the late night feeding Bambi actually walked out from under the bed and into the foyer and living room. Zen smelled her butt, which I suppose is a greeting. :-) Bambi tried various window sills and walked around, as I made myself relax and stayed sitting where I was. Cats can sense your anxiety and it can make them more anxious or over-stimulated. I was remembering that the last time she was out in the open when I was around she peed in the carpet, so helping her to relax was really important to me. I stayed sitting where I was for about 20 minutes. Bambi went to an old semi-visible hiding place behind my desk in the kitchen. In just a few minutes I turned off all of the lights and went to bed, eager to let Bambi relax and save my carpet.

Monday December 25th, 2006

My Christmas morning present came when I woke up in the morning. I was using the laser light as a gentle flashlight and saw BOTH Zen and Bambi resting under the bed together for the first time! First I saw Bambi, looking fluffier and calmer and happier than usual, then I directed the laser light behind her and saw Zen's two black ears! The two cats were maybe two feet apart, just relaxing. How cool is that? My fiance said that there had been a little hissing and growling during the night, which I slept right through. He wonders how I can do that. :-) He was going to wake me if it turned into an actual fight but it never did. Feeding today is much like yesterday - coaxing Bambi to eat under the bed and feeding Zen nearby then throwing dry food pieces for Zen once she gets restless so she doesn't go in and take or somehow claim Bambi's food.

Sunday December 24th, 2006

So happy news. No new holes in the carpet and no new pee spots on the carpet either, as far as I know. Also my oven barricade structure was still in place. I was up for various parts of the evening working with Bambi and Zen to help the situation. Zen being the alpha cat was trying to corner Bambi and not let her move from an area. She also was chasing Bambi around if she tried to move. When I got up and distracted Zen by throwing food for her Bambi was able to make it out of her ambushed spot in the living room and go over and use the highly desired litter box that covers the original peed-carpet spot. Then with Zen still distracted, Bambi actually found her way into the bedroom for the first time ever and finally went under the bed! We always felt this would be the ideal place for a scared shy cat like Bambi to adjust but I didn't know how Zen would tolerate that, since that was her place originally. It turns out that with only minimal growling Zen gave her that spot! Super relieved, I went back to bed at who knows what hour. During the day Bambi stayed under the bed and Zen used other lounging places in the room. Thank God. I could feel Bambi's anxiety level go way down once she realized no one was going to mess with her and she could stay under the bed.

Since both cats have access to eachother now but Bambi is still quite shy, Bambi's feeding time will be a socialization time for her involving both me and Zen. You may remember from reading about Zen in Socializing 101, but the bed is a waterbed frame (regular mattress) with big drawers and a T-shaped corridor under it. The top of the T is by the head of the bed. I was at the top of the T, which is also by the bedroom door since it's a small room and a big bed. I used blended tuna for cats, and gave Zen hers just out of sight of Bambi. I put Bambi's tuna on a plastic container top, slid under the bed with a back scratcher. This way Bambi could eat her tuna while still under the bed. The idea is that she eats it while I am present and associates the pleasure of eating food with my presence. For more socialization info see Socialization 101 and some of the links are good for that too. It took maybe 15 minutes but eventually Bambi began to eat the food. I ended up distracting Zen by throwing pieces of dry food into the living room so she would chase and eat them rather than going in after Bambi's food.

Saturday December 23th, 2006

I woke up at 5:30am just to use the bathroom and discovered the second patch of scratched-through carpet from Bambi. I thought I had the bedroom door area barricaded enough but she found a spot next to all that. I figured, OK well Bambi wants so much to get to Zen let's have them meet again. With Zen I decided to look for Bambi. I couldn't find her anywhere. I checked her usual places and no luck. Finally I don't know how I even thought of it but I used a flashlight and looked behind the oven and there she was, looking up at me with those big Bambi eyes. She had jumped up onto the counter then down behind the oven. What a nut, I thought. At that hour, after the carpet peeing the night before and the new carpet hole I was not in a very well-humored mood. I thought the oven was too heavy for me to move so I figured I would have to ask my fiance to help later in the morning when he'd be awake. Ugh.

So it turns out the oven is not heavy to drag out from the wall at all. I pulled out the oven and let her come out on her own as I left the house - so she went UNDER the oven! I became convinced that she was hell-bent on finding the most absolutely disgusting places in my fairly clean apartment. Bambi kept going back behind the oven once the oven was again in place, convinced in her fear stricken madness that it was the safest place for her. By the evening I had coaxed her out of there three different times and finally created the perfectly engineered cover/barricade system for the oven she could not tear through so she couldn't jump back down there again.

Joan was away on vacation but Denise from the Tree House clinic really came through for me with some behavoirist tips. She suggested I put extra litter boxes out around the apartment -only $2 each at Family Dollar, on the theory that Bambi is a shy nervous cat that can't hold it when she's afraid. Also of course it helps them if they scent their turf perimiter so they feel safe. Non-waste scenting with cheek, foot, and body rubbing is of course preferred by owners but hey. She also said that since Bambi keeps trying to burrow her way to Zen at night (through my carpet) to just leave the bedroom door open at night (and really all the time), effective immediately. Note: Bambi does not have any medical urinary problem as this is the only time she has peed outside of a litter box.

Friday December 22nd, 2006

This evening I had let Zen out, this time for a few hours, so they could interact. The bedroom door was still open but Zen eventually lost interest and went back into the bedroom. I was in the kitchen feeding and petting Bambi, trying to comfort her after Zen's bossy alpha behavior. Then Bambi slowly adventured into the living room with me watching from the kitchen, and the phone rang and I was talking on it. Bambi peed on my living room carpet. I saw her do it and at first I thought "Is she really peeing on my carpet?" After a minute of me being in shock, I got paper towels and was able to blot it up so that to a human you can't even smell it. It's a good carpet for that. It doesn't absorb liquids easily. I moved the litter pan from the kitchen to the living room, over the spot where she peed. I am not sure if she peed because she was nervous about me or Zen, but I have a feeling it was both. I had been at Tree House today and got some volunteer orientation materials and had read just today that when a cat pees out of the litter box it's them marking territory because they feel anxiety. Marking their territory makes an assertive statement to potential preditors and rivals so they feel safer once they've done it. I am hoping that putting the litter pan over that spot will avert a carpet pee-off between her and Zen tonight as I sleep. I slept with Zen in the bedroom with the door closed, so they wouldn't interact without my supervision.

Thursday December 21st, 2006

Today I had a natural alarm clock at 7am. I woke up to hear a scratching sound, like cat nails on carpet. Zen was quietly and intently listening on the bedroom side as Bambi was digging into the carpet on the other side of the door. I had all sorts of things covering the floor by the door, like clip boards and a cookie sheet, but obviously not enough. Good morning! Two perfect paw sized holes - dug all the way through the carpet! Boy it's fun to be a renter. Ugh. I asked Joan the behaviorist from Tree House and she said since Bambi seems to be burrowing into the rug to try to get to Zen that it's time that they meet for brief and definitely supervised periods of time. They met for about an hour that evening and there was hissing and some growling, all from Zen. At one point Zen's growling made her sound like that funny creature in the Lord of the Rings that kept saying "precious!" :-) Bambi just played the submissive one. There was no attacking or actual physical contact, so that's a good sign apparently.

On the bright side, today is the day I got my bathroom back. After her digging in the carpet Bambi picked her new hiding place in the kitchen behind my desk. I quickly and eagerly re-owned the bathroom. It was surprising how much I enjoyed my morning shower. I felt like I'd been traveling away from home for a week and was finally back home. I keep the bathroom door closed, just in case Bambi wants it back. She can't have it. Mine mine mine. How nice to use the bathroom without a feline observer. Obviously cats are not the only ones with a sensitivity to turf! :-)

Wednesday December 20th, 2006

Today it is rough day again for Bambi because I am trying to get her to roam freely in the apartment with Zen closed up in the bedroom. This way she can explore and scent the common areas just like Zen has done already. Just having the bathroom door open has caused a ton of stress for poor little Bambi. She's been in the bathroom for a few days, but only with the door closed. Now with it open she has tried all her standard bizarre bathroom hiding places, though thankfully not under the dripping tub faucet. She even got herself into this four or five inch nook between a cabinet and the tub. I told her one day when she fleshes out more she won't fit there anymore. :-) Anyway she will let me pet her, from the tub windowsill, but she does growl and hiss a bit before she shows signs of enjoying the petting. I fed her baby food and even used a cat brush with her for the first time as she was on her window sill. She alternated back and forth from growling to happily accepting, from hissing to talk-meowing.

I decided to turn the bathroom light off and the foyer light off and leave the door open with the food and water in the foyer with the hopes that the darkness will make her feel more brave. She didn't venture out while I was out and about. I wasn't going to leave the bathroom door open at night when I sleep, but I decided to give it a try. I prayed that everything would go OK. This is the first night Bambi will get free reign in the apartment (except the bedroom) while I am asleep. I am hoping she finds a hiding place she prefers outside of the bathroom so I can have my bathroom back. Also the bathroom is pretty cramped so it's hard to work with her in there.

Tuesday December 19th, 2006

OK it is already getting old for me not to have much access to my own bathroom, I've got to say. I do use the toilet but that's about it. I go over to my fiance's apartment every morning now to shower since Bambi's stuff takes up my whole bathroom floor. I brush my teeth in the kitchen. Today I did more of what I did yesterday with Bambi and Zen. Zen got closely supervised free reign time in the living room and kitchen. I had to relocate my smallest fish tank to a more stable surface but other than that it went very smoothly. Zen insists on climbing on top of these two fish tanks, but sits on the table in front of another tank. She watches and does not bat at the fish, which bodes well. All the tanks have sturdy covers. Zen decided she loves the cat dancer, the curved wire with pieces of cardboard on each end. In the beginning it absolutely terrified her but tonight I had her running and hopping around after it. Very cute. We did all the playing in the living room so she's pretty comfy there now. Again I closed her into the bedroom with me at night when I slept which ironically is still pretty easy.

Bambi's socialization work progressed slowly. Lots of petting, bribing with food, more petting. She rested her head against my thigh as I was petting her which I thought was super cute. I wanted her to get onto my lap but I guess it's too soon. She did put two paws onto my legs though while eating and/or being pet. While sitting, I did pick her up and hold her to my chest but she stared at me with bulging, terrified eyes so that didn't last. Late in the evening Zen and Bambi were meowing at eachother through the bathroom door so much that I thought I'd let them take a peek at eachother. Whether this was recommended, well it probably wasn't, but I was really curious with all their meowing. Bambi stayed cute and made tiny greeting meows and Zen was silent then made small growling and hissing noises. I held the door mostly closed in case Zen lunged at Bambi. She did no such thing so I let her walk in to investigate twice. She did with no incident two short times, then lost interest and played in the living room.

Monday December 18, 2006

Well overnight Bambi did end up picking the carrier on the bathroom floor as her new hiding place, fortunately. Today I did a lot of socialization work with her, sitting on a pillow on the bathroom floor. I was able to pet her head then cheeks when she was in the carrier, and after I'd pet her she'd come out slowly and have some food. Then I'd pet her some more and then she'd go back to her tiny carrier. Today was the first time I was able to really pet her more than one second. I pet her a lot and realized she is pretty bony. Poor thing. She must not have ate very well as a stray outside, obviously. You can't tell she's bony unless you pet her because of all her fur. So I guess her frame is a little bigger than Zen's but since she's bony she weighs the same as Zen right now. Unlike Zen she seems to want petting first and then coming out to eat second. It's like the petting relaxes Bambi, which is a clear sign that she is a stray who originally had a human home and in the beginning Zen was all feral.

Since I kept the bathroom door closed with Bambi safely inside, today was Zen's first day to have a fully sanctioned free reign day. I decided it should be closely supervised, so I stayed sitting on the living room floor reading and interacting with her the whole time. Ironically Zen would come out for a while and explore, then go back to her room and back under the bed. They really are comforted by small spaces. How unlike me. The good side of this was that it was easy to close Zen back in her room before I left the house and before I went to bed. A few times Zen and Bambi meowed at eachother through the bathroom door, with Bambi meowing much more than Zen. Zen was more interested in exploring the livingroom.

Sunday December 17, 2006

Today after all my client appointments were finished I moved Bambi into the bathroom to begin the step by step process of Bambi and Zen meeting. The idea was to put Bambi into the bathroom (no cage) so that Zen could have free reign in the rest of the apartment. This way Zen gets comfy and gets her scent everywhere. Then I'd let one or the other out in shifts, so they could both scent the common areas. This would accustom them to eachother a bit through the mixing of their scents, lessening the stress when they finally did meet. this is what Joan the behaviorist from Tree House shelter recommends.

Unfortunately this was a rough evening for Bambi. Her cage was too big for my tiny bathroom, and she didn't like her cage being moved, or moving out of the cage into the bathroom. At first she hid behind the toilet. Then she hid in the tub on the wet end where the dripping faucet is! I think she was so stressed she didn't care it was dripping on her poor little back! Then I draped the curtain around the rod to devalue the privacy of the tub as a hideout, since she insisted in picking the wet end of it. Of course the other end had a nice dry towel! She then moved to the tiny windowsill of the shower. She was shivering, again breaking my heart. She was doing that throaty growl and hissing when I tried to approach but nonetheless she let me pet her with the bendy pole with feathers on the end of it. She showed she liked the petting and I even touched her head with my fingers for the first time, for just a few seconds! After a bunch of feather pole petting she stopped shivering, which I suppose was from fear only. Poor baby. I put her carrier with a nice fresh fleece blanket in it on the bathroom floor with the hopes that she'd pick that as her new hiding place. I turned the bathroom light off for the night and closed the door, leaving on the bathroom night light.

Saturday December 16, 2006

Lastnight was another good sleep night with Zen. I did the same things again: enough bonding during the day and letting her sleep/go wherever on the bed when I am there sleeping. Shortly after I lay down she came and sat up against the side of my face. I just prayed she'd go but did not react. After only about 10 seconds she got up and walked down to the middle area of the bed and relaxed around some lumps. Oh yeah, Zen likes lumps on the bed, and that is where she's most likely to rest - up against the lump. So we bury some pillows under the comforter, at around the middle of the bed, which lures her away at times from hanging out at the head of the bed. This is a bit better for the allergen issue.

OK so now some Bambi news. They day is young but already it's a big day of progress in her socialization. Bambi let me pet her through the cage with a flexible pole that has feathers at the end of it! I was really surprised and relieved. I also managed to pet her with a back scratcher. She actually purred at one point. I can't wait until I get to pet her with my hand! I also fed her chicken baby food on that contraption I made, the tablespoon taped to the end of the backsctratcher. That gadget is great, I must say! She was able to eat this better than the chunky wet cat food put on the tablespoon. I of course checked the ingredients because cats cannot have onions or garlic. I'm glad she loves the baby food.

Friday December 15, 2006

Lastnight I slept well with Zen in the bedroom. I made sure to bond enough with her during the day and then totally gave up on controlling where she goes on the bed as I sleep. ****Today was the day I began to feed Bambi manually. This is the beginning of the real socialization work with her. I had given her some dry food in a bowl within the cage for a day and a half after her surgery just so she didn't have to interact with me. No more! Today I used a tablespoon taped onto the end of a back scratcher to feed her. I stuck this super long "feeding spoon" through the cage and held steady near her until she ate the wet food on it. She turned it down in the morning when I just used the tablespoon stuck through the cage but in the eve with her increased hunger and the longer "spoon" to feed her with, it worked! I have manually fed her two times this evening. She's learning to eat from the tablespoon without knocking all the wet food chunks to the cage floor. Now only some of them fall. Now I see her stretched out in a relaxed position which I have never seen before. She has always scrunched up whenever I am around until now. It could be the tryptophan from the IAMS wet turkey food kicking in! :-) I feel like that part of her that imagined I was a villain is just starting to reconsider that theory.

Thursday December 14, 2006

OK I have had a ton happen in the last few days, in the world of rescuing cats. See the new page Bambi's Story for more information and a photo!

Friday December 8th, 2006

OK so we're back from the Tree House clinic/vet. Zen got her second PCR shot so now she is fully protected from distemper, a potentially fatal disease she can get from other cats. Speaking of which, this sounds like a good time to announce that next week if all goes as planned I will be trapping another stray or feral cat or kitten! I'm calling him/her mystery cat #2. Zen had to complete her shots before I could bring another cat into the house. Of course mystery cat #2 will go to the Tree House Clinic/vet the morning after trapping, while still in the trap! The appointment is already made.

Anyway Zen was very brave again at the clinic today. She didn't struggle at all for them. They said she just made herself small and looked afraid, but did not display any agression whatsoever. She let them pet her. They were very kind to me, complimenting me on all Zen's progress and her behavior with them. She's a superstar! :-) They also put an ID collar on her that I had purchased at my request. I'll have to take pictures soon to show off her new look. :-) As far as me, again I worried way too much. I can still feel that my stomach is a little tight. I'm going to work with her now to comfort her with a feeding of IAMS wet food, chicken or turkey. She'll like that. I noticed she's in her hiding place under the bed, but she has her head forward so I can see part of it which is better than last time after the vet. Oh and since it was only 7 degrees F outside I wrapped her carrier in her fleece blanket and a huge down coat I have.

later same day OK Zen's first feeding after coming back from the Tree House clinic/vet was a huge success. I had let her hide under the bed and chill for about 30 min after getting back home. When I went in to feed her I sat down as usual, and I latched up the carrier thinking that she'd feel safer with it closed (while she's out free). I made noises usual for when I'm getting ready to feed her, a rustling of the shoulder bag that contains food, catnip, and all good things. To my surprise she came right out. A little hesitantly, she came all the way out to me and let me pet her right away. Another surprise, the new ID collar they put on her for me at the clinic and she was wearing when she left the carrier was nowhere to be found. I guess it's part of her treasure collection under the bed now. Sometimes she'll rotate her collection, like a museum, and something you haven't seen in a while will appear out on the floor and other things will disappear under the bed for weeks. Anyway she ate. I pet her a bunch. She purred on my lap a bunch. I gave her a new mouse toy from my secret stockpile as a final gift to smooth over her emotions and we played for a while. I fastened it to the end of the fabric pole thing we play with to make it dance around. All is well again in Zen's world. Now maybe I can chill out! :-)

Wednesday December 6th, 2006

OK so first a sleeping arrangements update. I make sure to fold up one of her blankets on top of the carrier so she does sleep there part of the night. I also make sure to not react when she comes up near my head purring in the middle of the night. She tends to go away pretty quickly. She does seem to have some period in the night where she sleeps at about my shoulder level. Sometimes she even purrs there but I generally roll over and go right back to sleep. I'll have to get my fiance some miracle ear plugs for when he sleeps over. :-) She's such a lap cat now I guess I've created this problem! She just wants to be near me. I'll figure this out....

When Zen uses her scratching post to stretch out sometimes she lets me pet her stomach now. That's the first time I have ever touched her stomach! It's very soft. :-)

Monday December 4th, 2006

So last night was not the best sleep ever for me, because I made the mistake of giving negative reinforcement to Zen when she was sleeping or hanging out too high up on the bed at night. Every time I woke up and she was that high up on the bed I'd gently scoot her away. I realize now that I'm fully awake what I was doing. Since she's so friendly and socialized, relatively speaking, I've been skimping on my time with her. Soooo, in order to get the attention from me that she craves she starts doing whatever will get a rise out of me, namely sleeping or being near my head when I'm trying to sleep. When I was scooting her away she kept coming right back. My solution is to go back to giving her enough quality time during the day. OK not the FOUR hours that I needed to in the beginning when she was completely feral, but at least 20-40 minutes three to four times a day.

Sunday December 3rd, 2006

I held Zen in my arms against my chest for the first time ever and pet her for maybe 20 seconds. I was sitting with her and she was reaching for my mug on the carrier and I wrapped my arms around her to get her back and she really didn't mind. I did it again for the chest hug. She's a sweetie. She didn't totally love it but she was OK with it for a little and was very gentle in nudging her way out of it. Later I tried it when I'm standing and she has a shorter "give this a try" period. In general she's still less comfy with me when I'm standing. I can pet her now quite a bit when I'm standing which is new. I have to watch her so she doesn't get overstimulated. I take my hand back and let her walk into the petting so I know it's not too much for her.

Saturday December 2nd, 2006

For the past two weeks I've noticed that Zen often sleeps on the bed with me, on top of the comforter. I know that for hygene and allergy reasons it's better if she sleeps lower down on the comforter, towards the foot of the bed. Of course it's better if she doesn't sleep on the bed at all, but it's a pretty neat feeling to have her there plus some things are hard to discourage when you are already asleep. :-) I try not to pet her when she shows up on the bed but I confess I pet her a little before getting up today for the first time. I don't think I'll do that anymore, because it would encourage her to sleep higher up on the bed. One way she has progressed is that if I walk into the bedroom to get something and she comes out to say hi I can sometimes pet her for a moment on the top of her head while I'm standing up. That's new for her. Usually it's too stimulating for her that way and I need to sit down on the floor with my legs out and be at her level for her to let me pet her.

Friday December 1st, 2006

I was rereading the earlier posts here and realized something Zen does now she didn't used to do. Now every time I go into the bedroom Zen comes over to me to watch me and usually meows. I let her sniff my hand and do whatever I need to do in the room. She could be sound asleep under the bed and she'll still wake herself up and come to see me. I can tell because she'll come out from under the bed and do a big spinal stretch on her way to me. That usually means to me that she was sound asleep. One heart melting thing she does now is she'll sleep or rest right by the door, half under the bed with her head inches from the door. She seems to be showing me that she's been waiting for me to come in the room, which turns my heart right upside down. She's so sweet.

Want to read more? The older and more current three minute updates are below: