Bambi let me brush her a whole lot, more than ever. She was nuzzling my legs and feet while I brushed her. Yay!

Monday March 26th, 2007

When my fiance walked me back home this eve Zen was by the door as usual to welcome me back home and let me know she was guarding the apartment. I call her my guard kitten. :-) I walk around the apartment to check that all is well and these days I pick up Zen and hold her in my arms and we check the apartment together. She really loves it when I carry her around. She gets very relaxed in my arms. It's hugely adorable and something I've always imagined us being able to do. Zen was a feral kitten so it's pretty extraordinary that she even puts up with being held, much less craves it and tries to get it multiple times every day now. Often she doesn't even like it when I put her down because she doesn't want it to end. How cute!!!

Tuesday March 27th, 2007

Bambi lets me pet her at least one big time every day. I just pet her a whole bunch and she was nuzzling up against me. She went to the scratching post next to us and I was able to gently pet her stomach while she stretched out. That's the first time I have pet her stomach ever, so I only did it briefly. After more petting she went back to the scratching post and I did it a second time too. Yay! Then I went to the bathroom and when I came out Bambi was waiting by the door for me on her own. Usually she'll do that now if Zen does it but this time it was just her. To me it's a gesture of bonding and I'm always touched by it.

Friday March 16th, 2007

So today was cold outside but sunny. I napped for an hour in the sun in the reclining chair in the living room with my legs propped up on one of those wooden movable tables. Zen was actually on top of me the whole time! Part of it was bonding for her and part of it was that I had the best seat in the house to catch the sun's rays at the time. :-) Since her fur is black it does an awesome job of warming up under the sun's rays. If I were a cat I'd pick black fur for that reason.

Wednesday February 28th, 2007

So once again while I was making dinner Bambi showed up at the kitchen entrance to watch me. She does this now even when Zen is in the bedroom sleeping. Though Zen sometimes dominates her she also acts as her security blanket too. Anyway, Bambi seems to like to watch me cook, and she'll get a pretty peaceful look on her face too. I think she may have some pleasant kitten memory of a female cooking, before all of (what I believe was) the chaos of roudy unmonitored kids and her anxieties and peeing and getting thrown out of that home.

Tuesday February 27th, 2007

Today I had a breakthrough with Bambi!!! I started doing this pose at a safe distance from her that was my version of a submissive cat. It was me on my knees and elbows with my head mostly down or looking away from her, only sometimes looking at her briefly. My body would not be facing her, but maybe at a right angle to her so as not to be too direct. I basically imitated what I'd seen her do with Zen and me. I would stay in the pose until I felt she was able to release some fear of me, maybe 30-45 seconds. I did this a few times during the day. She would watch me and look away too. She would always look back and observe me, particularly when I wasn't looking. I mostly didn't look at her, as a show of sumission. I did this because she is a submissive cat even with Zen and she must see me as some super dominant enormous creature. So then in the evening I was in the kitchen and made a crinkly noise which they always assume is a cat food wrapper and they both came to the kitchen entrance. Zen jumped onto a chair. I pet Zen then pretended to focus on Zen not Bambi and went into that submissive pose again. Bambi was only two feet away.

I finally looked over briefly at Bambi and outstretched my hand slowly towards her. She inched over to sniff my hand. Then she actually moved closer and arched her back so I could pet her back. I did briefly then withdrew my hand a bit. She came to my hand again and I pet again briefly then withdrew my hand slightly. She approached again. To my surprise this repeated about seven times. It was really amazing. I learned with Zen months ago that with a very over stimulated or freightened cat it's best to have them feel that they are in control and initiating the contact. That is super true with Bambi I have found. Even if Bambi appears to enjoy the petting it's best to leave her wanting more because she can go from obvious enjoyment to feeling overstimulated in the blink of an eye.

Friday February 23rd, 2007

OK so I took a nap today. My cats always seem pleased with me when I take a nap, as if I am finally understanding the cat wisdom of napping. Anyway I was in bed a few minutes without moving and so Zen probably assumes I'm asleep. This time she enters the covers not from the top but from side of the bed, the one opposite me. She creeps under the comforter and over the sheet and burrows all the way through until she gets to my leg. I can hear several static pops as she burrows but she continues undeterred. She reaches my leg then nestles up against it, curls up and begins to rest. As if that wasn't adorable enough to keep me awake for a minute, I feel Bambi jump onto the bed near where Zen now is. She starts play fighting with Zen through the covers. I don't think Zen was in the mood to playfight, for once. I say a prayer that my kittens settle down and become peaceful so I can sleep. Bambi stops her instigating and rests right next to Zen. Bambi is on top of the covers and Zen underneath the comforter. If I crane my head for a second I can see Bambi's ears from over a pillow mountain. That's the first time I have been ever aware of Bambi hanging out on the bed when I am in it. Neat.

Thursday February 22nd, 2007

So I took some more pictures of Zen and Bambi today. I even got a cool one of them together on the window sill. I need to get some blended tuna for cats so that I can bribe Bambi and get her to warm up to me even more. I was able to pet her along her spine while she was eating her regular breakfast with Zen. Some days she'll let me brush her too when she's eating. I still mostly only feed them when I am sitting right there, so they have to come up to me to eat. Bambi didn't like me petting around her head, but she was eating so that's natural. Bambi is such a fur ball. Most of her is that long hair. She looks bigger than Zen with all her hair but she's not at all.

Wednesday February 21st, 2007

I have this thing with Bambi where I come near her and get her to sniff my hand as I slowly put it near her. Then I usually just go away. It's my way of bonding with her just a little bit several times a day. I bond so much with Zen. We do nose kisses, hugs, etc. I'd like to bond more with Bambi but she's still very afraid of me.

Sunday February 18th, 2007

OK so I was sleeping and I feel my kitten-turned-groundhog Zen burrowing down under the covers right next to me. Down and down further under the covers she went, until she was even lower than my knees. Down there is where I hide stuffed animals that I don't want stolen by my kittens. I thought my kittens never burrowed down that far. Here I was discovering new information at 4am! Anyway, she must have used her teeth to pull one of the stuffed animals just a bit, then I felt her sort of follow her tail for a bit to curl up, and she lay down. She was comfortable between the stuffed animal and my leg. I didn't want to disturb her but I stretched. This sent her straight back up through all the covers, she walks over my chest, off of the bed onto a cat carrier. I have a blanket on top of the carrier and she sits there and kneads it with her paws. That looked so adorable that I waited until she was finished before getting up for some water. Too cute!

Tuesday February 13, 2007

So this last week Zen has finally discovered sleeping in the bathroom sink! Many cat owners know that cats like this for some reason, but I guess since Zen was feral and no one showed her the cat/sink secret. Today I finally got a cool picture of it. There are actually entire websites dedicated to cat in sink photos, but of course mine is the cutest. :-) The first time I saw her sleeping in the sink was about a week ago at 4am when I got up to use the bathroom. I went in the room and there she was, looking as cute as can be. It's nice when you find the cute, non-disturbing surprises from your kittens. She probably does not sleep in there every night, but it's good for variety I guess. :-)

Sunday February 4th, 2007

Well I discovered that this pricey food that we bought as fish food isn't right for most of my fish, but Zen loves it! It's freeze dried krill which is a tiny shrimp, with only some vitamins added. I gave Zen a few as a treat. Bambi doesn't like it but that's ok since she needs less calories. She's less active at this point, but that may change as she becomes less and less afraid of me. :-) Bambi does come out into the living room to play with Zen even when I'm awake now. Mostly it's if I'm cooking in the kitchen, or typing on my laptop in the kitchen like now. I can hear them chasing eachother around. They alternate between staring contests and chasing eachother. :-) I've even seen them play wrestle and Bambi definitely plays the dominant part now when it's her turn, unlike in the beginning. That's a great sign. I guess Zen was so determined she was able to dare her into it over time. :-)

Saturday February 3rd, 2007

My fiance Lorenzo came over to hang out for several hours this eve and we sat in the living room with Zen and Bambi's food dishes in the foyer. That way they could come out to the foyer to eat and we could see them from where we were sitting, maybe 12-15 feet away. It maybe took an hour for them to come out but they came out to eat and then eventually over the next few hours they both came into the living room with us. They'd sit under things for a feeling of protection, like under the TV table or under this wood bench I have. We can still see them so it's still a step. Zen later didn't even need to hide, particularly after I started feeding my fish which she loves. It was nice because Lorenzo got to see Zen acting pretty normally with me while I fed the fish. She plays with the air tubing of the tanks and comes to me to be pet and to do gentle head to head touching and nose kisses. He'd never seen any of that. Plus Zen brushed against his pant leg once too, which Lorenzo knew was a great sign. That means she's scenting him and is creating a connection. We enjoyed it more because we didn't have any food for them near us, so they both came around us purely out of curiosity and bonding. :-) Yay!

Tuesday January 30th, 2007

I was here at my desk using the laptop a few minutes ago and I saw Bambi in the living room just five feet from me rolling around on the carpet with a raw stem from a big kale leaf. She looked so adorable and it is new for her to roll around in my presence. Those stems from kale are the newest cat toy I just discovered today, and nutritious too! They nibble on it as they wrestle with it. :-) Now Zen has crept inside a paper Whole Foods grocery bag that is on the kitchen floor just behind and to the left of me.... On a less charming note, now Zen is climbing on top of my 20 gallon fish tank. Of course my heart just skipped a beat as she slipped a bit while going from the 20 gal onto the top of a 10 gallon tank. Ho hum. They've hung out a lot more in the living room with me tonight because I have delayed their evening feeding. When they get a little hungry they show up and usually I feed them right a way but then they go back under the bed to snooze and I don't see them. This way they stay and hang out near me and play. I'll have to keep doing it this way. Of course they are also hanging out by me because the TV is off tonight. I had thought Bambi was OK with the TV but really neither like it. They both leave the room when it's on.... I just managed to save this document before u888888888888888888\\\ Zen walked accross it. OK that last bit of junk was from her second and third attempts accross the keyboard. Zen says hi and thanks for reading all about her and Bambi. :-)

Friday January 19th, 2007

OK so today has been traumatic, mainly for Bambi, because (oh-no!) I vaccuumed the bedroom carpet. I just couldn't bear it anymore, since I had not vaccuumed in the bedroom since before I trapped my famously first feral kitten Zen, September 28 2006! Ugh. I was waiting because I knew the noise would be a big stresser. While I was vaccuuming Bambi ran into the kitchen and tried her old hiding place, behind the oven! Fortunately the elaborate cardboard and packing tape creation I have made to keep her from being able to jump behind the oven from the counter still works. She settled for the far corner of the kitchen counter, hudled next to some not-super-clean-anymore dishes that were there to dry. Well time, one and a half hours, did not ease her out of that spot. Tuna did. I had one last can of special blended tuna and just a taste of it brought Zen out from under the bed. Bambi seemed hypnotized and stuck to that spot. I gave her tuna with the tablespoon that is taped onto the end of a back scratcher, feeding her right in her counter-top corner. Then I pet her with the back scratcher, then with my hand. She let me pet her a ton. She was just frozen to that spot. Anyway I gave her more tuna then walked away into another room and that was enough to get her to jump down and go back to the (oh-my) vaccuumed bedroom, under the bed. Zen has now curled up next to the laptop I am typing on right now, so she's fully back to normal. In the last few days I have been training her through positive validation that it is best to be there rather than on top of the keyboard. Training is ongoing. :-)

Tuesday January 16th, 2007

OK so today during the day I was walking around the living room feeding fish in my six fish tanks. Zen was out in the living room with me. She almost always comes out when I feed the fish. I suppose she can hear the absence of bubble and motor sounds. She doesn't really stare at the fish, but she used to chew on the air tubing when I unplugged it to feed the fish. She still does sometimes but now most of the time Zen chews on orange bendable drinking straws I have by the tubing instead. I like this, since I am OK with the drinking straws being destroyed, particularly instead of electrical wiring and fish tank air tubing. So when I feed my fish she comes out and chews on the straws. :-) Anyway, I noticed Bambi was poking her head out from the bedroom. I kept feeding the fish, walking from one tank to another, and Bambi was still sitting there. She even moved about a foot into the foyer. This is significant because it's not their feeding time, and I'm standing and moving, and she's still showing herself. Hopefully that will happen more and more.

Monday January 15th, 2007

I was watching the season premiere of the TV show 24 this evening and I was on a chair in the living room and Zen sat on my lap most of the time, sleeping. She's pretty darn adorable. She just flops her head forward and stretches her legs out. She doesn't want me to get up, but I get up super slowly so she can walk onto an adjacent chair as I get up. As I walk off she gives me this sleepy look "Are you sure you had to get up? When are you coming back?" It's amazing to think how far she's come. It took me so long to ever be able to move at all without her running off, so long for me to be able to touch her. I just have to be that patient with Bambi too.

Sunday January 14th, 2007

I have started feeding Zen and Bambi in the living room, sitting against the wall that is right by the foyer. Eventually I want Bambi to be comfortable in the living room eating with one guest present in the room too. Judging from yesterday, that will take a few weeks to accomplish. It's a good thing I am stubborn and determined. :-)

Saturday January 13, 2007

Tonight Lorenzo and I both tried to feed Zen and Bambi but it did not go so well. Bambi apparently is used to only me feeding her and not yet ready for others to be around. Once she saw Lorenzo she went right back under the bed, even though she was hungry. Lorenzo fed Zen in the foyer and living room which was very cute. He gave her treats and threw pieces of food for her. Meanwhile Bambi was so anxious I had to slide the tupperware with food all the way under the bed for her to eat her dinner.

Thursday January 11, 2007

Today I decided to start to feed them in the foyer, which is next to the bedroom. I sat down on the floor as usual and put the dry food into two tupperware dishes as usual. There's more room for me to stretch my legs, so it's partially a selfish decision. :-) Also it helps Bambi get used to being further away from the bed hiding place with me around. It worked alright and afterwards Bambi went to her favorite post-eating place for the last week or so which is right near the front door. There's a big gap between the bottom of the door and the carpet, and I think she just likes to smell the breeze coming from the long hallway outside the apartment. She may look out too under the door but I can't imagine the view is all that amazing - just my neighbor's door. Then she relaxes on the area rug by the front door. This way with me already in the foyer I get a good view of her. You see, I still can't get up/stand up without her going back underneath the bed.

Wednesday January 10, 2007

Today towards the end of the evening feeding, at the part where I am still sitting and Bambi walks around, I saw Bambi play for the first time. I think she plays when I am asleep but this time I was awake and watching her. Anyway there was a toy mouse on the floor of the foyer made of apricot colored fabric with ears and a tail and she batted it with her paws a little. Usually she's pretty guarded in my presence so that's a good sign.

Tuesday January 9, 2007

I took Bambi to the vet today after about one and a half weeks of feeding them both in their carriers. They said Bambi behaved very well. I asked specifically if they could weigh her and give me an age estimate. They estimated Bambi is ten months old! That is very neat only because that's so close to Zen's age. She's maybe about three weeks older than Zen, according to estimates. Also she gained 2 oz. which is good, from 6lbs. 9oz. to 6lbs. 11oz. She feels only thin not bony anymore when I pet her, and she's eating well. Yay!

Thursday January 4, 2007

The evening feeding went really nicely. As usual I sat in the bedroom on the floor to feed them. Zen and Bambi were the most amicable yet with eachother. Zen didn't do much dominant posturing this time and Bambi felt safe enough to let me pet her a whole bunch. Towards the end Zen was sitting next to my legs and Bambi was sitting three inches away from Zen. I pet them both, gently alternating between them so they'd get breaks and not have time for jealousy. This kept them both at ease. They finally sniffed each other's noses and Zen moved her paws to just 1/2" from Bambi's leg. Also Bambi is now carrier trained for her trip to the vet at Tree House for the PCR shot #2 on Tuesday January 9, 2007. That only took a few days. Carrier training is first explained on the Trapping 101 & Vet Time page, when I did it with Zen. The second major section of that page is called "Zen's Second Trip to the Vet/Tree House Clinic." Essentially you train them to go into their carrier when you put their food in there, many times over many days. Then right before the vet appointment you do it and close the door while the cat is eating, so you can take her to the vet.

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