black-and-white cat – Page 27

A Snapshot of Scout

I’ve never put this picture of Scout online before as it’s just a simple snapshot from when she was around one year old, but I was editing it today and my eyes filled with tears and I had to put it aside for a while. It caught me off guard, as while I will go to my grave missing her, she died two years ago and usually by now the sense of loss isn’t quite so pointed. Besides I’ve edited other pictures of her recently with only the expected dull ache of distant loss.

I suppose it has as much to do with Emma as Scout as I’ve been thinking a lot about her recently. Grieving for her got interrupted with the health problems the other pets had and as needs must, we focused on the sick more than the dead. They were both far too young when they died, especially Em, and while we tried everything to save them, ultimately their fates were out of our hands.

The silver lining, of course, in outliving our pets is that as sorry as I am to have lost Scout and Emma, I’m happy to have welcomed Boo and Trixie into our home. Only I hope I won’t grieve for their loss for many years to come.

Sleepmate

I don’t think I’ve put this picture of Scout from 2001 online before, she’s sleeping on my side of the bed in the master bedroom of our old house and had been with us for about 5 months. Right from the get-go she climbed on to my chest every night when I went to bed.

Don’t Make Eye Contact! Don’t Look Her in the Eyes!

A picture from a couple of years ago when we were starting Boo on his introduction to the rest of the family after a couple of weeks in isolation. Emma (the black cat) was stalking Boo everywhere as he explored the house, and eventually he went under the baker’s rack in the kitchen for a little timeout. He was avoiding making eye contact with Emma and was clearly getting a little overwhelmed so we continued his introduction slowly, a few hours each day until everyone was comfortable.

Brothers

Boo and Sam keep keep watch in our biggest picture window on a fall afternoon.

Rear-ended

Objects in lap are closer than they appear.

Face Time

I got up from the couch and had to move Sam, who had been sleeping on my lap. When I came back I sat down beside him as I planned to go to bed soon. But then Boo jumped up and curled up beside me, and given how stressed he had been about Trixie’s arrival, I decided to stay up longer and give him some attention. He was showing signs of accepting her but he was still pretty stressed out about her.

Later as he slept curled up in a ball beside my legs, Trixie jumped up onto my lap. This woke Boo and I thought he’d get up and leave, but instead he stayed, trying to determine what to do, so I stroked his back and he fell back asleep. I got Trixie to lay down on my stomach but then she eased over so that her feet were up against his body, and I was surprised to see that not only did he not hiss at her, he tolerated it without incident.

So she moved a little closer. And then a little closer. She was now partially sitting on top of him, but still Boo showed no reaction. Trixie then eased completely off of me so that she was sitting on top of him, and I was stunned to see that this too he tolerated.

A little too emboldened, she leaned over and smushed her face directly into his. This I knew would be a bridge too far, yet Boo didn’t budge. Given the landmark moment I decided to forgo sleep for a while longer and let them bond, though I kept falling asleep sitting up. Hours later, with Trixie still atop Boo, I relented and went to bed for a little sleep.

They’ve been getting along ever since.

Boo Turns a Corner

Our sensitive little Boo turned out to be the biggest obstacle to Trixie’s introduction. He didn’t stalk her the way Emma stalked him, but he did hiss at her if she came close and was just generally out of sorts. He’d follow Sam at times to try and engage him to play, and even when Sam made it clear he didn’t want to, Boo wouldn’t relent and a quarrel would follow. He’s made a lot of progress the past couple of weeks and no longer hisses at Trixie and at times is quite tolerant of her.

He’s not ready to play with Trixie yet, but hopefully that will change with time. I’ve been able to get him to play at the same time as her, so that’s a start. He’s a sweet little fellow, I’m not too worried, it’s just the stresses of the past few months have been a bit hard on him and Sam.

Philosophy

“Do you ever wonder if life is an illusion and we’re all really just sitting in a paper bag?”
“Not really, Boo, but I bet it kept Descartes up at night.”
“Nihil enim somni ergo sum.”
“What?”
“I can’t sleep, therefore I am.”
“Maybe it’s time you came out of that paper bag.”

The Best of Times

Boo is clearly on the mend, he’s eating his normal meals and was pretty playful tonight, Sam even got in on the action for a bit. They’re both still a little high strung, especially Boo, so when we start their introduction to Trixie we’ll take it slowly. Our dog Ellie met her tonight for a few minutes but we didn’t push it, Ellie was a little wound up.

This picture is from September 2013, when all the pets were cuddled up around me. Boo, having been accepted by the older cats, was sprawled out in my lap with his arms around me. Emma slept down by my feet with Sam using her as a pillow. Ellie was curled up beside me, you can see a couple of her paws at the edge of the frame. Laying quietly covered in pets, these are my happiest times.

Sam is curled up in my lap at the moment while Ellie is snoring in her dog bed. My wife is upstairs with Trixie, Boo I think is in one of the cat beds just around the corner. What joy these little creatures bring into our lives.

Boo Gives Us a Scare

After Emma died early in January after a lengthy illness, and after Sam stopped eating a few weeks ago and after treatment only started eating just before we were going to have to start force feeding him, on Sunday Boo stopped eating. Normally he is food obsessed, and much like with Sam, had eaten normally in the morning but wouldn’t touch his food in the evening.

I walked down to the grocery store and got him some baby food as we did with the other cats, and thankfully knew from prior experience that Boo wouldn’t eat the beef variety that the other cats did, so got him turkey and chicken instead. He ate a jar later that night, and some baby food and cat food in the morning, but I was going to call the vet before I left for work to see what we should do, when he was able to eat another jar of baby food. If he was feeling stressed out, I didn’t want to add to that stress, so as long as he was eating enough and not showing other symptoms, we decided to just give him some time.

My wife thinks the the trigger may have been that I spent most of that afternoon with the new kitten, as I’ve been spending most of the time with the other pets while my wife hangs out with Trixie. Boo is a sensitive little fellow for sure and he’s had a rough month, but he had seemed like he was coping rather well.

Thankfully he’s back to eating his regular meals and while he’s not back to normal, this morning his energy levels were improving, although he’s still very unsure of himself. In another day or two I think he’ll be back to normal.

This picture is from the day after we adopted him in July of 2013 when he was in isolation in my wife’s office. He was terrified so I didn’t try for any pictures on the first day, but my new quieter camera arrived the next day and he was finally willing to come out of hiding at times, so I took a picture not long after unboxing the camera.

Trixie is still isolated in the guest bedroom and is doing great, we’ll start introducing her to our dog Ellie pretty soon, and then take it slow with the cats. We’ll keep a close eye on Sam and Boo given what they’ve just gone through, but I think they’ll be fine.