On Saturday, when we took the new member of our family home, she cried all the way.
But it's turning out all right. She's not crying any more.
Last Saturday, we selected our new cat at the local shelter. You saw her picture from the paper last time, and you'll see some better pictures soon. On Wednesday, she had her spaying and declawing operation. The declawing does cause some pain to the kitty (as does the spaying, I'm sure), so the shelter wanted to keep her until Saturday. We were disappointed, but the shelter said we could come over to visit. That sounded fine with us.
So we drove over after lunch Friday, and here is the kitty in her little cubicle, which is a lot smaller than a three-foot cube. She's licking her paw, post-declawing ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-Closedcage-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
We took her into the visiting room, where we held and petted her for about a half hour ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-closeup-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
Then we had to go, and I put her back into her cage. She had been there for two months. This was the final night, and the card on the cage had a happy message as she went back to licking her paw ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-Opencage-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
Saturday, I worked at the office until about noon. Then, I walked home, we grabbed the "pet taxi," got in the car and made our trip to the shelter. I filled out the last of the paperwork and the instructions--the pink stuff on her cage is medication we have to give her three times a day until it's gone. We also got some samples and things we have to send in.
Finally, it was time to get the kitty and put her into the pet taxi. But she didn't want to go in. We finally got her in there, but she started meowing. And as we carried her to the car, she kept meowing. All through the trip home, she kept crying. We tried to reassure her that this time she isn't going back to the vet's office.
Instead, we parked behind the house, took her and the pet taxi inside, took off our coats and got ready to let her out. But Maggie saw us arrive and seemed to immediately suspect something. She walked right over to the (closed) pet taxi, looked through the grate and started hissing. Then, a growl. We decided it would be a good idea to take the pet taxi into the living room. There, we opened the door, and the kitty walked out into her new home. She walked around, her nose working like mad.
We let her do that for a few minutes. Then we decided it was time to start reassuring her that it was nothing to cry about. So I petted her. Then my wife petted her. Then I petted her. Then she did. And I got the camera out. Say cheese, kittycat ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-SnugglingMom-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-Andmom-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
There was a little more hissing and growling between the cats (the new kitty did some growling and hissing, too), but that's as far as it has gone. Sunday, there was less of it. At least until 9 p.m. when they got their dander up. Just hissing and growling. They have to work through it.
Meanwhile, the kitty spent a lot of quality time with the two of us, getting petted and loved up. For her part, she did a lot of purring. And her rough little tongue made sure we had nice, clean fingers ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-Fingerwash-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
David came over during the day to meet the new kitty, and he stayed around for most of the day. He got his chance to pet her. After supper, we decided among several movies he brought and opted for "The Simpsons."
Because of her paws, we were very careful so she would not have to jump down anywhere, and we carried her a lot on Saturday. Sunday, not so much. She was climbing the stairs all right and jumping up onto the couch. Usually, it was when I was sitting there. We still place her on the floor. But her paws seem to be getting better.
Yes, I got a chance to spoil the new kitty, too ...
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b289/drdog/Kitty-Andme-2-08.jpg[/IMG]
See her tummy? That's where she had the operation. Late this week, we have to take her to the vet, to have her stitches removed. That ought to be fun.
And so that's how it's been this weekend. I didn't have a lot of writing to do, and that's a good thing because it would have gotten put off. I had other priorities, like getting to know the new kitty a little better.
Last night, my wife and Maggie went to bed early, Maggie taking residence on her normal corner of the bed, next to my wife's pillow. I was up for a while, trying to get caught up on blog entries at efx2, with the kitty curled up by my feet. Earlier, my wife found a blue thermal blanket we had gotten from my mom's house, and I laid it out under the window, next to my side of the bed. I placed the kitty there when I went to bed.
She stayed for a while. Then she hopped down. During the night, she was up and down a few times. I heard Maggie hissing once or twice. Then it was quiet again. In the morning, she was back on the thermal blanket. She jumped on the bed for a while just before I got up.
I adjusted the thermal blanket tonight, moving it about a foot closer to my head, so I can reach out during the night and pet her head if she is there.
Right now, it's about 9:30 p.m. and time for the kitty's final dose of medicine for today. I hold the kitty, while my wife uses the eyedropper. She squirms, but she's pretty good about it.
We were just saying tonight that those two months in that little cage at the shelter must seem a long time ago now for the newest member of our household.
By the way, we aren't referring to her as "Sparkle," her shelter name. No name has been selected yet. We'll come up with something, I'm sure. So far I have referred to her as Invisicat, for her obvious skill in hiding in shadows, but I need something catchier and more clever than that.
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