Visiting Mau

Our original goal of visiting the shelter on Sunday afternoon was to visit Mau. We had a lovely time with him. He doesn’t mind the kittens and apparently likes other cats, although one of his previous housemates, Virginia, did not like him. He enjoys being brushed and, when taken to the interaction room, evidently knows about lap time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snap a photo of him climbing into Aaron’s lap.

One of the volunteers suggested that he be renamed Frankie or Sinatra because of those beautiful blue eyes!

Compared to Garrus and Charlie, he has big paws! He’s also heavier than I expected, given that he is on the skinny side. On this visit, we were able to pick him up and hold him. He also purred! Cue warm fuzzies.

Kitten Palooza Part One

Aaron and I visited the Pflugerville Animal Shelter for two hours this afternoon, originally intending to see Mau. We’re still waiting for him to be transferred to APA and receive more intensive treatment for his dental issues. In the meantime, we get to visit!

When I visited last week, there was a litter of seven kittens. Two of them–the black and the white and grey bicolor–were adopted last week. The grey will be adopted tomorrow. But now the adoption room has four more kittens–9 total! I can verify that they were indeed most precious.

These three were mellow and super-cuddly and freely demonstrated their excellent purring technique. (You can see the third’s rear end sticking up. He took kneading on the bed very seriously.)

This little girl was positively loquacious! Her brother had been adopted late last week so she did not like being by herself, and let everyone know how unfair it was.

“GIMME ATTENTION NOW!” The grey tabby (the only girl in the litter of seven, now five) was a little diva.

“Love me please?” These orange and grey furballs wanted all the smooches.

Stay tuned for Part Two!

Rainy Day Shelter Visit

Aaron decided to take the afternoon off to fix our garage door. We went to Home Depot to pick up parts and, while we were out, stopped at the Pflugerville Animal Shelter to visit the cat adoption room. What a lovely way to spend a gloppy afternoon!

Mau really enjoys his box. Here he is demonstrating the swishy magnificence of his tail.

While we were not able to get photos of it, Mau did come out of his box and we brushed him. He has thin patches of fur on his sides, likely evidence of stress-related overgrooming. While he apparently eats, he is quite skinny. Amazingly, he refuses to eat wet food and insists on dry food, even though that must hurt him. The volunteers I spoke to suspect he does so because that’s what he is used to eating. He reminds me of Garrus when we first got him. Aaron agreed with me that he looked sad, a bit scraggly, and in need of our help.

While we were there, two other volunteers, Carolyn and Grandma Jean came into the adoption room. Both had worked more with Mau than I have, so I asked them questions about his temperament. When he first came to the shelter a month ago, he was terrified (understandable). Gradually, he started softening and demonstrating that he is a calm but friendly cat who likes to be held and brushed. He has toe floof! Evidently he has been handled a lot more than Garrus was, so that’s a plus, but he’s also quite a bit older than Garrus and Charlie and presumably spent years with his previous owner.

Mau doesn’t like new environments so being taken out into the open space of the adoption room is overwhelming. Grandma Jean said that he does better in the small interaction rooms. As Carolyn reached into the condo to pet him, he started licking her hand repeatedly, which I thought was an odd quirk. When Aaron and I held a kitten, he didn’t seem to mind them at all, whereas his neighbor Chester growled at the the mere sight of the kittens.

As to if and when Aaron and I will be able to foster Mau, we’re waiting for him to be transferred from the shelter to Austin Pets Alive!, since he needs extensive dental work. I contacted both the shelter director and APA and have been approved as a foster (yay), and let APA know that I wanted to foster this particular cat from the Pflugerville Animal Shelter. In the interim I’ll visit and love on him.

Peace…for about 3 minutes!

Shortly after I took this photo, the grey tabbies woke up and started yammering for attention. Obviously we had to plunk on the floor and hold kittens because I couldn’t resist giving these babies lovies. (Who would?)

The tabbies had adorable spotted tummies (!), and all of them had eaten recently, so they had little fat bellies begging for rubs. The black kitten was calm and cuddly today and, mercifully, not so pointy after having his nails trimmed. The orange bicolor and grey bicolor were chatty and bold little explorers. They are clearly used to climbing into volunteers’ laps and being adored. The orange tabby was a genuine extrovert and threw a squeaky, wiggly tantrum until he was picked up again. Once held, he wanted to chill and started to doze off against my chest. There was much internal squeeing on my end.

Evening Routine

We’re homebodies and like to just chill out at home in the evenings. In the past Aaron and I have watched a particular show together. We’ve watched several Star Trek shows (Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise), Friends, Downton Abbey, Futurama, Agents of SHIELD, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. Lately we’ve been doing video games (well, Aaron has been playing video games while I watch). We started with Horizon Zero Dawn (excellent), Ori and the Blind Forest, Unravel, and now The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its extension packs, Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine.

When we sit on the couch, all the cats assume their preferred locations. Boudicca cannot wait to climb onto my lap, receive pets and smooches, and purr contentedly.

Googly cat is googly.

Charlie often hangs out on the cat tree but if he is feeling lovey he ask to get onto the couch next to me. Then he flops repeatedly, purrs very loudly, and head bunts my hand as I pet him.

Charlie likes to curl his paws over the edge of the platform when I pet him.
We’ve been introducing him to snuggling (with humans) and lap time. He approves.

Somebody was being really cute!

Garrus generally hangs out on the floor on the other side of the ottoman but lately he has been sharing the ottoman with us. Garrus, reserved Gentleman Cat of the house, is most particular about his spot, is slow to warm up, and has an established bubble of personal space. He is slowly learning how to relax around us. We give him space so that he can decide if he wants to engage with us. If it takes him a while, that’s okay.

Isn’t he handsome?

Occasionally, Garrus has been brave and hung out on the couch with us! This has been a lovely breakthrough!

While I certainly hope that the boys will become lap kitties in time, I will not be heartbroken if they are not. They both have made leaps and bounds of progress in the seven months we have had them. They are less skittish, shy, and reactive, and now seek us out for attention. Working with shy cats can be a challenge (it requires a lot of patience) but I have found it worthwhile. Charlie, in particular, has blossomed from a very hidey cat to an incredibly sweet, squeaky boy who frequently looks like he has a blissful smile on his face. Garrus is a bit more inscrutable but when I get him to purr I take that as a win!

Do your cats adhere to a particular evening routine? Do they have preferred spots? Do they like lap time?

I Will Pick You Up and You Will Like It

When we brought the Downton Tabbies home as fosters in August, it was evident they were completely unaccustomed to being handled on a daily basis. Aside from visits from volunteers who loved on them and foster care, probably most of what they had experienced was rough manhandling that involved being scruffed, put inside a carrier, and taken to the shelter, the vet, or a temporary home, all of which are stressful places and situations for cats. The whole experience must have been like an alien abduction to them.

Picking up and holding a cat is part of socializing that cat, a topic I’ve discussed at length with my vet once I took the boys in as fosters. It is also an integral part of having to hold and, on occasion, restrain an animal for certain situations. Good examples would be to trim a cat’s nails, clean their ears, or to administer medication. Also, getting them into the carrier is a challenge every cat owner and cat must face!

With some coaxing and a lot of patience, Charlie is submitting to being picked up. The trick is getting him to disengage his claws from fabric or his tower. Once scooped, he does well if he is held close to the body in a semi-circular ball. I think he likes the reassurance, support, and security my arms provide as I hold him. I also give him smooches, sneak in belly rubs if his tummy is exposed, and talk to him. On several occasions I’ve been rewarded with purrs. For some reason, Aaron hasn’t had as much luck being able to catch and pick up Charlie as I have.

Garrus is another matter. He hops, wiggles, shimmies, darts, and skitters away from both of us when we try to pick him up. If we’re able to actually get a grip on him and hold him for a few seconds, he uses his long back legs to kick off of our arms or chest to spring away. Then he looks back reproachfully at us. Once he’s onto us, he gives us a wide berth until he is certain that we won’t try to pick him up. Clever boy.

I’ve spoken about his tactics with his vet and her technicians, who have provided a few tips and a lot of encouragement. We have to move slowly with Garrus and acclimate him accordingly. Aaron and I have made it a goal to habitually pick him up just a few inches off the ground a couple times a day. We don’t pick him up each time we pet him or else he will avoid our approach. As I’ve mentioned, he’s smarter than Charlier and a bit feistier.

This evening I demonstrated both persistence and patience as he walked in figure-8s around my legs, apparently wanting rubs but seemingly catching onto the idea that I might want to pick him up but not sure exactly when I might do it. In due time I picked him up twice, each time putting one hand in front of his chest (to prevent him from hopping off) and the other beneath his hind legs and bottom to give him ample support (and to prevent him from kicking).

I gave him a break and rewarded him with his favorite form of affection: scritches on the side of his neck and chest simultaneously. He began to purr, relaxed, squinted his eyes, and semi-flopped on the floor. Stroking him and talking to him all the while, I managed to scoop him up into my arms and held him for about half a minute–a record! Amazingly he continued to purr! I smooched his head and told him that he was such a good boy. I’m not sure if Garrus appreciated such praise but Aaron concurred.

Then Garrus had enough and flew out of my arms, his back paws flying off my chest. He didn’t give us the side-eye this time because instead he got a treat for not being such a wiggle-worm when being held. His claws left a tiny hole in my shirt. C’est la vie. I still won.