(Written with help from Catherine Nelson, cat sitter extraordinaire)
The scariest thing about Ellie, Equinox and Kaylee’s temporary home in Rebersburg, PA, was the ferocious toddler, Audrey, age 1 ¾. Her attitude about pets was: Wow, new toys!
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| The Welcome Committee |
When she first met the cats, Audrey flailed her arms, jumped up and down and screeched in excitement, inciting terror in three feline hearts. Equinox wouldn’t even come out of his cat crate for the first hour, and then he ran into a closet and didn’t come out for two days.
Cats in Hiding
At first, Audrey was always grabbing at cat ears. She pulled Ellie’s tail on the first day (Lexie was very protective). But over the course of six weeks of cohabitation, she learned to gently pet a rump and not treat a cat like a doll.
Audrey Helping
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| Observing cat eating rituals on Day 1. |
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| Hand feeding one treat at a time to each cat, between her own taste testing. Very helpful. |
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| Taking one bowl of dry food and pouring it into another cat’s bowl. Very helpful. |
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| Pouring her own water into the water dish, before spilling all the water. Very helpful. |
Catherine put a baby gate between the living room and the stairs to keep the baby out (and to keep Audrey from playing with the kitty litter, “which was a trial the entire time,” she said).
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| Clearly Noxy is not that into her |
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| The baby gate is very helpful |
Then Catherine set up a kitty oasis at the top of the steps the first day at the top of the steps.
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| Kitty oasis |
Kaylee and Ellie hung out there, while Equinox took a corner over the closet under the stairs. Catherine spread the quilt down there for him. Then a week later she created a cat spot inside of their dog Cory’s crate under a table.
Kaylee spent the first day and a half under a couch in the living room, so Catherine would push food under the couch for her to make sure she ate. After a couple days, she discovered the spot at the top of the stairs. There was water, and a litter box, and a corner to hide in. Catherine would bring her food bowl up there as well, and just slide the food into that little nook.
But despite having a well-deserved reputation as the original scaredy cat, Kaylee was the first cat to venture out into the rest of the house. Eventually, the others came out as well, and each claimed their spot on (or under) certain favorite chairs. Equinox hung out with Mark on the back of his work chair.
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| Venturing out |
Catherine encouraged Audrey to feed the cats treats or put down a food bowl, making her slightly less terrifying and in fact of some value to the cats. (But then she tried to eat their food.) She also enjoyed stacking cat food cans, but otherwise cohabitated with the cats for the last few weeks in relative peace (and separation by a baby gate, when necessary).
Ellie, the Adventure Cat, will finish the story.
After a long time putting up with the evil toddler – who I eventually deigned to allow to touch my butt on occasion – our Mommy and family finally arrived one day. We thought they were gone forever!
We had a joyous reunion. My mommy cried.
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| Reunion |
They put us back in the crates in the car (I cried the whole ride, of course) and took us back to Grandma Greenawalt’s, and then up to their house in Vermont a few days later.
I really hate car rides, but I really love the house in Vermont. There’s lots of room to chase Kaylee, and there’s pretty snow outside the window, and my favorite thing: a box on top of the washing machine to sleep on.
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| My favorite spot |
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| (We like it, too!) |
Keep calm and carry on, I say.
