Adopting Apricot

Despite the fact that he's now bold enough to start gnawing/clawing at the corners of my biggest area rug (I may have to move it into the tv room, but it will probably look good in there), I called the shelter today and told them to make it official--I want to adopt Apricot.

I have tummy flutters in a bad way about this, but so far my anxiety has proven itself wrong about most things and I've been right, so phooey on it.

Monday (yesterday) I had to work long and came home exhausted. It's the first time I've been that exhausted since I brought Apricot home. Well, he discovered that it didn't matter how tired I was, I wouldn't ignore him if he lay on his side, stuffed one paw under the area rug, the other paw on top, and scratched both sides while nibbling at it. He wasn't actually doing any damage, but a decade of this behavior would have the rug ragged.

So I put a chair over it, the bowl chair from the tv room that's been sitting in my living room since I got the couch. The chair sits on a small area rug that's shaped like a bunch of flowers. Apricot couldn't get to the (expensive) area rug under the (inexpensive) flower rug, and gave me a dirty look. Then he flounced off and grabbed a toy mouse and proceeded to maul it.

I praised him for being a good boy, and once he'd played by himself long enough (a few minutes) I got up and got Da Bird out to play with him. Since it was obvious I wasn't going to be able to rest until I played with him.

Today I learned and got Da Bird out shortly after I got home, but after my phone call to the shelter. Apricot in that time went after the other corner of the rug (it's up against the bookshelves on the third and fourth sides). So I told him no, don't do that, and put a horizontal cardboard cat scratcher on that corner. He nosed it for a bit and then went and played with other toys.

And when I finished the "official adoption phone call" I went over to the toy box and asked if he wanted me to get Da Bird out. He didn't actually get up and start coming over until I lifted the lid, but then he got all excited and could hardly wait until I got Da Bird out of its storage bag and the wand extended.

I played him into the ground.

Sacked out on the tile where it's cooler

He was actually panting just a bit when I packed Da Bird away. And now he is pleasantly tired, I think. I picked him up and held him and walked three steps to the litter box box in front of the patio doors and sat down with him, and he didn't even flinch. He even seemed to like it--not the walking part, but the cuddling part.

And when I came home today he was curled up in the kitchen's cat tree in front of the window. He left before I could get a picture, seemingly alarmed, not by me outside the window but by me seeing him there. I think he thinks he's doing something not allowed by being on the cat tree. It's not like he wasn't waiting in the living room / kitchen doorway when I came in, so he wasn't scared.

Oh well. We all need something to do that we think we're not allowed to do so we have that extra spice of "being caught" to it, and since I don't care if he's on the cat tree in the kitchen (it's what it's there for, after all), he can pretend. He'll figure it out sooner or later.