The Apricot Theory

I've been developing a theory about Apricot's behaviors since I brought him home. I think that he is going back and doing his life over, paying special attention to the bits he missed (due to survival requirements) the first time around.

Okay, so when a kitten is born, they stay in the "nest" for the first week or so (not positive on the timeline here; it doesn't matter--it's the "this happens first and then this does" that matters). Mama takes care of all their needs. Right?

Apricot goes under the headboard and stays there for three days, only coming out in the dark of night to eat, drink, and use the bathroom. Meanwhile, like a giant mama cat washing him with her tongue, I am stroking him (with my hands, of course) while he's in the "nest."

What's next? Well, the kitten starts to explore, with anxious mama cat nearby. But the kitten only explores for a very little distance, and, if you're a nervous sort of kitten, not for very long each time. What did Apricot do next? He came out from under the headboard and explored for a very short distance for very brief amounts of time.

A kitten will then leave the nest for longer times and longer distances, as he or she grows stronger and gets better coordination of four legs. (That's gotta take some doing; it's difficult enough to manage two.) And so did Apricot, exploring for longer and longer times, coming farther out each time.

And then the kitten starts playing. Which is what Apricot started doing as well, nearly driving me batty before I let him into the rest of the house so he could play somewhere else while I was sleeping. It occurs to me that kittens start annoying their mama cat about this stage, too.

Just like a kitten growing, Apricot played longer, and harder, and got harder to wear out as the days went on. He also developed muscles that I suspect he'd had before his enforced quiet-tude in the shelter.

Now he is entering the teenager stage. He wants to be his own cat, not just an extension of mama, but he still wants to know mama loves him--he just wants both independence and love at the same time, which gets confusing for both teenagers and their parents.

He's developing tactics with Da Bird, and catching it far more often. I'm having to actually pay attention and counter his strategies rather than just reacting to his movement!

With each stage he's getting braver and more confident of the house, of me, and of the interaction between us.

Last night he even put me to bed. Sounds funny, doesn't it? But while he'll get on the bed for a petting, he won't get on the bed when I'm under the covers. Several times he's come to the end of the bed and up the stairs and mewed at me in the morning, trying to make me get out of the bed and become a useful petting person again, but he wouldn't come onto the bed for anything.

But last night he got on the bed while I was doing the second to last thing in the bed-time routine, and instead of coming over to my side of the bed and wanting petted, which he'd been doing earlier in the routine, this time he went to the far side of the bed and lay down on the covers, looking nervous but determined.

The covers were thrown back in a triangle, the way they do when you get out of bed rather absentminded of where you leave the bedclothes. He stayed where he was while I got into my pjs. He stayed where he was while I got gingerly into bed on my side, staying as far from him as possible while still being on the bed. I slipped my feet under the covers but left the rest of the covers the way they were, so as not to startle him.

He stayed put. He even stayed there when I turned the light off and turned back to him, facing him across the bed. (Although he was at the edge, he was more facing my waist than my head, actually.) So I closed my eyes and pretended to go to sleep. I think he may have thought I was asleep when he got up and left. He didn't leave in a hurry, and he stopped to get a bite to eat before he left the room. That's actually how I knew when he left the bed. Crunch crunch crunch. It amazes me how I usually sleep through his eating, because I know he comes in and gets snacks throughout the night.

So if my Apricot Theory holds true, he should turn into an adult in a month or two, with less playfulness and more cuddly (if I do my part right). He's already starting to enjoy cuddling while being held much more than he used to. Which I like very much.