The new litter box with the clear sides has proved to be a source of much entertainment as well as actual use. They both used the litter box within ten minutes of coming out of the carrier (which happened within ten seconds of my opening the carrier door). They have to climb in, because the edge is tall. I have a cardboard thick piece covered with a piece of carpet for the "stair". The stair keeps getting played with and turned over. I'm not sure if I should tape it to the mat under the litter box or just keep putting it back. They can (they have proved) jump in without it.
But I've watched Colby decide to leave by one of the walls, and run right into it because it's clear and he didn't see that it was there. Colby has a tendency to not-notice things. I do sympathize with him. I do that too.
He depends on Thimble a lot. Thimble was the one who asked me where the scratching post was. He stretched out on the desk leg, and looked back at me. "Is this where I'm supposed to do this?"
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| Yes, I know how to scratch, thank you, I just didn't know where. |
I said, no, come over here, this is where it is. The cat tree with the scratching post legs is in the corner to give the tree, which is tall, some stability. Thimble came over and I ran my fingers down the sisal post that I can most easily reach. Thimble gave me this, "uh, thanks, but duh, I know what to do" look and proceeded to stretch out and scratch.
It looked like he wanted the stretching more than the scratching, which makes sense given they were confined to a carrier longer than they've ever been before, and with two of them in there, there isn't a lot of room to stretch out.
So Colby had been using the litter box during this (Thimble was first, there, too, but Colby didn't have to ask him where it was, just wait for him to finish). Colby comes over and they have a little conference, nose to nose, that lasts just a second, and then Colby goes right over to the scratching post and stretches out to scratch.
Way of Cats blog said that one of the cool things about a multiple cat household is watching the cats interact, and watching the cat who understands humans better, translate for the cat(s) who don't. And I saw that happening, right in front of me. It really was cool!
Well, I went out and checked on Apricot, and he still seemed to be normal. This was before the kittens' scent had an opportunity to permeate the house.
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| My brother's fireplace turns Max into Supercat! |
I have a lot of trouble with anxiety and I figured it was better if I left the house, left everyone to settle in on their own without me wittering at them. So I headed out to my board gaming friends and had my supper and played Lords of Waterdeep, but the anxiety started to build about a third of the way into the game, and I decided I had to turn my part over to a late-comer and leave when I found myself jumping the gun and trying to cut another person's turn short just because I needed to go home so badly. Even though we only had one round to go.
Anxiety also causes me to have trouble driving, so I wanted to leave before it got so bad I would have that trouble. It's bad enough driving in the dark now. (Ten years ago I used to be able to see in the dark better than anyone in my age group, so the fact that I'm having trouble driving in the dark makes me wonder just how badly most people in my age group see the world!)
When I got home, the smell had well and truly gotten through the house and Apricot was a bit on edge. He came to greet me when I came in, because that's in the kitchen at the opposite end of the house. But he didn't want to follow me to my bedroom to "help" me get ready for bed, the way he normally does, although he actually did come in when I called him plaintively enough.
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| This cat bed is where they've been sleeping, heaped together. |
I checked in on the kittens and found them in a heap together, fast asleep. And the light going on woke them up and they started coming awake and playful, and that was a mistake too. The two bedrooms share a wall so when I wanted to go to sleep, the soft thud and rumble of them playing on the cat tree was a bit disturbing.
Although honestly the scent was worse. It's not a bad smell, I keep saying, it's just different. So I went to sleep and Apricot stayed out in his cat tree in the living room in his Observation Deck, the little square where he stayed when my sister was staying with me and he wouldn't come down until she left.
There was a brief two hour interlude in the morning on Sunday where I got up, cleaned litterboxes, gave food and water, checked on everybody, played with or petted everybody, as desired, went for my hour walk and went back to bed. This is what I do Sunday morning, when I've stayed up late gaming the night before. And when I wake up the second time, in the middle of the day, it always seems a little like a dream.
Apricot was still, when I woke up, stubbornly in the Observation Deck, although he came down to be with me in the kitchen for my lunch.
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