Saturday, August 10, 2013

Welcome Home, Cayenne

I wanted to post a picture here of Cayenne in her new home, but alas, she has spent most of her time here so far under the bed where the big bad doggie cannot reach her, so there have not been many photo opportunities.

Cayenne finally came home today.  She's been my kitty since she was a baby, and she is now nearly 14 years old, but she stayed with Mike initially when I moved.  She does not like change, does not like Isaac, and was enjoying sitting out on the front porch in the nice weather, which she will not be able to do here.  So for those reasons, Mike and I decided she would stay with him for a little while after I moved.  The initial plan was to move her here at the end of the summer, when the weather began to turn cold, and she would no longer want to sit outside.  With the return of her cancer and her other medical problems, I believe this will be her last summer and I wanted her to be able to enjoy sitting outside on the porch as long as she could.

Mike's mother is now having some health issues, though, and Mike will be staying with her for at least the next few months.  Therefore, Cayenne needed to move before the end of the summer.  I love her and I've missed her, but I also feel a little bad for her, because I'm afraid she won't like living here very much.  I know she will not be pleased to share a home with Isaac again.

Yesterday I went shopping and bought her a new litter box, cat food, all that stuff.  I rearranged my bedroom closet, creating a little nest in the back where she can go and Isaac cannot get to her.  I also set up a little area on the ledge in front of my living room window with a nice little blanket where she can lie and look out the window.

Today I picked her up at Mike's.  Cayenne hates - hates, hates, hates - riding in the car.  I put her in the carrier and put her in the back seat and started the drive home.  She cried some, pitiful little meows.  Halfway here, she threw up, poor thing.  She's never thrown up in the car before but I guess the ride upset her tummy.

I got her home and shut Isaac in the bathroom, which offended him greatly, and then let her out of the carrier.  She went directly under the bed, but then she came out and crept around the bedroom, checked out the closet, and went back under the bed.  I let Isaac out of the bathroom and he really wanted to visit with her, but she was tucked away under the bed pretty well, so he quickly gave up.
 
Twice I've gone into the bedroom, closed the door to keep the big scary doggie out, and offered her food.  She comes right out from under the bed to eat.  Apparently her stomach feels fine now because she scarfed down her dinner like she was starving.  She also drank some water.  I showed her the nice new litter box I got her, which she did not appreciate one bit.  Cats never seem to like it when you stick them in a litter box.  I left it right beside the bed, which is not where I intend to keep it forever, but right now I want it to be where it's easy for her to use it, and since under the bed is where she wants to be, beside the bed is where the box needs to be.

I'm glad she's here and hope she settles in quickly.

2 comments:

  1. This is something I'm about to have to deal with. Our cat, Raven, is eight years old. She has never lived anywhere else in her entire life. I am losing the house we live in. My grandfather built most of it with his own two hands. I just can't pay the taxes and keep up the house on my small amount of social security disability I get. So we are having to move to an apartment. There is only one apt available in my entire town. The complexes are at 100 percent occupancy. So no move in specials etc. Anyway I am afraid Raven will hate the move, the new place etc. She will like the fact that we have to get rid of the dog. That kills me but she is too big and the apt has a twenty pounds pet limit. I have a friend that will take the dog tho and the dog knows her and her dogs and they all get along great. So thats a relief.

    Wow, i've written a book here, sorry about that. It's just a super stressful time right now and it's killing my anxiety and depression and everything else and to top it all off i cant get to the doctor to renew my meds. So i'm kinda going off the deep end here.

    I'm hoping your precious Cayenne will come around and enjoy what time she has left with you. One thing that helped my other cats in the past is to have a safe place where the dog cannot and is not allowed to go. Also put up a few shelves just for her to move around and still be out of Isaac's reach. That will give her some comfort knowing he can't get to her.

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    1. Yeah, I've made sure to have places where Cayenne can go that Isaac can't. I've also been going into the bedroom, closing the door so Isaac can't come in, and hanging out in there periodically to spend time with Cayenne and she comes out from under the bed and hangs out with me. I tried putting her on the bed one time, I thought she might like to lie up there for a while, but she did not like that at all and immediately jumped down and ran back under the bed. She has trouble jumping very high these days, I think she may have some arthritis or something, so she won't get up on very high shelves but she can jump up on a bed.

      One thing that has helped my cats when I've moved is to take things that smell like the house they are used to. Obviously if you are moving your furniture and stuff that will be familiar to Raven. I brought a towel from Mike's house yesterday that Cayenne could have that would smell familiar. Unfortunately, she threw up on the towel in the car so today it has to get washed, so it will no longer smell like Mike's.

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