This year our thanks on Thanksgiving Day is for many things, only a few of which we'll state here.
That C&B were there with open hearts to take Clyde in and be his. It's all going wonderfully well with them so we're very pleased and extremely thankful that those two gals needed some kitty lovin' right when Clyde needed some people lovin'.
And though this has been a bit of a too-many-pebbles-in-the-paw-pads sort of year in our home, we are deeply happy to have each other.
Not that we follow sports or anything but this caught our eye (from BBC News yesterday):
Cat rescue earns keeper a booking | |
Goalkeeper Ivan Banovic was booked after rescuing a pitch-invading cat during a top-flight match in Croatia. Medjimurje Cakovec's Banovic picked up the wandering feline after it strayed on to the pitch 20 minutes into his team's match at Sibenik. He placed it safely near a scoreboard but was then booked by the referee for leaving the pitch without permission. Media reports said the official's actions annoyed fans, who barracked him for punishing Banovic's kind deed. If the moggy was a home fan, it would been left purring as Sibenik won 1-0 to go second in the table. | |
Who says serious athletes can't be sensitive creatures? Too bad this one was punished for trying to be both.
Today just might be the last warm day until spring, frankly. The forecast for the week looks progressively bleary with temps dropping steadily. Ho hum. So here is possibly one last taste of what we felines love so much, basking and nodding off.
Haven't seen Mia in a while, eh? Yeah, she's more difficult to capture in pixilation. She tends to sleep in out of the way places (like under the fold of the couch slipcover or other completely hidden spots) and play so fast she becomes a blur, so there are always less photo opportunities for her. Her two kids are more the posers in the family anyway.
But here she is loving the sunshine with the Beau, the bright light making them happysleepy.
Well, last night sure woke us all up! We'll attempt to attach a photo for you later today, once we have one, but wanted to go ahead and report that Clyde had a major breakthrough. Yay!
It actually occurred due to the fact that C&B (his new "people") tried to move the bed in his room. As you might guess, doing something like this prompted Clyde to lose it. It had been his only real safe zone in his new room, to be able to hide under that bed, but that's both a good and a bad thing. Good that he could have a safe place to go, sure, but bad in that it allowed him to keep avoiding C&B and the bond they wanted to build with him. After they tried to move his bed and he then raced up walls and became his old fierce feral self in total freak-out mode, C&B phoned our feeder. She went over and was able to quickly calm him down, luckily. And out of that upheaval they were all able, amazingly, to have wonderful petting and bonding sessions. Major warm-n-fuzzy goodness between C&B and Clyde.
That primal fear in an animal is always awful to watch and/or be in the middle of; if you're at all a compassionate sort of person, it twists a heart to think you were the one who put an animal in a position to feel this way. But, after the adrenaline had ebbed and the panic had been muted, by the end of last night, there had been much MUCH more significant progress than would have happened otherwise. At least not for another few weeks at least. A kind of concentrated getting-to-know-you hour or so that brought the whole process to a better place very quickly.
Kudos to C&B for their fortitude and devotion and wide-open hearts. And even more kudos to Clyde for being able to climb down off that wall, get past his fear and reach out for that new affection and safety with C&B. He's going to be just dandy in no time. We're sure of it.
So, lesson learned:
Sometimes, out of crisis comes some purdy darn great thangs.
Okay, here he is, pleased as could be to be getting some head stroking from B ...
An old picture from August of 2008, before Clyde would even let our feeder within twenty feet of him (without a screen door between, that is):
As KatieBell reminded us, we haven't told you the most recent status on Clyde's new home. Apologies for neglecting that, if you've been wondering.
When our feeder took him over last Friday, he freely investigated the guest bedroom C&B, his new "people", put him in as his initial acclimation area, then spent a little while in her arms while they all sat in there with him. But after a while he decided to crawl under the bed and refused to come out again. It was actually better than our feeder expected since he could have been too scared to even investigate the room at all.
Well, that under-the-bed spot became his safe zone from that moment on and C&B are just hanging out in there with him a lot, talking to him as he hides under the bed and letting him get used to their presence day by day; giving him the time and space to feel trust at his own pace and come out when he's ready.
Since then, he's come out regularly to eat and sit looking at C&B but has not yet allowed a touch. Everyone is hoping that before the week is out he'll finally let the physical contact -- oh, that sweet lovin'! -- begin. It's obviously a longer and harder process for a guy like Clyde who has so little experience with humans or their strange and unfamiliar indoor habitats. But after that decision is made, we're sure he'll be a total mooch. Then, maybe, he'll be ready to venture beyond that one safe room and scout out the rest of the house in stages. And ... meet the dog ... yikes!
It's mostly only noticeable when contrasted against something dark but there is some babyfine hair growing back in on Twee's leg. Less noticeable than the new hair on her belly and neck but it's so soft ... even though the mesh pattern of the old bandage can still be seen when you look closely.
Our feeder has been mopey all weekend, missing Clyde. We three have been smothering our gal with affection, which has been mightily welcomed but, no matter how much better the situation will be for Clyde in his new home, we know goodbyes are never fun and changes take some getting used to. We have to admit that it's a little boring not to have Clyde to peek at through the back screen door, or get all riled up over, or watch from the bedroom window as he strolls arrogantly down the driveway off to explore foreign parts we three have no access to or knowledge of. In fact, it's downright strange not to hear and see him several times a day. He's a guy who makes an impression. So a kind of eerie calm has set in around the house. Life is so much easier ... yet "easy" isn't always easy.
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Recent Comments
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Emmi said:
Because God forbid an animal's life should interfere with a football game. Unbelieveable. That cat is gorgeous, what was he... read more
on no good deed goes unpunished -
Aubrey said:
[this is good]Maple-colored kitties reclining on maplewood? Very perfect. read more
on more blinking and basking -
Katiebell said:
They both look so content there! I think I am soon to post up sme photos of my Moms 3....since... read more
on more blinking and basking -
crescent gang said:
yeah, that's LeBeau! always snagging the best spots first >¨< and i agree -- cats do tend to have evocative... read more
on bright time is nap time
on all together now