Thanks!
1 Like
Good Morning ! Everyone settling in to your new home ?
Jingles & AO laced with some peace and calm ~
1 Like
Hi all-
I finally have internet service, and now I can fill you in.
Short story: The cat (Lestat) is fine. The move was anticlimactic.
Long story: I brought the carrier into the house a few weeks ago and left it at the bottom of the stairs with the door open. It still had the fleece throw in it from the last time it was used, about 2 years ago when my catâs brother (littermate), Louis, took his final trip to the vet (he succumbed to Feline Infectious Peritonitis.) I woke up in the middle of the night and went downstairs for a drink of water, and found Lestat sitting in the carrier. I assumed that he must have picked up Louisâs scent on the fleece. So I started to put treats in the carrier and every night I would find the treats were gone. But I never saw Lestat go in the carrier. For that reason, I didnât go and get a top opening carrier, because he didnât seem afraid of this one.
I have been working for at least a year to get Lestat to allow me to pick him up (at 14 years old, he still hisses at me when I put his food dish down.) At first I couldnât even pat him with two hands. But gradually I could lift him, as long as I followed his rules and it had to be part of a routine. He had to be on the bed, begging for treats. He had to lay down when I extended both hands. If he let me pick him up, he got treats. If he didnât let me or if he had hissy fit when I picked him up, I just walked away. He started to get good at it and we did it twice a day, at set times morning and evening.
I moved the carrier upstairs next to the bed, and over the last few days, on the bed. I was still hiding treats in it, and the treats were still disappearing.
On Saturday, I gave him 100 mgs of gabapentin in his breakfast of 9 Lives Super Supper. He ate it all. About an hour and a half later, I went upstairs and as I was getting dressed, Lestat went into the carrier right in front of me to get the hidden treats. This is a cat that doesnât like to be in the same room with a standing person; it had to be the medication that impaired his judgment. The minute that his tail went in the carrier, I shut the door and locked it. He was very unhappy, hissing and yowling, but he did not attack the door with his teeth or claws the way that he did when I brought him home from the rescue.
I took him to the new house with all of his familiar things (litter box, toys, scratching posts, cat condo, blanket, etc.) and put him in the master bedroom which I am not going to move into right away. I left him in the carrier until the movers were out of the house, and then released him into the room. He was a bit wobbly but he ate and used the litter box. (He didnât soil the carrier.) I kept him in the room until last evening, and when I let him out, he slowly investigated each room, retreating to the master bedroom after each room. I went back to all his old routines, and he visibly relaxed when he found my bed, and the couch.
This morning he woke me up howling at about 3 AM, and I got up and slept on the couch with him until he left. Then I went back to bed for a couple of hours, and fed him at the usual time.
So as you can see, I was way more freaked out than I had to be. But it confirms my belief that preparation and routine is EVERYTHING with animals, and then you âride the horse, not the planâ if you get my analogy.
I am exhausted, but relieved. Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement!
EH
1 Like
[B]BLUE RIBBON !!!
Excellent plan and follow through !!!
Enjoy your new home ![/B]
âRide the horse, not the planâ
What a perfect analogy!
So pleased you took the proper routes and ways of handling Lestatâs move and that neither of you are none the worse for the wear.
Good luck and good fortune in your new home, I hope you are content and comfortable soon.
Thank you!
