Wasn’t Maggie the Christmas kitty? I’m sorry you had to give her up, but under the circumstances, I guess you have too many cats, and a good home is a good home. Still, I felt a pang.
Yes, I found Maggie Christmas Eve. She was a sweet cat but a bit lost surrounded by larger personalities. This is a good place. They already sent a message that they traveled fine. Maggie settled quickly in the car with reassurance (she seriously dislikes carriers), and Panther never seemed ruffled at all.
The cats are doing fine at their new place. I’m getting updates. Good people.
I must admit, it also made me think that it would free up more house vacancy. I still would like to get Tina inside at least as an experiment. She is settling slowly but not quite ready to be that confined yet, I think. But soon.
[QUOTE=dressagetraks;8411898]
Thanks. I’ve jokingly called her a calishell, but I couldn’t figure out what the technical term would be.[/QUOTE]
If they have a tabby gene they are called “Torbies”. Those cats are beauties and I have to admit, I thought the new gang would split, very impressed with your method and that they stayed around. There must be a cat magnet force field around your farm.
I was a little worried, but there was no possible way to isolate them and do it as you “should.” But CL’s cats are nothing if not used to having other cats around, and there is also room to not be nose-to-nose with each other and warm up gradually. They also, remember, are bonded to my car - and to me, but the car sitting out in the driveway is very familiar to them. They have walked over it, tried to get in it, sniffed it, etc., for months. I was hoping it would be a sort of home base marker. I also took two of their own food dishes from CL’s to put out when I was adding feeding stations.
I got the cutest picture late last night of Panther and Maggie curled up on those people’s bed. You can hear the purrs. They will be fine. Wish I could put it on Photobucket for you, but it’s mobile, and I can’t figure out how to pluck it out of messenger. Later on today, when the light is better, I might try taking a picture of it.
[QUOTE=dressagetraks;8420155]
I was a little worried, but there was no possible way to isolate them and do it as you “should.” But CL’s cats are nothing if not used to having other cats around, and there is also room to not be nose-to-nose with each other and warm up gradually. They also, remember, are bonded to my car - and to me, but the car sitting out in the driveway is very familiar to them. They have walked over it, tried to get in it, sniffed it, etc., for months. I was hoping it would be a sort of home base marker. I also took two of their own food dishes from CL’s to put out when I was adding feeding stations.
I got the cutest picture late last night of Panther and Maggie curled up on those people’s bed. You can hear the purrs. They will be fine. Wish I could put it on Photobucket for you, but it’s mobile, and I can’t figure out how to pluck it out of messenger. Later on today, when the light is better, I might try taking a picture of it.[/QUOTE]
From Messenger you should be able to save it to Facebook, then save to your computer, then Photobucket. It might be possible to save straight from Facebook to Photobucket, but I’m not sure.
I’m happy for you that everyone seems to be settling.
Wow, what a job you have done! Such a lucky group of cats. Bless you, in the
best way!
Okay, I figured out how to download pictures from messenger. Here are Panther and Maggie at their new place last night. Perspective is a little misleading, but Maggie is indeed a petite thing, though not as small as Coda, and Panther is a growing boy who will probably be larger than this.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/k…pseil9jezm.jpg
By the way, the last electronic thing Cat Lady sent me on FB was a big thumb’s up on 10/25. My message immediately prior to her was, “I petted Tina.” Of course, I was visiting her in the hospital several times a week, and we had in-person conversations after that. As she got sicker, she was having trouble using her phone, so the electronic trail fades sooner.
Oh, I can see why you liked her so much. There is so much kindness in that face.
Great update, DT. And thank you for sharing the photo. What a lovely woman she must have been.
Great update on Panther and Maggie. Their new family is thrilled with them. They are settled in, using the litter box, and purring and curling at all opportunities.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/dressagetraks/Panther%20and%20Maggie%20120215_zpsflpqvxug.jpg
how are you doing financially with the new additions? did you get enough for food for awhile?
I’m okay for December. Hopefully another few cats will depart this month to be “home for Christmas.”
By the way, I’m pretty well settled on Joyce for Baby Cat, but my other renaming project is Underdog. She most likely will stay here just because she is a timid soul. Doubt she would ever even show a whisker if people were coming looking at cats. She took several weeks to warm up to me. She’s not as bad as my Ruby (who truly was a rescue, man trying to shoot her), but she has that uncertainty about the world that makes you approach gently and softly even to this day. There is a reason she was named Underdog. I can see where it fits, but I still don’t like the name. She’s a sort of tortie with white tail tip.
Underdog on the right.
I managed to add to my reputation for being a little unique today at church. 
The people who came last weekend to see the cats brought one cat carrier but picked two cats, so I loaned them a carrier for the trip home. In discussing how to return it, since they didn’t want to drive clear out to the farm again, I suggested just dropping it by the church. It was there this morning for me when I arrived, and I took it back out to the car because hauling a cat carrier around through Sunday School and worship seems odd even to me. But of course, a few people arriving saw me with it in that brief window of time, and it hit the grapevine. I had some comments the rest of the morning here and there. “So, you brought a cat to church this morning?” “No, the carrier was empty, but . . .” “You brought a cat carrier to church this morning?” “No. I did not bring a carrier to church; I took a carrier out of church.” Oh, well, they already know I can be eccentric.
No word of sightings on the MIA cats. Underdog did run into the house this morning when I was doing the usual cat dodge on exiting to feed the zoo. She quickly encountered Pharaoh and Pilgrim - and thank goodness she did not quickly encounter Coda. Coda represents 95% of the issue I’ll have with putting anything new inside, and her reaction will be temporary, but while it lasts, it will be with appropriate Siamese vigor. I picked up Underdog and put her back out. Sigh. Everybody else was food focused right then, but she definitely was trying to get in. I feel sorry for her in a way; she’s always been a timid soul. I definitely need a new name for her. It fits but I think is self-fulfilling in a way. Kind of like in Gaudenzia of the Palio where Gaudenzia was originally named Butterfly (in Italian), and one character in the book said that with a name like that, no wonder she had problems as a race horse.
Haven’t seen Tina today. I’m hoping to get her in this next week, but she has really needed the time to adjust to the new place without being so closely confined like she would in a house. I think she would have tried to go through a window or something. Tina’s first reaction is to bolt blindly, though she does seem to move past it to just wariness. My little Ruby, now, my PTSD cat (man was trying to shoot her when I intervened years ago), stays outside for precisely that reason. Ruby needs room to bolt blindly when she’s scared and run for a bit until her brain kicks in again, and she hasn’t ever gotten over it. To this day, I have to be very slow and careful with Ruby. Tina, though, I think could be inside once she’s used to the idea of the place. I’ve seen her for months. She doesn’t react quite right in a short-bus sense, but she doesn’t continue to run as part of her freak out every time like Ruby does.
Panther and Maggie look very happy. Lol at the cat carrier story. Come to think, it would be fun to have cats in a church.
Some new names you might consider for Underdog:
http://bookriot.com/2013/04/09/literary-pet-names-feline-edition/
By the way, did you know that one of the villains on the old Underdog cartoon series was called “Overcat”? :lol:
Poly and Cotton. Cotton is on the bottom of the pile with Poly resting on him. These two are SO close in color, though Cotton is slightly lighter. Very hard to tell apart unless you see them next to each other.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/dressagetraks/Poly%20and%20Cotton%20120715_zpsxde2wtjs.jpg
Bagheera and Satin. No problems telling these two apart.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/dressagetraks/Bagheera%20and%20Satin%20120715_zpszv0ddr6h.jpg
Underdog.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/dressagetraks/Underdog%20120715_zpslgf1nvno.jpg
ETA: Maybe Beryl? For Underdog, I mean. After Beryl Markham. There’s a strong woman name, and it’s a pretty one, too. Hmm. . .
New developments. I went out a few minutes ago to check on the fire - had a bonfire of storm brush early this afternoon, and even though it is down to just the biggest log ends still smoldering a little and is in a cleared area, I have still been checking it regularly.
As I headed back up the stairs, I was in the process of pushing back Cotton and Poly gently with my foot as I opened the door, and Underdog, who hadn’t even been within sight a few seconds prior, came streaking past in a blur, up the stairs and in.
I yelled, “Underdog,” and she didn’t even blink. Clear across the living room and into the bedroom/library at full speed, while the heads on the three feline occupants of the living room just then - Pharaoh, Pilgrim, and Coda - swiveled in unison from their various perches. You could almost see the thought bubble. “I tawt I taw a puddy tat!”
I securely closed the door just as Coda jumped down and walked stiff legged into the library. No way to get the extra cat back out surreptitiously this time; she ran straight across the room under Coda’s nose. I (and Pilgrim, and Pharaoh) quickly joined her, and I gave Coda a stroke and said, “Please be nice. This is a poor orphaned cat who has lost her person.”
Underdog, meanwhile, was over on the far side of the room and had realized that she had three cats in the doorway back out by now. She huddled down, and I said, “Underdog,” and started toward her, and she growled at me and backed up against the bed. She clearly remembered me picking her up and evicting her last time. Then I said, “Beryl,” and she looked up at me and straightened up a little bit, then arched up as I scratched her ears. She let me pet her, but when I slipped a hand around, she growled again.
Here came the other three cats (Tenuto being asleep in the laundry at the moment. She will catch up with events during her nap, I’m sure). Actually, that went remarkably well. Coda was as restrained as I’ve ever seen her, which still had a hefty dose of Siamese miffed, but she didn’t try to assault her. Pilgrim the tuxedo scientist was curious, his default approach to absolutely anything in his world, and Pharaoh is too young to get too ruffled at things. Pharaoh actually already knew this cat from a long time ago at CL’s originally but was a sick kitten at the time; I’m not sure how much would be remembered. Beryl is uncertain, but she does NOT want me to put her back out.
So apparently, I have another one in. I lectured everyone firmly to keep the peace and that any confrontations, particularly on top of me at 3:00 a.m., would not be appreciated.
That makes five inside again. I have had six cats inside before, probably the limit for this house. I do still want to get Tina in when I get a chance this week, but I haven’t seen her today, either. I hope she’s okay, but it actually is not unusual for CL’s cats to take leaves of absence for a few days to even a week at her place. They did it all the time. Roaming around a home base was their standard of living.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk8/dressagetraks/Pilgrim%20and%20Beryl%20120715_zps0pa20xdc.jpg
All fairly quiet last night with assorted hisses and growls at times. She didn’t try to get in bed yet. She apparently slept in the Christmas cactus instead. :lol: This morning when I did chores, as I started to open the door, she was clear across the living room and even retreated a few steps further away. She isn’t sure about the other cats yet, but she does NOT want to be put back out.
Love the updates. Please keep us updated
