Positions have been taken. James is either here, with the hot water bottle, or
here behind the chair when he needs to stretch his legs.
It takes a split second to sprint from climbing frame to the rear of the chair, where there is now a folded fleece and a little tray with water and biscuits. He had a spell of sitting inside the concealed vault of the t.v. cabinet, giving me ten minutes of hard searching and a mild heart attack, but he seems to have abandoned that one for the moment. Sometimes, when no one is around, he nips into the cage to use his litter tray, but mostly he waits until the lights are off and the door shut to eat, drink, kick litter everywhere, and to investigate the toys.
It takes a split second to sprint from climbing frame to the rear of the chair, where there is now a folded fleece and a little tray with water and biscuits. He had a spell of sitting inside the concealed vault of the t.v. cabinet, giving me ten minutes of hard searching and a mild heart attack, but he seems to have abandoned that one for the moment. Sometimes, when no one is around, he nips into the cage to use his litter tray, but mostly he waits until the lights are off and the door shut to eat, drink, kick litter everywhere, and to investigate the toys.
(As I write this, I start to wonder why the litter tray is still in the cage. Maybe that should hide behind the chair too, and the hideous cage can then be dismantled? Is a free-range litter tray in the sitting room any worse than a caged one? Is any sort of litter tray acceptable in the sitting room of a sensible, semi-civilised woman? Am I becoming altogether deranged? Don't answer that.)
He is mostly still, silent and watchful; he purrs when stroked, and watches the others with great interest, even if they have just come in to swear at him, but he makes no attempt to move from his chosen position, not for dangling mice, twitching string, idiotically-cooing human, or morsels of fishy/meaty/chickeny delights. His legs may atrophy through lack of use, and then he really will be hard to re-home, and I will be stuck with a cat that is little more than an ornament with bodily functions.
Perhaps I should resign myself to having a barely mobile cat in the house, like some rarely-seen lodger whose has a meal tray left outside his room, but who avoids all speech and eye contact when encountered on the stairs. Except that lodgers, even the weirdest, don't usually have their toilet facilities in the landlady's sitting room....
He is mostly still, silent and watchful; he purrs when stroked, and watches the others with great interest, even if they have just come in to swear at him, but he makes no attempt to move from his chosen position, not for dangling mice, twitching string, idiotically-cooing human, or morsels of fishy/meaty/chickeny delights. His legs may atrophy through lack of use, and then he really will be hard to re-home, and I will be stuck with a cat that is little more than an ornament with bodily functions.
Perhaps I should resign myself to having a barely mobile cat in the house, like some rarely-seen lodger whose has a meal tray left outside his room, but who avoids all speech and eye contact when encountered on the stairs. Except that lodgers, even the weirdest, don't usually have their toilet facilities in the landlady's sitting room....
The others have lurked upstairs, plotting. Click to enlarge and see their faces full of wicked thoughts.
PS: Editing in Blogger is driving me up the wall at the moment. Old Editor, New Improved Editor, both vile vile vile: I hate them. So there. Yours reasonably, etc.
8 comments:
awww poor little James.... I was kind of hoping he would feel a bit more settled by now..... keeping my fingers crossed that he soon accepts his new home a bit more....
re para 4 "hard to rehome" ??????
You are not really thinking of parting with such a handsome little chap, are you? My Rupert, as an ex-farm cat, is far from the affectionate lap-cat I had in mind, but, 17 years on, I would not have had him any other way. A cuddle or a purr from him really feels like a treat, and given that he has access to the garden and countryside beyond, I feel honoured that he stays near home all the time.
How old is James ? What with hot water bottle and litter tray , he's beginning to sound like a lingering OAP . Mind you , Millie's narrowed eyes would give any sensible kitten pause for thought!
At the moment he's picked the best place in the house .It's minus 5 degrees here at the moment . I'd quite like a nest and a hottie myself .
Scooter is big! Poor little big-eyed James.
Poor chap to be treated like that by his new neighbours.I rescued a kitten from Greece last year and his first encounter with older cat and PJR Terrier was quite exciting but not as entertaining as your blog!
I am loving this feline saga and I must say that, faced with those somewhat threatening expressions on the other cats' faces, perhaps the little newbie does need extra time to adapt.
I'm sure he'll settle in soon! It can sometimes take a while, especially if there are other cats about! Your cats are adorable!
James sounds like he could be much like our Gus - who is the most aloof, standoffish, not-sure-if-he-actually-lives-here cat I've ever come to know - totally opposite of Mr. Charming Hey Whatcha Ya Doin' Oliver. Such different personalities they "can" have. xo les Gang
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