It’s hard to believe, but Twister’s been in the house for about three weeks. He seems to be doing well. The hangup is that he still prefers my office and right now, under the elevated futon in my office. Meanwhile, his sister still prefers to live in ignorance that he is here. They get together at least three times a day for co-feeding and have also been allowed to interact with a gate between them. But candidly, he’s not super interested and she’s overly cautious.
Outside of today, things had been going well. Today, well, that’s another story. I panicked. You see, we’ve been luring Meadow into his space while Twister explores the rest of the house. The idea of “trading places” is that she’s supposed to get comfortable in a place that smells like him and he’s supposed to get to know the house. It all makes sense but to do this requires a little more coordination than you would think. First, you have to coax her into the master bedroom and get the door shut. Then, you have to let him out and let him meander around until he finally goes downstairs. Then, my husband puts up barricades at the landing of the stairs and coaxes Meadow into my office with food. Then, he shuts the door and hopes she finally settles down. Meanwhile, I’m downstairs trying to keep him entertained so he doesn’t go back up the stairs to his room. And what followed today was a clear example of me not totally understanding the process.
On at least four occasions, Mr. Twister decided he wanted to come back up the stairs. I was successful distracting him. But on the fifth? Well, a fella just wouldn’t be denied and he went determinedly up the stairs only to meet the cardboard barricade at the top of the stairs. He’s a young guy, our Twister, and that barricade was a mere quick leap and he was on the second floor. That’s when I panicked. I didn’t know what to do with him so I coaxed him into Darryl’s office and quickly shut the door while he darted for it. He wasn’t injured – the door never touched him – but he got scared. Now, he doesn’t exactly hate me but he’s withdrawn my nomination for kitty mom of the year. I’m currently hanging out in the office trying to make friends again. He really isn’t that interested.
Meanwhile, the commotion was too much for Meadow who was already a little ill at ease in his home base. She wanted out and nothing to do with – you got it – me. She, too, has withdrawn her nomination for kitty mom of the year. (Though, I suspect she’s just saying this. I don’t believe she actually submitted a nomination for me in the first place.)
So, if we were measuring experimental success, today would likely be a colossal failure. However, we are not giving up. Introducing cats is a little like a metaphor for life and trying new things. At first, you’re just mildly curious. Then, you tentatively attempt this new thing. As long as it goes well, you build up your confidence. Eventually, something happens which shakes your faith in your ability to do this new thing. Hopefully, you have a coach around who helps you scrounge up the courage to try again. And this time, you take those lessons you learned in failure and you do better. And better. If you fail again, you already know you can try again and be successful.
So that’s what M&T and their somewhat inept parents are going to do again. We’re going to keep trying. Our little family of four just needs a little more time. That’s okay. We’ve got the time and our investment in each other will totally be worth it.
The Yuppie Homesteader 