!
Yesterday afternoon I was outside playing with Lali. She was doing her usual walk towards me until she's just out of reach, then run routine. Well she made a little mistake. We have a cardboard box on the steps, and she decided to walk into it when I was nearby. So I scooped her up.
I'm glad my winter coat is thick. She started crying and struggling, and I had to hold her with one arm while opening the apartment door with the other hand. Then I had to TOSS her into the house, run in, and lock the door behind me.
Lali's reaction? She got underneath a chair in the living room, and cried. A lot. While Mom and Tom watched her, I ran to the supermarket to pick up some flea powder, a litter pan, and a bag of litter.
The next step was to get her to eat - it was her usual time of day for something to eat, and the other cats had eaten most of what I'd given her at breakfast time. So I lay down on m stomach and started putting bits of dry cat food in front of her. She ignored them. But when I put one in the palm of my hand she not only ate it, but licked me. So we did this for a while. Then I started breaking off pieces of canned cat food (fish, smelly!) and she very enthusiastically ate that out of the palm of my hand, and then licked my hand thoroughly. But she wouldn't come out from under the chair.
Eventually, Tom picked the chair up, I picked Lali up (I have the scratches to prove it), and I "showed" her the litter pan. Then Tom put her in a box we'd cut down and lined with newspaper and some towels. She stayed in that box for hours. We took turns talking to her and stroking her, because if we stopped, she cried and head-butted us. She was obviously very nervous, but the box seemed to help - I'm not quite certain why.
My bedroom is far enough away that I can't hear her, but Mom's is directly over the living room. She could hear Lali crying all night long, and is just exhausted. Poor Mom. When I got downstairs this morning I didn't see Lali anywhere, and I kept hearing these little meows. I finally tracked her down by sound (with my hearing loss, that is difficult). She was on the windowsill, staring outside, crying. I talked to her and petted her, but she was very agitated, and obviously very tired, but I think she was too frightened to sleep.
Good news, she figured out what the litter box was for - it had been used! Considering she was born in a cave, and raised outdoors, I was impressed.
Lali spent a few minutes in Tom's lap. Don't ask how he pulled that off - I have no idea.
While I was at work, Mom and Tom discovered that Lali likes music, because they sang to her and she stopped crying every time they did. So Tom brought his Nintendo DSI downstairs because it's loaded with MP3s, and put it near her (she was hiding under the couch). She likes the Beatles, and Megumi Hayashibara too. Smart cat. But she listened and the music eventually put her to sleep. She had a nice LONG sleep. Which gave Tom time to do necessary things like taking a shower and getting dressed!
Right now she's behind the couch Mom is sitting on, keeping Mom company as she watches tv. Every now and then she demands attention - she loves having her ears scratched - but she seems very laid back and relaxed back there. If there's where she wants to be, who am I to argue? Her food is under there, the litter box is nearby, and she obviously likes it under there.
It'll take time for her to trust us completely, but I'm not going to rush her. Lali is here now, and I think she's going to stay.
I'm glad my winter coat is thick. She started crying and struggling, and I had to hold her with one arm while opening the apartment door with the other hand. Then I had to TOSS her into the house, run in, and lock the door behind me.
Lali's reaction? She got underneath a chair in the living room, and cried. A lot. While Mom and Tom watched her, I ran to the supermarket to pick up some flea powder, a litter pan, and a bag of litter.
The next step was to get her to eat - it was her usual time of day for something to eat, and the other cats had eaten most of what I'd given her at breakfast time. So I lay down on m stomach and started putting bits of dry cat food in front of her. She ignored them. But when I put one in the palm of my hand she not only ate it, but licked me. So we did this for a while. Then I started breaking off pieces of canned cat food (fish, smelly!) and she very enthusiastically ate that out of the palm of my hand, and then licked my hand thoroughly. But she wouldn't come out from under the chair.
Eventually, Tom picked the chair up, I picked Lali up (I have the scratches to prove it), and I "showed" her the litter pan. Then Tom put her in a box we'd cut down and lined with newspaper and some towels. She stayed in that box for hours. We took turns talking to her and stroking her, because if we stopped, she cried and head-butted us. She was obviously very nervous, but the box seemed to help - I'm not quite certain why.
My bedroom is far enough away that I can't hear her, but Mom's is directly over the living room. She could hear Lali crying all night long, and is just exhausted. Poor Mom. When I got downstairs this morning I didn't see Lali anywhere, and I kept hearing these little meows. I finally tracked her down by sound (with my hearing loss, that is difficult). She was on the windowsill, staring outside, crying. I talked to her and petted her, but she was very agitated, and obviously very tired, but I think she was too frightened to sleep.
Good news, she figured out what the litter box was for - it had been used! Considering she was born in a cave, and raised outdoors, I was impressed.
Lali spent a few minutes in Tom's lap. Don't ask how he pulled that off - I have no idea.
While I was at work, Mom and Tom discovered that Lali likes music, because they sang to her and she stopped crying every time they did. So Tom brought his Nintendo DSI downstairs because it's loaded with MP3s, and put it near her (she was hiding under the couch). She likes the Beatles, and Megumi Hayashibara too. Smart cat. But she listened and the music eventually put her to sleep. She had a nice LONG sleep. Which gave Tom time to do necessary things like taking a shower and getting dressed!
Right now she's behind the couch Mom is sitting on, keeping Mom company as she watches tv. Every now and then she demands attention - she loves having her ears scratched - but she seems very laid back and relaxed back there. If there's where she wants to be, who am I to argue? Her food is under there, the litter box is nearby, and she obviously likes it under there.
It'll take time for her to trust us completely, but I'm not going to rush her. Lali is here now, and I think she's going to stay.