Well, I checked on our baby this morning and I may have been too early to yell that she is potty trained. Although she did poo in the tray at first, she seems to now do it right next to it (in the pooperscooper, I might add *grin). But, it's only a minor setback. There are three possible reasons for this: 1) I might have scared her off with the cat sand, or 2) the litter tray is too dirty already, which with all the dirt in it, is hard to judge for a human! or 3) she is one of those kittens that likes a seperate tray for number 1 from number 2. She does still pee in there, I think, since I haven't found that on the floor yet. So, I will clean out the tray fully today, and see if it improves. If not, I can always add a tray.

Now, as for the rest of her progress, it seems to be on the right track. She spend a half an hour in my lap today. Ok, she still seems to do that because she surrenders to the situation, but I think she is actually also enjoying the cuddles though she might not be willing to admit it to herself just yet. My arms got followed meticiously by two big yellow eyes (yes ,the pupils have somewhat receded!), to see what I was up to. Though she still cringes the first time I touch her, or if she doesn't expect it (the reflex is basically still there), she seems to come and ask for petting a little bit more herself now, and if I hold my hand in front of her, she will rub her face against it. She purrs all over the place, continuously as well.

When you put her on the floor though, she either runs for cover, or 'plays dead' meaning she lets herself fall on her side, in a sign of submission and ready to use her four paws to defend herself in the worst case. Though I found her today behind the scratching post in open air as such, she still does not like being out in the open.

Well, our baby is still not fully settled. Those big beautiful eyes still have those amazingly pitch black pupils on the highest stand.

But, things are improving ;) She has finally used her kitty litter, and boy did she use that thing. I therefore do not expect it will be very hard to get her housebroken if she isn't already. I today mixed a bit of kitty litter into the dirt, to start the process of introducing her to a really litter tray with only kitty litter.

And, when I lie on the floor very quiet, and feed her food (Clearly her weakness ;)), she does come from under the cabinet, and after a couple of times she even came completely from under the cabinet. One movement however, and she is back underneath the thing.

I even got her to drink from the water bowl which was standing 5 cm from my face. She has the most adorable purrr to reassure herself and me so I won't harm her, btw. She will even let me pet her, though she is clearly not comfy with it, and start purring just to ensure I will not harm her, after which she gets food as a reward.

I then proceeded to very carefully get her from underneath the cabinet by sliding her over the floor. She clearly tensed up but didn't panic or go balistic (which was another story all together the first day, trust me, I have the scars, though minimal since I was very quick, to prove it). She looked around and finally at me with those big baby eyes saying 'please do not harm me!' She again started purring and looking for a way out. I let her escape so she'd notice it wasn't an imprisonment. She ran to the foodbowl, and after that from one hide out to another, every time I dug her up again, and gently let her go. Though she is clearly still too scared to enjoy it, she does realize that I will probably not harm her and panic attacks are rare and short.

Well, this evening when I checked, she had finished all her water under the cabinet, and most of the food. However, when looking underneath the cabinet, there was no Faith to be seen.

When I checked the other hide-out in that tiny room, the scratching post on the other side of the room, she was there. With still big eyes but clearly more relaxed posture she stared back at me. I checked the litter tray, though, and there was still nothing in there so... we' ll see :) I took away the lids I used to serve food on, and hope she'll feel comfy enough now to eat during the hours she knows she'll be alone. By now she should know I only check on her in the morning and the evening, which should reassure her.

I will wait till I actually catch her running around, and see her hiding under something because I enter, to start play and fun and bribing to get her to accept humans. For now, I want her to realize she is safe. That is priority number one.

As for our Arwen, she is running around meowing like mad. This morning, when I checked one more time on Faith and took with me her basket (to give back to the person it belonged to), I passed our Arwen who was snoozy on the scratching post. I'd done the same on my way there, and was therefore caught af guard when I was greeted by a very confused Arwen who started hissing at me and running away. When I called her back, she did approach me with a very meowy voice. She didn't want to come all the way though, so when I went up and met her, she only started hissing when I put out my hand, to then run off again.

Well, she aint an easy kitty, thats for sure. Her mom taught her well:be scared of everything you do not know, and grab any food you can get. She is definitely a true survivor.

I checked on her yesterday before going to bed, and I saw that she had come out of her basket. However, the moment she saw me, she fled underneath the cabinet and decided to stay put there...the entire night and today as well. No food, no water and no cat sand had been touched when I checked again this morning. As you cannot let a cat not eat for more than a day, I decided to respect her wishes and put the food and water on the lids of some of my microwave dishes.

Man, once I slid the food underneath, there was no holding her back. She ate almost about twice of what she normally should, only interrupting this process to quickly have a few drops of water, or to check me out when I moved (was lying on the floor here, not comfy!).
She stared at me with big eyes filled with fear, while eating what she could.

When she finally seemed to have enough, I refilled the lids, and moved the original food and water bowls closer by, so she could see and smell them. All she had to do to get to them was get from underneath the cabinet. But, since I do not see her doing that any time soon, I made sure I slid the replenished lids back underneath. That way, she has a choice.

The only thing I'm wondering is where all that food is going to go in about 24 to 48 hours. I cannot slide the litter tray underneath that cabinet as well since it is too low, so I can't wait to see how she solves that one...

Well, it was a busy day today. First I went to the Netherlands and took my exam of behavioral therapy. Don't get overjoyed,it is one of six modules which I just took an exam for (and it is the easiest one). But, I have a good feeling about it.

Then, I went to the animal clinic to help out there in the afternoon. There seems to be some kind of reason why I am there on some days because I was halfway through my shift, when a man entered the clinic with a question about shelters.

Turns out he has a baby with a cat allergy, and he had been taking care of a very people shy cat for three months. The kitty was about six months old and only let itself be petted when she was being fed. When we called the shelter, they were not happy with the kitty. They had the room but didn't like the fact that she was people shy. It takes really a lot of effort to get them past that. So..well..you know what happened. I decided to take her with me on two conditions: 1) She couldn't be a wild cat. And after testing her she turned out not to be aggressive at all, just reallllllyyyy scared. I was able to touch her. And 2) the guy was to pay for the extra vaccination she still needed, which he wholeheartely agreed to. He was relieved to find someone to take care of her.

Another problem was that she is apparently not housebroken. He said that that combo made it impossible to get her a good home, which I can understand. But when I was reasoning and mumbling it wouldn't be that hard to fix, he looked at me in disbelief. I told him that she had probably never seen kittylitter in her life and a littertray with sand would probably do the job. I hope it does. At least now I know why I've been keeping potted earth without having any plants in the house (the cats would eat them and otherwise they'd die since they don't complain when they don't get their food).

Something fishy is going on. Lulu is cuddling me to death, which, when I tried to do that with her, was not appreciated! She is crawling into my arms, purrring all over the place and even fighting with Prinny over a spot!

A couple of days ago, I was 'kittened' as it is known in this house (aka covered in cat)by both Lulu and Prinny. Lulu squished herself between my head and the Prinny (lying both on my chest while I was lying in the couch), pissing of Prinny whoes personal space was being invaded. Not that Lulu cared. As the evening proceeded, she managed to get her ass lying against my neck and her head was resting against the Prinny's body. Talk about a change of heart!

Lulu and Prin have always been rivals for first position in my cat colony and they are usually incapable of entering each others comfort zone without there being some sort of disgruntled vocalization or gesture.

I have no clue what is going on, but I cuddle and reassure my Lulu whenever she needs it..I'm sure it is a phase that will pass.

In other news, since I was gone for the weekend and they got fed canned food only, they now all have diarrhea. Especially our Prinny, who wasnt feeling too good as it was, is taking it hard. So I gave them some 'good bacteria' to help restore the peace and order in their bowls yesterday. Hope she feels better today. She looks a bit...fragile right now. She does tiptoe around and doesn't seem sick , but she is not showing off in her usual confident way. I'm keeping a close eye on her, considering what was going on last week.

Oh my god. I just noticed that my kitties were parched...My boyfriend left on Friday and he always fills the water fountain. Usually it makes a loooot of noise when it is empty, and then he and I when he aint here notice that they need more water. But because of my busy schedule and the fact that he hasn't been gone in a really long time so I aint used to it anymore, I forgot. The poor kitties have been self-servicing themselves for about 2 and a half days. Arwen has always been our water-kitty, meaning that she loves playing in the tub after we've taken a shower, but I already thought she was a bit more into it the last couple of days. It wasn't, however, until Falkie tried to steal some water from a glass on the coffee table right in front of me (while he knows that table is off limits, especially when I am in the room), that it sunk in.

I immediately refilled their fountain and 3 kittens were waiting their turn. It is the first time I am this negligent. I hope it will never happen again. Luckily, I am starting to catch up with the work my new business is giving me, so I should be more aware of the world again.

PS Two kittens still aren't interested in the water...Lulu and Prinny. The reason? I have a sneeking suspicion that they have been using their special skill: drinking out of the toilet :P

Well, I've been away for the weekend and boy did I miss my kitties. I got home yesterday, got my cuddles, and my luggage and shoes got sniffed elaborately.

My boyfriend ordered himself some pizzahut yesterday, since he had no idea when I'd be home and left one of the bags they deliver the food in on the floor. This resulted in a bonkers Arwen, and a moody Prinny and Lulu. Arwen decided that attacking the bag was a good idea, but then when she did attack it, it made noise as plastic bags tend to do. That amped her up, up to the point where she was constantly moving her paws, the bag made a noise, and she attacked it again. She spooked herself, got in trouble with the Prinny because Prin was going bonkers at the erratic movements of the Arwen. Prinny then proceeded to take her hunting instincts out on Lulu, who then promptly did the same with Arwen.

And people ask me why I don't travel more... I have all the entertainment I need right here ;)