We're now up to a pretty full room: nine cats. Luckily they're a fairly tolerant bunch and I was able to have eight of the nine out at the same time (with the ninth, new cat TAWYN, relaxing belly-up in her open cage but firmly declining to come out). I ascribe this overall harmony to MR. SCRUFFS establishing a good tone that keeps the cats tolerant of each other without being friendly.
Started the morning with a round of walks. MITZY said no!, KASPAR (to my surprise) no thanks. PHOENIX was uncertain, enjoying the attention but not the walking bits. BERRY loved it, and went up one aisle and down another, then up and down again, which seemed to establish her bearings and she explored outwards from there. She expressed interest in the pet beds, went in and out among the cat-stands by the wall, peeped at the dogs (one or two of whom came over and peeped back), and ended by watching the birds. At noon I took LEMUR out. He was a bit nervous and a bit noisy, but I wasn't able to find out whether this was because of being outside the room or because someone came up with a small dog on a leash and, every time I moved Lemur away, the person moved the dog closer. So I took the easy option of just taking Lemur back inside the cat-room, where he was fine.
Once the cage-cleaning started, the cats all came out (except Tawny). Mr. Scruffs went back and forth between the floor by the door and the top of the cat-stand near the door. MOLINNI was more relaxed than I've seen her, hanging out near the door and in her favorite basket on the bench. She seemed to want attention but I wasn't able to find any satisfactory way of petting her; she hissed and swatted when I tried. And as for sitting in my lap, she let me know that was, in the words of Monty Python, Right Out. Has anyone else had more success giving her attention? She obviously wants and needs it.
The box with catnip in the bottom was a big favorite again. Phoenix investigated it first, then Molinni (who was deeply suspicious that It Was All A Trick), then Lemur (who sat in it a good while), then SMOLLY, who declared it her very own and slept in it for a good two hours. Phoenix wound up in her usual spot on the bench and Smolly eventually went back and forth between on the floor in front of the cabinet and over near the main door to the room. Lemur hung out near the door, mostly, though at one point he went exploring back into the corner that holds the laundry.
Berry established herself in her favorite spot, atop the cat-stand by the cabinet, where she got a lot of attention and gloried in it. At one point I was near there doing something else and she reached out to gently tag me with one black paw, asking for more attention. V. affectionate.
Mitzy I put up atop the cages, as usual, which she enjoyed greatly. She explored, then settled down with satisfaction at having her own realm where none of the other cats could sneak up on her. I gave her a little cat on wet catfood* which she devoured, even using her paw to scrape out the little bit left along the edges inside the can. It was good to see her with an appetite. I did badly upset her when getting her down at the end of the morning; must have approached her from her blind side. She was fine once back in her cage on her four feet again, but I'm sorry to have so alarmed her between points A and B.
A second round of a spoonful each of wet catfood did much to reconcile them all to their cruel fate of having to go back into cages; for once Kaspar settled right down back in his cage. Molinni is usually buried behind her blankets when I arrive (rather like Mr. Kaboodles used to do), so this time I gave her a generous overhang to make her little cat-stand a little more private. Tawyn had been v. interested when I'd briefly draped some cat-blankets across the front of her cage, so I wound up leaving one there to give her semi-privacy as well, which I hope helped her feel better about her space.
And that's about it; several visitors but none that seemed likely adopter prospects. None of the cats seemed ill. I did a little with Kaspar's chin (the cat-acne) but he didn't let me do much there. Berry's ears needed some cleaning, which she was happy to let me do what I could with.
--John R.
*ProPlanSavor: salmon & rice entree
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