This is the Luna, and you all have not been properly introduced to her. There has been a reason in part because we have been trying to see if she would ever get accustomed to living in our world. Roughly a month ago after losing Chloe we went to a pet store… because sometimes playing with the “babbys” makes us happy. They however were having some “clear the shelter” event, and the store was full of animals hoping to get adopted. We of course went back to look at the cats, and the shelter showing there was one that we had gotten several animals from in the past. They had some really lovely animals, but nobody really tugged at our heartstrings, so I was fully expecting to exit the store and get on with our lives. It was at this moment that my wife deviated from the course. Instead of exiting the building the decided for some reason to turn down this row of dogs. We are not dog people, and while other folks dogs are cute and friendly… we are not exactly the type to look at dogs regularly in pet stores. Now up until this point it seemed like the store was very clearly segregated into the “dog” area and the “cat” area, but as she got to the end of the row of dogs she found a cage with Luna in it. She was there all alone and looked frightened to be mixed in with all of these dogs. The shelter showing was from roughly an hour and a half away from the Tulsa area, and literally had the one cat. We spent some time with her, taking her into a walled off area… during which time she was affectionate but also spent most of the time just exploring the confines of the area.
As we went about our day my wife started to warm to the idea of bringing home Luna, but we also had a bunch of errands to run. So we did the whole thing of… “if she is still there when we get back, we will consider it”. Turns out that sure enough she was still there and that the folks from the sheltered hoped we would be back by. Traditionally when we bring a new animal into our house we set up a little sequestered environment up in my wife’s office with a separate litter box, and food… and kinda keep the cat walled of for a few days to get adjusted to the new environment. Then when we start letting them out into the house as a whole, the office serves as a bit of a safe place for them to keep going back to. So far this process has not gone as planned. Traditionally when we get a new animal the moment we decide to let them out into the house… they are happy to go exploring. Luna on the other hand seems to be afraid of the outside world. Now when we talked to the shelter folks we specifically asked about how she did with other animals. They specifically said that she doesn’t really like dogs, but is completely fine around other cats. So far however that has not been the case, because she is not blending well.
Kenzie our youngest admittedly can be a little butt, and even though Allie and her tolerate each other than can still get into spats. Luna and Kenzie specifically do not get along at all, so what has ended with these moments of taking her around the house with us and closing off a room so she would be comfortable. We tried to just start opening the door to let her out of the office, but then found that she simply was not eating and drinking. I guess she was afraid to leave the area of her bed to cross the office to get to the food dish. After moving that closer to her bed and into her safe area she started eating like we would have epected. Now she expects me to bring her wet food every morning, and meows at me until I have done so. Over the last week I have been opening up the office when I get home from work hoping that she might take the initiative to go out and explore the house. She seems to be less skittish about the other cats, or at the very least has begun to fight back against Kenzie. They really had not gotten into a real fight up until now… but it was a lot of meowing and making sounds that are extremely similar to “oreo”. The last few days however she has run Kenzie out of “her” room a few times, so she seems to be getting a little bolder.
Yesterday however was a bit of a turning point, of a sort at least. I opened the office door when I got home, like I have for the last while, and I went upstairs to check on her a few times where she wanted copious amounts of attention. However late in the evening I heard her out in the loft, and next thing I know it she was walking along the banister and staring down meowing at me. So I went upstairs and gave her more attention, and apparently she settled into the top of the couch and took a nap. When it came time for bed, I went upstairs to shut the office thinking she had retreated, but she was still sitting in the loft happily perched on the couch. At this point I made a decision and just left her alone, hoping that maybe she was finally starting to get comfortable with the house. Now over the last few weeks there have been several times where my wife took Luna to bed with her, since she goes to bed way earlier than I do most nights. She would shut off the bedroom and before long Luna would be snugged up on her. When I came to bed I got the job of being the bad guy and taking her back up to the safety of the office. I could tell she was hungry and thirsty because as soon as the office door was shut she would bolt from my arms and run to the food dish like she was starving and then make her way to the litter box before coming back to me for attention.
Apparently last night she got lonely up in the loft, and found her way downstairs to the bedroom at 1:30 in the morning. This caused a massive cat fight, or at least a massive amount of noise and motion. To which Luna went under the bed, and the other cats were scared out of the room. After trying to calm down the babies it was around 2 am… and I simply could not get back to sleep. I did not finally get back to sleep until 3:30 or so… so at this point I am groggy as hell. However it feels like progress. Throughout the night she kept braving getting up on the bed with us, only to run off when another cat entered the room. The whole experience has to be equally traumatic for them, and I have been trying throughout this to be wherever Luna was not so that they had some sort of stable anchor to go hang out with. So as the night went on we alternated having Luna in bed with us, an having Kenzie and Allie with Luna under the bed. Once we finally got up and around I carried her back upstairs where once again she went to get food… but this time I didn’t close the office door. She didn’t seem to mind at all and went about her normal business… and was quickly begging for wet food. A few minutes ago while typing this, she was back out in the loft meowing down at me… so even though it was a rough night for me personally with the whole not getting much sleep thing… I am hoping that we made actual progress.
She is a very sweet cat, and I think she will do well with the others…. if we can ever get past the phase where they are scared of each other. I thought it was high time however to introduce you all to her.
