i got the bug

On Friday, I went back to the shelter to visit Love Bug. She was already sitting in the visitor's cage, so I just slipped in and sat with her. I petted her. She was happy. I stopped, she sat quietly. She didn't want to be held or to sit on my lap, but she seemed pleased to be near me. At my request, a shelter worker brought another cat to the cage, and while the second cat was very nervous and upset, Love Bug had all the appropriate social moves down. She clearly didn't love the second cat, but didn't mind her either.

I told Robert about my visits, and he was patient and sweet and had No Visible Reaction. But I could tell that inside, he was rolling his eyes and saying PuhLeeeze. (He has since verified my perception; I'm not making it up.)

So on Saturday, we both went back to visit. The shelter workers were hesitant to let us take her into the visitor's cage because she had made a spectacular escape earlier in the day. As they thought about it and we stood by her cage, we noticed her shudder every time someone walked by. And every time a dog barked, she cringed. We realized that she's in a tough environment right now. I don't think it's being in a cage so much as not being in a peaceful place.

They finally took her out of her cage and brought her over to the visiting cage. We put her on the windowsill and petted her and she rolled around and purred ecstatically. She also kept looking over my shoulder and looking down at the corner of the cage. Shelter workers and other visitors came by to talk to us. Things seemed to be going well, until she made a break for it.

It turned out that there was a tiny hole, about four inches by four inches, in the cage near the floor. She had spotted it, and after the fact, we realized she was sizing it up. She eventually jumped down, ran over to the hole, slipped through it, ran over to a chair, used that to hop onto a filing cabinet, then jumped up to the top of the cages, which are up by the ceiling. This all happened in an instant, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

Robert, who could see her eyes, said they were wide as saucers. But he stood across the room from her and blinked at her until eventually she blinked back.

I'm glad I saw this, because now I've seen an entirely different side to the cat, a more feral cat in total survivor mode.

Still, we're now both in love and Robert has stopped the internal eye-rolling. We've spent a lot of time talking about how to manage having a cat, especially a frightened one, and going away twice between now and the end of March. I think we have a plan, but there's no guarantee we'll get this particular kitty. On the other hand, if the shelter keepers don't allow anyone else to open her cage, maybe she will still be there next week when I plan to apply for her.

One of the biggest pieces of the plan is that our friend C has said that if there's a cat here when we go on our long trip, he will house sit. We think it would be best for Love Bug to be out of the shelter, even if it means putting her into boarding soon after getting her. But we'd feel far more comfortable if she were in the house the whole time and started the boarding experience in smaller increments.

So yes, I'm still missing Juliet, but I'm also missing living with cats. The sleeping thing is somewhat better, though not entirely. And should we have the opportunity to live with Love Bug, we'll just deal with all of it.