Koa Kitty Katch-up

Sometimes it's hard to write about improvements in the Koa Kat's interaction with her humans. I'll walk into a room and she won't run away as long as I don't come too close. Or she'll walk away instead of running away. Or I'll look at her from across a room and she won't dive into hiding. As significant as these strides are, they just don't sound all that compelling.

But last night, there was some very exciting progress. Less than a week ago, I opened up the whole house, and she's been busy exploring. However, she's nervous about being in the new space, or at least about being noticed there. So typically, when I'm sitting downstairs and she comes down the stairs and sees me looking at her, even if I blink, she freaks out and races back up the stairs.

Last night, Robert and I sat at the dining room table and Koa strolled near by and allowed us to reach down and pet her. She laid down on the floor near us and kept us company. Then we moved to the living room, where we sat in our respective chairs. Koa wandered in and out of the room and jumped on Robert's chair and let him pet her there. She came over to stare at me a few times, but I was holding a big rustly newspaper, which she didn't want to get too close to.

Then, we moved upstairs and got into bed to read for a while longer. Koa jumped up on the bed and crawled between us and let us both pet her. Usually, it's hard for her to be around one human, but totally overwhelming to be around two.

I've noticed also that she's somewhat friendly in the morning but much more so in the evening. And of course, this morning, she's back to her avoidance behaviors, skitting away, or running around me when I approach or when she wants to go past. We did, however, have a very satisfying session this morning with the fishing pole that ends with a couple of feathers. I had her racing around, leaping, grabbing, biting, and occasionally catching and sitting on the feather.

We'll be away for a little bit later in the month, and it will be interesting to see how she handles the changes. I'm noticing, though, that even though changes are unsettling for her, she's becoming far more resilient to them and bouncing back more quickly than before.