Progress is slow but steady.
Shadow Cat — Update 5
Feb 28 — April 30, 2023
Shadow makes very small advances, like sitting on the window seat and relaxing in the sun. This started in mid-March
She is a bit better about seeing me in her room. I sat down in her room for a bit and she approached the chair and stared up, wide eyed.
The FlatBush Cats feeding method seems to be working really well. She recognizes Bruce as her chief feeder, and has gotten quite comfortable jumping up on his knees and eating. She likes to get petted while eating. You can see how suspiciously she looks at me and the camera.
At first, Shadow would not even venture out of her room, but over the past two months she has been expanding her territory a tiny bit at a time. She is still wary of Taffy, who likes to pointlessly pounce and hiss, but Shadow is gradually learning to ignore these little moves and has been coming down the stairs even when Taffy is right there.
One amusing thing is that when Taffy gets mean and hissy, one us of will usually pick her up and tell her not to be mean. As soon as Shadow sees we have Taffy safely held, she rushes past to get to a “safe” place of her choosing.
In her room, Shadow has her choice of four different comfortable beds, but inevitably picks this gingham covered, thin piece of foam which we had put onto the seat of a straight-backed chair in her room.
My theory is that Shadow is picking up Gandalf vibes from this little piece of fabric. Gandalf always used to sit on this little cushion, covered with this little gingham fabric cover. Gandalf was ever the peacemaker and the friend-making cat, I think some of his good will remained in the fabric. I never washed it after he left us, because I thought Taffy would derive comfort from his scent. Oddly, it is Shadow who seems to feel the love of the departed Russian Blue.
Shadow is still very nervous and does not like sudden noises or moves.
In the past two months, Shadow has increasingly found her “voice”. When she first arrived in November, she never made a single sound for two months. Then after she heard Taffy mewing, she emitted some tiny chirps.
She began to talk to her mousey on a string, merping at it encouragingly. Now, she chats a lot. She complains to me if food preps are late, she complains if she can’t hear or see us, she greets Bruce with a friendly little merp, and she mews at him in an annoyed tone if he is delayed in producing her food once it has been heated a little. She seems to have a wide variety of tones and levels she can use to convey her message.
She races around in crazed mode just before food is ready and on it’s way up to her room.
Shadow is beginning to get a lot bolder and showing her real personality.
