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. . .said Gandalf significantly.
Starting yesterday, we've been having the coldest temps we've had in 4 years, with anticipation of a possible dusting of snow tonight and a few inches on Friday, so I've been debating and debating on whether or not I should catch Brigit today and take her in for the next few days. When I refill the dry food auto feeders, I have been placing a bowl of wet food in a carrier, and Brigit has been walking right in, so catching her would be no problem. The only problem is I'm not sure if this is a trick that will work twice, so if we have worse weather in the next month, I may not be able to catch her then--hence the debate.
But when I went out this afternoon, I called and called and she didn't show, as she has every week, except one rainy day, since the end of last March. I filled the feeders, called some more, and then drove around a little, and came back. Then I saw that C. who lives across the road from the feeders had arrived home and went to ask her if she could call me, if she saw her. I'm so glad she's there. She is friendly to Brigit, though she considers her an ugly cat--yes, she does. {-:
I was pretty worried, but just as it was getting dark and I was leaving C's stoop, who should show up, but Ms. Brigit. She was walking kind of slow, and was slow to start eating, and if she didn't have a cold, the cold was certainly being rough on her, so that decided me completely to take her in. I had to wave the bowl of food under her nose a couple of times before she took interest in it when I put it in the carrier, which isn't like her. And then I easily shut the door behind her and loaded it in the back seat. She made a couple of sad meows of half-hearted protest, but we drove home without incident.
This is a pic of Ms. Brigit from a month ago. You can see her winter coat has grown out beautifully.
Since I moved the feeders from the church's backyard in October, to beside the bushes by the cemetery fence along the little access road, I've made huge progress with Brigit. I can pet her all up now, but only while she's in the first throws of eating her wet food. So she's much more comfortable in this spot.
I think she's also happier because I back up my car right by the feeders, and she prefers feeding by the car. Once a garage cat, always a garage cat. She likes to jump up in the hatchback of the car, as I'm preparing the food, and check out the supplies. Until last week, she would jump right out if she saw me looking at her. But last week, she shoved her head under my hand as I was scooping her wet food to get at her bowl.
This pic is blurry because in the very next instant, she jumped up into the hatchback of my car.
So here is Ms. Brigit tonight. I got her to go from the medium sized carrier into this large dog crate without incident. Someone in Arlington, VA put this brand new crate out on the curb in October and put the ad for it on Craig's List and I drove out and got it for just such an occasion as this. I wish I had room to put the food further away from the litter box, but there isn't quite enough room for that. She did eat a little of her wet food, and some celebratory chicken enjoyed by the whole household in her honor.
I put the crate on top of a plastic tub at the foot of the bed where she can watch me and my crew sleep. I'm hoping watching me sleep will make her more relaxed with me and set her more at ease. I haven't been able to pet her today--she hisses when I reach in the crate near her, but she is exchanging blinky eyes with me. Saki's taken Brigit's presence in stride. Moo hissed at her some--the hissing was mutual. Tuxie was the most freaked out by the guest, such that he threw up his chicken and has stared in the bedroom doorway warily. Hopefully, all will go well tonight. The big test is to see if she can use the litter box.
Ms. Brigit sat on top of the red crate for a while, but as you can see, she has figured out what a cat bagel is for. I think she is content to be in out of the arctic cold for now, until it passes. I hope it's a big enough space for her not to go stir crazy for a few days. It's almost the size of the glassed in cages they have for cats in Petsmart. I will do my utmost to keep her from escaping, because I know she will go hide right under the bed and I'll never get her out and it would be a cat-astrophe for the whole household. She and her sister had been trapped and caged a couple of times before by rescue worker A., but they were not well pampered at all. We'll see how she does with this taste of domesticity, and nummy treats. I may try to get her into a clinic to get her shots updated, if she is relaxed enough for me to handle her enough to transfer her back and forth into a smaller carrier--I'm not sure on that though. Wish us luck with this visit. (-:
Starting yesterday, we've been having the coldest temps we've had in 4 years, with anticipation of a possible dusting of snow tonight and a few inches on Friday, so I've been debating and debating on whether or not I should catch Brigit today and take her in for the next few days. When I refill the dry food auto feeders, I have been placing a bowl of wet food in a carrier, and Brigit has been walking right in, so catching her would be no problem. The only problem is I'm not sure if this is a trick that will work twice, so if we have worse weather in the next month, I may not be able to catch her then--hence the debate.
But when I went out this afternoon, I called and called and she didn't show, as she has every week, except one rainy day, since the end of last March. I filled the feeders, called some more, and then drove around a little, and came back. Then I saw that C. who lives across the road from the feeders had arrived home and went to ask her if she could call me, if she saw her. I'm so glad she's there. She is friendly to Brigit, though she considers her an ugly cat--yes, she does. {-:
I was pretty worried, but just as it was getting dark and I was leaving C's stoop, who should show up, but Ms. Brigit. She was walking kind of slow, and was slow to start eating, and if she didn't have a cold, the cold was certainly being rough on her, so that decided me completely to take her in. I had to wave the bowl of food under her nose a couple of times before she took interest in it when I put it in the carrier, which isn't like her. And then I easily shut the door behind her and loaded it in the back seat. She made a couple of sad meows of half-hearted protest, but we drove home without incident.
This is a pic of Ms. Brigit from a month ago. You can see her winter coat has grown out beautifully.
Since I moved the feeders from the church's backyard in October, to beside the bushes by the cemetery fence along the little access road, I've made huge progress with Brigit. I can pet her all up now, but only while she's in the first throws of eating her wet food. So she's much more comfortable in this spot.
I think she's also happier because I back up my car right by the feeders, and she prefers feeding by the car. Once a garage cat, always a garage cat. She likes to jump up in the hatchback of the car, as I'm preparing the food, and check out the supplies. Until last week, she would jump right out if she saw me looking at her. But last week, she shoved her head under my hand as I was scooping her wet food to get at her bowl.
This pic is blurry because in the very next instant, she jumped up into the hatchback of my car.
So here is Ms. Brigit tonight. I got her to go from the medium sized carrier into this large dog crate without incident. Someone in Arlington, VA put this brand new crate out on the curb in October and put the ad for it on Craig's List and I drove out and got it for just such an occasion as this. I wish I had room to put the food further away from the litter box, but there isn't quite enough room for that. She did eat a little of her wet food, and some celebratory chicken enjoyed by the whole household in her honor.
I put the crate on top of a plastic tub at the foot of the bed where she can watch me and my crew sleep. I'm hoping watching me sleep will make her more relaxed with me and set her more at ease. I haven't been able to pet her today--she hisses when I reach in the crate near her, but she is exchanging blinky eyes with me. Saki's taken Brigit's presence in stride. Moo hissed at her some--the hissing was mutual. Tuxie was the most freaked out by the guest, such that he threw up his chicken and has stared in the bedroom doorway warily. Hopefully, all will go well tonight. The big test is to see if she can use the litter box.
Ms. Brigit sat on top of the red crate for a while, but as you can see, she has figured out what a cat bagel is for. I think she is content to be in out of the arctic cold for now, until it passes. I hope it's a big enough space for her not to go stir crazy for a few days. It's almost the size of the glassed in cages they have for cats in Petsmart. I will do my utmost to keep her from escaping, because I know she will go hide right under the bed and I'll never get her out and it would be a cat-astrophe for the whole household. She and her sister had been trapped and caged a couple of times before by rescue worker A., but they were not well pampered at all. We'll see how she does with this taste of domesticity, and nummy treats. I may try to get her into a clinic to get her shots updated, if she is relaxed enough for me to handle her enough to transfer her back and forth into a smaller carrier--I'm not sure on that though. Wish us luck with this visit. (-:
Tags:
- brigit,
- cats,
- omg sfcold!,
- snow,
- strays