It started right from day #1 with all-night howling, crying and door scratching to get outside. I didn't sleep. the nights that followed were much of the same until I got to the point that I couldn't take it anymore. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I didn't care at that point. So I let them outside. Indie didn't have a problem - he knew where his food bowl was. Kaeto, on the other hand, tracked down his old territory and ended up back at my old place happily waiting for my return and completely oblivious that a new person had moved in our old place.
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| Indie checking the happenings of the great outdoors |
For the next week and a half I spent nearly every day going back to the old place to call Kaeto who would come running to me from wherever he was hiding so I could carry him back to the new place. I'd keep him inside for a bit where I'd feed him, pet him, play with him and then eventually let him back out. He'd go straight back to the old place. I got sick of it as I still wasn't sleeping as now I was stressing that Kaeto didn't want to come home.
So I bought some fresh kitty litter, locked the cat door and brought them both inside. I toughed it out for another week and a half with the nightly scratching, howling and crying until they both finally started to settle. Kaeto began to get comfortable and truly showed signs of owning the place. Perfect. I tested the waters again with them outside and was happy as pie with the result until it came time to feed them for dinner. Kaeto had gone. Again.
That was a week ago. I played tough love with him in the hopes that if I didn't come to pick him up at the old place, he would eventually find his way back to me. He didn't. So this morning on my morning run I went back there to pick him up. And now he is in my bedroom with a food bowl and litter box as I scrounge the internet for some magical solution to helping him settle in. Who knew there was such a thing as feline pheromone diffusers to help a cat feel settled. Who knew they would cost $100 a piece. And then there's microchips, cat tags, deterrent sprays, cat treats, harnesses, cat toys and keeping him indoors for good.
My life has become one of cats as of late and as much as I love both of them, I hate that fact. The rest of my life has faded into the distance - the fact that I got my Work Visa extended for another year was minimal news to me. The experience of me doing weekly Rollerfit Classes with a friend to train for Roller Derby next year has been exhausting with my lack of sleep. My choice to finally join a gym so that I can kick it up a notch with my fitness pales in comparison to the daily stress I face in trying to ensure that my cats... maybe just this once... might both decide to call home "Home."
And so cats it is - when I wake up in the morning to when I go to sleep. My decision to hang out with friends or come home early in hopes that maybe today Kaeto might be there waiting for me is an ongoing on. At least today he is home. Now I just have to figure out how to get him to stay when Indie is more that comfortable coming and going as he pleases. One thing is for certain - my experience the past month has left me little motivation to ever want to move house again.
