July 25, 2021
Day 17
We did it! We opened the second crate! We now have Basecamp, The Nest and… drum roll… the Ensuite! It all went incredibly smoothly, I have to say. Thank the Universe for that!
Mitsy was in the Nest, watching it all, barely getting worried. She watched us open the front door, take off the feeding bowls, swing the door open fully, push the Ensuite up against it and fasten it with zipties. We stayed very calm, both of us and I even felt comfortable enough to refresh the Basecamp litter box. She did not hiss. Just looked at it. I think there is a level of trust growing here, but I also think cats are really good at tuning out. Just retreating in themselves, while observing something new. All of the kittens were with her in the Nest, so no risks.
Mitsy has not spent much time in the Ensuite yet. Early this morning she was lounging near the scratch pole and I think she was sniffing the catnip envelope: that is a suggestion I picked up somewhere, don’t remember where. Fill a small paper envelope with some cat nip and they can smell it, play with it, bite in it and it will just degrade when you do that outside. But of course you can also do that inside!
Got the birthing blankie!
This morning I have put some catnip on the actual scratch pole. I also washed the birthing blankie twice after I was finally able to grab it and replace it. It did not even look that dirty on the top, but when I turned it around, there was a lot of dried blood and other fluids underneath. The stains of the birthing fluids will not come out, but at least it is clean now. Had it outside for an hour or so to get rid of the detergent smell a bit. But, the new towel that is now in front of the Nest does not seem to cause any issues. So if she lies on that blankie a couple of times her smell will mask the newness of it and no risk of the kittens getting lost because there is no familiar smell. That is something I read about on the internet. When you change the litter towels too early, the kittens can lose their way in the nursery.
Touching a kitten
The Ensuite already made this into a BIG day today and it got a memorable ending. I was refreshing food in both the Ensuite and the Basecamp, when one of the black kittens was out of the Nest and pretty close to the feeding bowls. I checked on Mom: she was lying down facing away from me in the Nest and all seemed quiet. So I opened the side door of Basecamp and really touched the kitten! First on the back, then under its chin, which it did not like (!) and then on its back again. It was awesome. We are quite sure that this was Vampy (or: “Tiny”) the kitten we might want to adopt. Their fur is incredibly soft.
Kindred spirits
I also had a very enjoyable chat with a lady on a blog that is specifically for people who have done the TNR course. I read her story with “her feral” and reacted to it. She was just ahead of us, her feral had a litter end of March. Mitsy was very pregnant at that time as well, but we never saw the kittens. I don’t think they survived, or someone took them away. And the way she described her experience was so similar to mine, that I really wanted to connect. She seems like a lovely lady. A kindred spirit! She was going to trap her feral, get it neutered and released, when the Humane Society, to which she went for neutering, told her: ‘No can do, she is just days away from delivery…’ So quite unexpectedly, she and her husband took the cat back home and did what we are currently doing with as little experience as us. It was so good to read about her high levels of anxiety and knowing that I am not some unstable, emotional wreck. She has gone through the same thing.
Whether our outcome will be the same as hers: we will have to wait and see. She kept 2 of the kittens and also the mom who is still a scaredy-pants, but social enough to stay and live with them. Who knows…