Post Covid Mitsy: how is she doing?

May 29, 2024

Mitsy is doing well and has turned into a veritable cuddlebug. Who would have thought?
After she was spayed, we both spent a lot of time with her in the cat room. But gradually we also began introducing her to the rest of the house. The catroom was converted back into my office, as it was before, and there, on December 9, 2021, she jumped into Wim’s lap. We could not believe our eyes. I was sitting at my desk and was able to take a quick snapshot. The lap visit lasted only for a couple of seconds but even Mitsy seemed surprised!

Wim is a real cat whisperer. His lap, for the longest time, was reserved for Suzi only, who slept there while he was working at the computer, for hours on end. So this short moment with Mitsy was quite unique!

Lucky for me, she repeated the lap sitting a month later and Wim was able to capture that moment. These days she divides her attention equally between the two of us to prevent any jealousy…!

Before it came to this, Mitsy had been venturing out into the rest of the house, exploring in her own time. Often she stayed at the top of the stairs, listening to what was going on downstairs.

Many evenings we were watching TV downstairs and did not see her at all. She would be fast asleep in her cat tree or in the window sill, which became one of her favourite places.

But she became more and more interested in the main living areas. Of course, this also meant meeting Suzi up close and personal.

Suzi is watching Mitsy from the safety of Wim’s lap, the place she had an exclusive reservation for, for hours every day. Mitsy inserted herself in every single place of the house, and of course Wim’s office was very interesting to her!

Suzi was not particularly interested, but she never lashed out. And that pleased us: there were no violent confrontations. There was hissing, mostly by Suzi, but that makes sense. After all, she had been the only resident cat since 2018 after Dixie died. Mitsy, we could tell, would have liked a closer relationship. She often approached Suzi, in play or for a cuddle, but they never became friends.

However, they did have a companionship that mostly came out in tough times. If both were afraid, they would come together. After we moved to the London (Ontario) area, they slept in adjoining chairs and when anything frightening happened in the house, the huddled together.

Huddling together when there were strangers in the house or fearful noises

Sometimes Mitsy insisted. If Suzi was lounging in the loveseat with Wim on one side and me on the other, she wanted to be part of that companionship and managed to squeeze in. It would not take long for Suzi to remove herself, unless she was fast asleep and not aware of Mitsy’s proximity.

In due time this did become a routine: both felines spent the night next to each other in our two old diningroom chairs. When the lights went out and we went to bed, it would not take long for Suzi to install herself and fall asleep. And Mitsy joined her, albeit in her own chair, mere minutes later. Sometimes, like in this photograph, we would sneak up on them after the sun was up to make a picture of it…

Mitsy tried to play with Suzi, but it usually ended with Suzi hissing and walking away. We know she was never in tip-top health and she was approaching 10 years, so she really was a senior, whilst Mitsy was then believed to be 3 years old and still very active. But when we distracted her with all sorts of toys, she engaged joyfully. Although she is still afraid of the big feathers on a stick-toy, she does like single feathers. She loves peacock feathers, which are for sale as sanitised toys (or room decorations) online. They are always a big succes and she loves to hunt them. In this picture she is enjoying her new tree. The old beige one was in tatters and both cats got their nails stuck in it several times, so it was time for something new. It rapidly became Mitsy’s tree, Suzi never took to it and rather spent time in Wim’s lap.

Mitsy also enjoys watching wildlife. We got this window feeding station and Mitsy went into hunting mode. Without ever hurting a single bird! We also put a webcam on the station just for the fun of it and got some lovely footage of the smaller birds visiting.

This became the routine whenever I sat down in our couch. Mitsy jumping and sleeping on my lap. Her preference is to sleep on a towel or a blankie and not on our bare legs. Probably because they give her a flatter and softer surface. It is a sweet routine that I totally love.

Mitsy would include Wim in the lap sitting, but most of the time Suzi had reservations on that place. In this photo Wim is recovering from Covid and Suzi loved that he was in the living room so often. Mitsy was content in my lap and I was content with that too!

And this would be the picture if I was not home. Suzi in Wim’s lap and Mitsy jumping in to be part of the fun!

Apart from sleeping and playing with her toys or with us, Mitsy has also developed a liking for our television. Nature documentaries, soccer and, in this photograph, a specific cat app called ‘Mouse for cats’ beamed onto the big TV trigger her to play as well. Not the best for the screen, we know, but the TV was end of lifetime so it was no big deal… I can recommend this game as it also has sound and touching the mouse (on a mobile device) will change the moving pattern and the number of mice shown.

And of course, being a cat living with an artist, she would appreciate my paintings!

After Suzi passed unexpectedly in February 2024, and after we moved yet again (still in the same area), we could tell that Mitsy felt truly alone sometimes. Especially right after the move, after it took four hours to load her in a traveling box (!), we could tell that she behaved differently from the previous move. Back then, Suzi was there to keep her company in the hard times to get used to a new house. And there was comfort in that. But now she had to tackle her new surroundings on her own.

When scary things happen, it is nice to have a fellow feline companion close by…

By contrast, landing in a new catroom, no matter how nice the setup, being the only feline is frightening. The familiar cat tree was important in the transition: she knew that she could hide in the cubby, even though she had almost outgrown it. But scared cats make themselves small and in the first weeks in the new house she would hide here whenever there were strange sounds. Nowadays she regularly sleeps in the top bed, but most of her time she can be found elsewhere in the house.

There was no feline companion to be found in the current house and we believe that this has made her attach stronger to us, her humans. As I am writing this, the move was 2 months ago. Mitsy has settled in well, but when we are not home for some hours, we get a very enthusiastic welcome when we come back. Lots of meowing and cuddles and laptime. We may or may not adopt a kitten to keep her company in due time, but for now it is just the three of us and we have already developed new routines. Mitsy is with Wim in the morning, usually in her cactus tree in his office.

Mitsy sunbathing in the cactus bed in Wim’s office, where the morning sun warms her bones and she can put her nose in the wind at the window, with the insect screen in between. As of yet she has not tried to remove or scratch any of the screens in our houses. Our philosophy is that she likes to sniff and observe the outdoors, but feels safe inside and likes to be an indoor cat. Having us for company makes a big difference in that equation though.

Look closely and see Mitsy’s indoors and outdoors view in the same photograph

If the weather is nice, the windows are open (with insect screen installed), and she enjoys observing the neighbourhood. Our feeders attract many birds, chipmunks and squirrels and she loves to watch them.

When I get up a bit later, there is a long cuddle session on the couch in the livingroom, with Mitsy in my lap and sweet kisses all around. After breakfast, we play and by noon she is ready for a long nap. She has many places to choose from in our current house. She absolutely loves that there are two sets of stairs to get to the second level. She often surprises up by appearing in the upper hallway via the other stairs, after we used the other to go upstairs; she pops up when we least expect her, and I could swear she is smiling when she sees our surprise!

Around the end of Wim’s work day, she comes and keeps us company in the upper family room and engages in a lot of play. We have the impression that she spends most of her night time downstairs, though. She has big windows to use as an observation platform, and several beds and trees elsewhere in the house. She is a happy cat, that loves to play with us and gets multiple daily cuddles. She is no longer feral. But she does have feral reflexes. Try to put her in a place where she does not want to be, and she will not be picked up for a couple of days. All of a sudden she loses trust… Let alone try to put her in a travel box… a subject we have not tackled since the four hour ordeal of getting her in it to transport her to the new place… Let’s get her completely settled in first and maybe we will have to drug her a little bit for her next visit to the vet… Do not want to think about that at this time. Not yet…

Laptime in the family room (early picture so still boxes and unfinished business after our move…)

The only active remnant of her past is that she does not like to meet new people. But that too is changing in little steps. She found our last visitor very interesting and was courageous enough to stick around, although at a safe distance.

So, all in all, Mitsy’s story is one with a happy ending. We hope she will stay healthy for a long time, so we do not have to truck her off to the vet. She is getting sweeter by the week and we trust that we will find her a good local catsitter one of these days, so we can travel a bit. For now, the new house is keeping us busy and we have no desire to do that yet. All is well that ends well!