One of the ways to reduce stress is to stroke your pet. It has been many years since I had a pet, my preference being cats. When Ben came to stay, he had not been able to have a pet, so we discussed it. He thought he wanted a dog. Fortunately, an acquaintance was going out of town for a long weekend and said we could keep their dog to let Ben see what it was like. That was a revelation! You have to feed a dog, play with a dog, and even walk the dog early on a Saturday morning. When they look at you with those soulful eyes, almost crossing their legs to keep from having an accident, you just have to get up and take them out. Needless to say, after a few days of the dog, Ben decided maybe cats were less trouble.
I pondered on this question for some time, and then one day I just felt it was right to go to the Humane Society and look over their cats. I didn’t want a kitten – I’m not into potty-training children or animals. So, I opted for an older cat, about 2 years old. After discussing it with Ben, I came home with Spiral the cat. That was in September of 2018.
It took Spiral some time to get used to our home, but within a few months she had become Queen of the house and had us pretty well trained. However, Ben wanted to experiment a bit to find out if Spiral liked water. He tried putting her in the sink, but her outstretched legs and claws indicated that she didn’t want to try that. So, he decided to put her in the bathtub and turn on the water. She has never trusted him since. Whenever he tries to pick her up, she flies into my room and gets under my bed. He still gets her when she is asleep somewhere, and puts her on her back in his lap. He has tried to entertain her with videos for cats, brushing her and being as nice as can be with her. She just glares at him with her green eyes, and waits for him to turn his attention elsewhere so she can escape.
Not wanting Ben to feel totally rejected, when a friend asked if I would take her cat (because her husband was allergic to it), I agreed. This would be Ben’s cat. She is very cuddly and likes to be in someone’s lap, so Ben enjoyed having her in his lap. She loves the laser pointer (the red dot) and chases it wildly all over the house. She slept with Ben, starting out on her tummy but ending up on her back spread across the bed. He barely had room to sleep on the bed. As long as Spiral ignored Naima, Naima was Ben’s cat.
But something changed. Apparently Spiral has been whispering secrets about Ben to Naima, and now she won’t sit in either of our laps. She stays under the bed or on my bed a lot. She comes to have her ears and back scratched, but doesn’t want to get close enough that you could actually pick her up. She’s become very skittish. Not even the red dot can draw her out. It doesn’t help that when she does jump up on my chair to sit in my lap when Spiral is there, she gets a swat. Spiral doesn’t like to share her people.
I’m hoping that in time Naima will gain some confidence and start trusting us again. Oh, and don’t expect to see either of them if you come to visit. They go into cloaking mode and are invisible until you leave. Even the cat-sitters don’t see them for weeks at a time, but the food is eaten and the litterbox gets full, so we know they are in here somewhere!
I pondered on this question for some time, and then one day I just felt it was right to go to the Humane Society and look over their cats. I didn’t want a kitten – I’m not into potty-training children or animals. So, I opted for an older cat, about 2 years old. After discussing it with Ben, I came home with Spiral the cat. That was in September of 2018.
It took Spiral some time to get used to our home, but within a few months she had become Queen of the house and had us pretty well trained. However, Ben wanted to experiment a bit to find out if Spiral liked water. He tried putting her in the sink, but her outstretched legs and claws indicated that she didn’t want to try that. So, he decided to put her in the bathtub and turn on the water. She has never trusted him since. Whenever he tries to pick her up, she flies into my room and gets under my bed. He still gets her when she is asleep somewhere, and puts her on her back in his lap. He has tried to entertain her with videos for cats, brushing her and being as nice as can be with her. She just glares at him with her green eyes, and waits for him to turn his attention elsewhere so she can escape.
Not wanting Ben to feel totally rejected, when a friend asked if I would take her cat (because her husband was allergic to it), I agreed. This would be Ben’s cat. She is very cuddly and likes to be in someone’s lap, so Ben enjoyed having her in his lap. She loves the laser pointer (the red dot) and chases it wildly all over the house. She slept with Ben, starting out on her tummy but ending up on her back spread across the bed. He barely had room to sleep on the bed. As long as Spiral ignored Naima, Naima was Ben’s cat.
But something changed. Apparently Spiral has been whispering secrets about Ben to Naima, and now she won’t sit in either of our laps. She stays under the bed or on my bed a lot. She comes to have her ears and back scratched, but doesn’t want to get close enough that you could actually pick her up. She’s become very skittish. Not even the red dot can draw her out. It doesn’t help that when she does jump up on my chair to sit in my lap when Spiral is there, she gets a swat. Spiral doesn’t like to share her people.
I’m hoping that in time Naima will gain some confidence and start trusting us again. Oh, and don’t expect to see either of them if you come to visit. They go into cloaking mode and are invisible until you leave. Even the cat-sitters don’t see them for weeks at a time, but the food is eaten and the litterbox gets full, so we know they are in here somewhere!
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