The cats finally seem to have reached some kind of equilibrium at the new house. They all seem to be reliably around for at least part of the day, usually either early morning or late afternoon.
Smokey is the most consistent, which I think is probably to be expected. He’s not particularly active under any circumstances, so he seems content to hang out around his pen.
The other three cats disappear for hours at a time, but they all seem to end up back somewhere near their pens or the garage. Chloe spends at least part of the night in the garage, which at this point does not have doors and is still full of stored items and construction material. If she’s around, she usually follows me and the dogs down to the street, then climbs up the bank into the woods in front of our house. From there we don’t know where she goes.
Sylvester seems to come and go, but he is not gone enough for us to worry that he won’t be back. Wednesday night he found his old scratching post in the garage and spent some time wallowing where we put catnip.
Dusty is usually absent, but I suspect that he is somewhere in the woods surrounding the house.
Any one of them might go back to the old house, but, wherever they go, they have come back every time.
Our biggest concern is that Smokey and Sylvester will start harassing Dusty and chase him away. On several occasions we have seen Dusty lying peacefully under our trailer, when Smokey will walk up and lie down a couple of feet away, acting innocent. Staring. Staring. We have also caught Sylvester stalking Chloe or Dusty a few times, but have called him down in time to stop it.
Every day is different, but I think the cats are in the process of settling down into their new environment. They had a long time at our old house to find their favorite places to hang out, but only a week or so here.
Unfortunately, some time in the near future (we hope) there will be another big disturbance when we have our driveway paved. There will be one day of grading, which will involve a large bulldozer working on the driveway and in front of the garage. After that, there will be a day or so of putting down forms, which will involve a crew of strangers hammering stakes and generally making a commotion. And then there will be a day of pouring and working the concrete.
No one is going to be happy during the process. At this point we aren’t sure about putting them back in their pens or leaving them out when the workers come to the house.
Glad to know all the kitty cats are starting to acclimate to the new home. It is a little worrisome to think about how they will react during the driveway job. How is everyone else there? Hope all are adjusting well.
Kitties can be very adaptable, and it sounds as if yours are making the best of their relocation. Think I’d opt to put them back in their pens for the construction days and one or two following. And give them lots of attention to reinforce their coming around to thinking of the new place as theirs.
Lily, our little stray is sequestered following spaying. We keep her company to make it as happy a period as possible. She may be developing Stockholm Syndrome. Never a lap cat, last night she slept on my husband’s knees. She was pleased but his joints were not. And today she let me brush her!
If cats can’t get along with one another in a big, open yard with plenty of space to carve out one’s own territory, I guess we shouldn’t expect too much of people, huh?
Robin — The cats are doing about like they did at the old house, but that means Smokey and Sylvester are terrorizing Dusty and Chloe. And, by the way, I’m still having problems commenting on your blog. I especially wanted to mention how good it makes me feel to see your mother are your and Roger’s place.
Minnie — We are almost certainly will put the cats back in their pens when the construction chaos begins again.
Scott — Just makes you want to shake a little sense into people.