The Little Knittin' Kitten

The legend continues...

The other day Nyron and I finally managed to secure the basement in a way that the cats can't get through. Eventually we may find a way to do that will let me get down to do laundry as well, but who knows. We then went looking for the cats and, as usual, found Sebastian without much trouble. He was sitting on a windowsill. Windowsills, it seems, are good places for cornering cats. After letting us pet him for a while we decided to try and get his collar on him, with much success. He didn't try to scramble away or push it off. Even Spirit put up more of a fuss when I first put her collar on her! In light of our success, we decided to try picking Sebastian up and once again he passively let us do it with a minimum of fuss. We took him into the living room and I held him and petted him until he calmed down. He was still breathing rather quickly, but he didn't immediately jump away when I released my grip, either. Instead, he just circled around to a more comfortable position on my lap and lay back down again. We also managed to take the first ever photographs of Sebastian:

Here's Sebastian, a little scared from being picked up.

Here he is again, feeling a bit more comfortable.

High on our achievement we decided to try the same maneuver on Hyde. He, predictably, was considerably more difficult to catch. We eventually cornered him in my bedroom and it took the two of us to hold him while he fought like his life depended on it. That's when Nyron's phone rang downstairs. We'd been expecting a call from his friend Jenny who was in town for only a few days and couldn't miss it, so I told Nyron that I had him and he left to answer the phone. I did actually think I had him. He proved me wrong. He twisted like an eel in my grip until he was turned around facing me. Then he did something I've only ever seen cats do in the movies; he tried to scratch my eyes out. Thankfully I wear glasses, which he managed to knock half way across the room. He did, however, scratch my eyelid and my cheek in three places:

Looking a little better after a day to heal.

On the second attempt we managed to hold on to Hyde long enough to get his collar on him, but not long enough for him to feel comfortable being held. To add to the physical comedy of the whole situation, the amount of fur lying around in the air was reeking havoc on our allergies. We kept sneezing and having to blow our noses with one hand while holding the cat with the other.

The next morning I found Hyde's collar on the floor in the foyer. Two days later I found Sebastian's collar had been chewed off and left behind the armchair in the corner of the living room.

It looks like they're getting organized.

Since then we have managed to continue picking up and cuddling Sebastian. Each time he seems less afraid when we pick him up and more comfortable being held. He's even started purring loudly when one of us has him in our lap and he's eating treats out of our hands. Still, not so for Hyde. Sometimes I can walk within inches of his nose and he'll do nothing but stare at me suspiciously. Other times, he'll flat out run. We still have a hard time getting close enough to him to pick him up, although if we find him on a windowsill he'll often tolerate being petted. I'm hoping that the more he sees Sebastian being calm with us the sooner it'll be that he decides we're OK, too. I have managed to get a picture of him:

Right now we're experiencing one of Toronto's frequent summer thunder storms and that cats don't seem to be enjoying it as much as I do. Sebastian is hiding behind the armchair (although that's still a common hang-out for him) and Hyde is on the livingroom windowsill, looking anxiously out at the night sky. Every once in a while he lets out a scared little mew. I wish I could comfort him, but I know he won't yet take it as comfort. He's getting better, though. Soon he'll be properly socialized.

=^_^=

posted @ 2:15 p.m.