Home again
Dec. 31st, 2012 01:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalI finally decided to stop torturing Chelsea yesterday, and we left my parents' house (and Patches) behind. This was the longest I've stayed at their house since acquiring Chelsea, because I couldn't leave her alone for more than a few days at a time. It was nice to be able to spend a whole week at home for once. I actually quite enjoy spending time with my parents, even if we sometimes get on each others' nerves. But being at home feels like a vacation from being a grown-up, you know? It's a relief not having to worry about everything yourself. And the kitty experiment went better than I'd hoped, so we'll try it again, I'm sure.
Chelsea is such a good little traveler. I barely heard a peep out of her during the car rides (three hours each way) and she didn't seem to mind being confined to my bedroom most of the time. (Granted, it's not much smaller than my apartment, lol.) When we did let her out, she was fine investigating all the rooms and didn't seem upset to be in a strange place. At first we kept Patches in my parents' bedroom while Chelsea was out, but later in the week, we started letting them see each other - first separating them by a screen and then just letting them wander... because my cat is a velociraptor who can figure out how to open doors, so at some point, keeping her in the bedroom became a challenge. (And yet, she hissed at a ceramic cat because she thought it was real. How can one cat be so exceptionally smart and exceptionally dumb at the same time?)
No one attacked anyone else, and although there was quite a bit of hissing at each other, neither of the cats seemed particularly perturbed by the whole situation. Patches seemed more curious than anything else - we figured she'd be okay, since she has no problem with the outside cats, who occasionally come in the house - but Chelsea was on the defensive and hissed every time she saw Patches, and then Patches would run away and hide. Eventually Patches was like "fuck this shit, this is my house" and started hissing back, though, which I think was good? Because it showed Chelsea who was boss, and as the week went on, they spent more time just having staring contests without hissing or tail-puffing.
I think if they had a couple more weeks to get used to each other, they'd be fine, even if they just chose to avoid each other. It's a big house, and the ultimate goal here is not to make them BFFs but just to ensure that they won't kill each other if, for whatever reason, they had to live in the same house for a while. Hopefully, the next time I bring Chelsea home, we won't have to start over from the beginning.
In other news, the stray cat situation there is OUT OF CONTROL, lol. I've mentioned before that my mom cannot resist a hungry kitty and she's been feeding strays for years. That's how they ended up with Patches, who was from the second litter of kittens born in our backyard. My mom had been feeding her for about nine months when she came inside one day and never left. Now they have a whole menagerie out there - there are two adult males (dubbed Mangy and Meanie) who have possibly fathered some or all of the kittens in the last couple years. There's Mom, a tuxedo cat who has now had two litters of kittens - of the first litter, only two still hang around, Gracie and Brother. Gracie even had a litter of her own kittens, but one day they were hiding in the engine of my dad's car, and he tried to get them out, and Gracie got mad and marched them off. We haven't seen them since.
Mom's second litter produced two more hangers-on, whom we have named Lily and Marshall. We were calling them Little Black Kitten and Little Grey Kitten for a while, but (a) Little Grey Kitten (the boy) is not so little anymore, and (b) the reason for not naming them was to avoid getting attached. But Little Black Kitten has started coming inside - not even for the food, it appears she wants Patches to be her new mommy, lol - and so at that point we figured they ought to have names. Marshall is a bit more cautious, so we're not sure if he'll ever come in, but I'm betting Lily will be officially adopted by the end of the month. Even though my mother insists she doesn't want another cat. LOL we'll see.
At least she's not as bad as my aunt, who now has FIVE cats. She started with two, then while volunteering at an animal shelter, she kept coming home with them. She used to work with special education students, so she takes all the special needs cats who won't get adopted.
Anyway, the highlights of my Christmas:
* Most hilarious moment - My grandmother unintentionally propositioning my cousin's father-in-law: "Here's my keys, you wanna go to my place?" (His response: "Well, only if my wife says it's okay...")
* Most WTF moment - My mom asking if I should freeze some of my eggs, in case I ever change my mind and decide I want children. Me: "No." (Bonus WTF moment: "Hey, I didn't want to have kids, either." Me: "......." Mom: "....but it's different when they're yours.")
* Best Christmas present - New car! Well, new to me, at least. It's my grandmother's 2003 Hyundai Sonata, which she is no longer allowed to drive, because she is 87 and kinda crazy. But it was free and everything works, so it's an improvement over my old car.
How was everyone else's holiday?
Chelsea is such a good little traveler. I barely heard a peep out of her during the car rides (three hours each way) and she didn't seem to mind being confined to my bedroom most of the time. (Granted, it's not much smaller than my apartment, lol.) When we did let her out, she was fine investigating all the rooms and didn't seem upset to be in a strange place. At first we kept Patches in my parents' bedroom while Chelsea was out, but later in the week, we started letting them see each other - first separating them by a screen and then just letting them wander... because my cat is a velociraptor who can figure out how to open doors, so at some point, keeping her in the bedroom became a challenge. (And yet, she hissed at a ceramic cat because she thought it was real. How can one cat be so exceptionally smart and exceptionally dumb at the same time?)
No one attacked anyone else, and although there was quite a bit of hissing at each other, neither of the cats seemed particularly perturbed by the whole situation. Patches seemed more curious than anything else - we figured she'd be okay, since she has no problem with the outside cats, who occasionally come in the house - but Chelsea was on the defensive and hissed every time she saw Patches, and then Patches would run away and hide. Eventually Patches was like "fuck this shit, this is my house" and started hissing back, though, which I think was good? Because it showed Chelsea who was boss, and as the week went on, they spent more time just having staring contests without hissing or tail-puffing.
I think if they had a couple more weeks to get used to each other, they'd be fine, even if they just chose to avoid each other. It's a big house, and the ultimate goal here is not to make them BFFs but just to ensure that they won't kill each other if, for whatever reason, they had to live in the same house for a while. Hopefully, the next time I bring Chelsea home, we won't have to start over from the beginning.
In other news, the stray cat situation there is OUT OF CONTROL, lol. I've mentioned before that my mom cannot resist a hungry kitty and she's been feeding strays for years. That's how they ended up with Patches, who was from the second litter of kittens born in our backyard. My mom had been feeding her for about nine months when she came inside one day and never left. Now they have a whole menagerie out there - there are two adult males (dubbed Mangy and Meanie) who have possibly fathered some or all of the kittens in the last couple years. There's Mom, a tuxedo cat who has now had two litters of kittens - of the first litter, only two still hang around, Gracie and Brother. Gracie even had a litter of her own kittens, but one day they were hiding in the engine of my dad's car, and he tried to get them out, and Gracie got mad and marched them off. We haven't seen them since.
Mom's second litter produced two more hangers-on, whom we have named Lily and Marshall. We were calling them Little Black Kitten and Little Grey Kitten for a while, but (a) Little Grey Kitten (the boy) is not so little anymore, and (b) the reason for not naming them was to avoid getting attached. But Little Black Kitten has started coming inside - not even for the food, it appears she wants Patches to be her new mommy, lol - and so at that point we figured they ought to have names. Marshall is a bit more cautious, so we're not sure if he'll ever come in, but I'm betting Lily will be officially adopted by the end of the month. Even though my mother insists she doesn't want another cat. LOL we'll see.
At least she's not as bad as my aunt, who now has FIVE cats. She started with two, then while volunteering at an animal shelter, she kept coming home with them. She used to work with special education students, so she takes all the special needs cats who won't get adopted.
Anyway, the highlights of my Christmas:
* Most hilarious moment - My grandmother unintentionally propositioning my cousin's father-in-law: "Here's my keys, you wanna go to my place?" (His response: "Well, only if my wife says it's okay...")
* Most WTF moment - My mom asking if I should freeze some of my eggs, in case I ever change my mind and decide I want children. Me: "No." (Bonus WTF moment: "Hey, I didn't want to have kids, either." Me: "......." Mom: "....but it's different when they're yours.")
* Best Christmas present - New car! Well, new to me, at least. It's my grandmother's 2003 Hyundai Sonata, which she is no longer allowed to drive, because she is 87 and kinda crazy. But it was free and everything works, so it's an improvement over my old car.
How was everyone else's holiday?
no subject
Date: Dec. 31st, 2012 10:58 pm (UTC)An eternal mystery.
And new car! Yay.
no subject
Date: Jan. 4th, 2013 06:57 pm (UTC)