Mental Recovery | Savannah's Paw Tracks

Archive for the category “Mental Recovery”

07 Jul 2014

A Tale of Tails: Monday Meowsie News

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!

(hover cursor over photos to read captions)

First a big shout out THANK YOU to all those who have been leaving such encouraging comments for me and The Kid Sage over the last few weeks as we continue to work on being together.

We have come a long way from here…11/14/2013

Aiiee…airplane ears all around

To arrive here…06/15/2014

I am especially grateful to all of you who have left such positive reinforcement for me…helping me think about what having a kid sister can mean relative to having a playmate, a pal to nap with etc.

Now, not that ANY of the above has been going on in this house…oh no!…no way…not in the least…unless by accident or if I am caught napping. But, more about that ‘caught napping’ part in a bit.

But wait until you see what has been happening in just the last 7 days!

I have begun to find enough courage to actually leave my bed in the living room, and carefully walk, not slink, across the room while The Kid Sage is in a chair with Dad P or sitting on the floor near him…and I slowly make my way into the kitchen to get a snack or find Mom L for some pets. TA-DA!!

I am doing this pretty regularly now and Mom L and Dad P are leaving us out together when they run errands and go to the gym. Never more than maybe two hours, but still…my paw tracks on moving forward!

July 1, we started out pretty close in the living room…a new ‘close’ for us…with both of us totally relaxed…so they left us alone for a couple of hours…I was right in my bed when they returned and The Kid Sage had moved to the upstairs tower…not bothering me at all!

Only three feet away

The Kid Sage chilling…

HRH Savannah with no concerns

Now in the mornings when we are all watching the news and reading iPads and whatnot…in bed of course…The Kid Sage has begun to walk from the bottom of the bed right up to Mom L (passing me and my hisser like she hears nothing) to get what is now her expected morning brushies and scritches. And she has found her way onto Mom L’s lap!

Not sure how I like seeing The Kid Sage so up close and personal with ‘my’ Mom L…have to think on that one for sure.

Totally relaxed…snoozing away

And we have even shared morning snacks right in bed using Mom L’s legs as a dining table…I had to cut out Mom L at her request as she was still in her nightgown….*snicker*…but the iPad is on her legs and I am facing The Kid Sage and sharing some snacks with her…will wonders never cease!??

And yes, the wonders have NOT CEASED…the tale of the tail meeting the nose…

What is whapping my nose?

How was I to know she was right there…I was just flipping my tail with pleasure because I was getting some head rubs…

As you can well imagine…The Kid Sage could not contain herself after about 5 minutes of me flipping my tail on her head. She reached out lightning fast to grab my flicking tail…only Mom L was faster and grabbed her outstretched paw with those talons of hers out ready to catch my tail!!

Finally…the Tale of the Two Tails…yes…our tails have now met…unknown to either of us. I was asleep next to Mom L and The Kid Sage was sound asleep on her lap…and it just sort of happened…

Neither of us really knew what was happening…we were both so at peace sharing snuggles with Mom L in the morning in ‘our’ bed. One day I may let The Kid Sage actually spend the night in ‘our’ bed…but not yet.

Paw Pats, Savannah

Head Butts, The Kid Sage

27 Jun 2014

33 Comments

For Me? You’re Kidding, Right?!!: Friday Frolics

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

And then…”IT” arrived…

INTROODER ALERT!!!

We left you last Friday with the following video …if you watched already…no need to do so again…same video…

This is a photo of our first recorded interaction…”Morning With Mom”

Dateline Nov 5, 2013…4 days after “IT” arrived

…….ten days later…after they tried to coerce me to smell her…HAH!…she has now heard my hisser when I set it on LOUD! note the dates, and click to bigify

Nov 14, 2013 airplane ears approaching

Nov 14, 2013 both ears

Nov 14, 2013 eyes

…and then …she tries again…different position…same tactic…stoopid kid…

She really thinks I don’t smell her

November 14, 2013…Creeping…

Closer…

Things just kept getting more and more interesting…and my growls and snarls and hisses more and more loud and often…

Nov 16…hisssssss

…by the way…there are no photos from mid January 2014 until about March 2014. Mom L and Dad P were gone for almost a month…another ‘Get Away’…seriously?!

They got what they deserved upon returning…heh…heh…

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and now things really start to change…

May 1, 2014…camouflaged as turtle

May 28, 2014…I’ll just make sure she is safe

June 1, 2014…I just want to be closer

The month of June, 2014…has seen Sage learn to be more respectful of my privacy and my own space…and I…well…I have begun to learn I can move around even in her presence and still be safe…I still have to use my hisser to make sure she knows I want space…but she is hearing me loud and clear…thank Ceiling Cat!

June 10…next time…bet I can touch her nose

June 12…no nose touching yet

June 15…I know The Kid is gonna touch me!

And now for our big breakthrough…June 17…Mom L and Dad P left us alone, together, for the very first time ever and went to the gym…they worried about Savvy ending up under the bed or behind the couch…but they knew from everything all of you taught them…they had to try…and let us girls sort ourselves out…

Sharing a sun puddle

Promise I won’t get too close

See, told ya so…in Mom L’s office

And I am still here…in my bed

And here we are …once again…June 17, 2014…right where we started Nov 5, 2013…if only the humans would learn…heh…heh…

June 17, 2014 back to the future

Paw Pats, Savannah

Head bonks, The Kid Sage

Posted in Mental Recovery, Sage's Life Experiences, Savannah's Life Experiences and tagged adopt adult cat, cat recovery, scared cat, shelter rescue cat, special need cat rescue, trust

23 Jun 2014

50 Comments

Be the Miracle: Monday Meowsie News

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!

This is a bit of a long blog post but I am hoping you will stick with me and Mom L. I am going to allow her to start off. We have a story to share and in my next post, some news about my recovery progress of which The Kid Sage has become an important part.

First…Mom L has to start off…this is about Pawing It Forward in the Spirit of one of the greatest Cat Leaders ever…Leader Otis, The Blog of Otis. You see, Leader Otis’ blog and his web site were the very first cat blog we found. His leadership and wisdom has meant a lot to all of us; Dad P follows his blog just like I do.

Savvy: “Mom L? Your turn now”

Mom L: “Thanks Nana…I appreciate you letting me start off.”

So everyone, Mom Linda Here.

I have waited 6 months before I attempted to share our story about bringing The Kid Sage into Savannah’s castle.

Peter and I missed having Cuzin Leo and Peter so wanted a cat who would not be as timid of him as sweet Nana is. She shows Peter lots of affection, but she is, and likely will remain, more wary of men than women for whatever reason.

We decided to wait patiently for a black panther cat…from research we knew that gender was less a consideration than personality and age. We needed a non-dominant cat, outgoing, but calm and the age needed to be between 10 mos to 2 years. Nana is about 7-8 years and we wanted a cat who was still young enough to not be quite territorial. And a black panther because we know from our volunteer work that black cats truly are not adopted very quickly.

We visited cats whenever we found a likely candidate…we started searching about September, 2013–but no one fit our need. Contra Costa Humane Society, where you all know we found our very special and precious Princess Savannah *Mom L blows Nana a kiss*…and we volunteer there as well…well the adoption manager Miss Chrissy knew of our search and kept an eye out for cats she could pull from the county shelter who might fit our needs.

She called one day in last October, two sisters were pulled from the county…they were coal black, no white anywhere, and about 15 months old. They had been left by their former guardians in a box inside a Pet Food Express store. We learned later that the guardians had cared for these two girls so well, and had socialized them to be perfect little calm lady cats. Those first guardians were being forced to live on the street and did not want their two girls to have to live like that. We are fortunate to have been able to adopt Sage….her sister was adopted quickly as well.

Back to my story. We visited Kitty Corner, our CCHS free roam cat shelter…on Monday, October 28, 2013. Here is our first encounter with The Kid Sage…

Peter and Sage

Yea! She likes men!

We stayed a while to see her with the other cats, to play with her and get to know her…she was so affectionate right from the beginning…you can fast forward to about 1:26 and you can see her head butt Peter…won his heart right there!

So we went home to ponder adopting another cat knowing how timid and lacking in self confidence Nana is. Unknown to us, on that very day Monday October 28 2013, Leader Otis took his trip to The Bridge after a very long battle with a nerve disease.

We did not know until Brother Henry posted on Wednesday, October 30th that Leader Otis had passed from our world…

His Guardians cared for him so well and loved him so very much. On Thursday, October 31, 2013…Leader Otis’ Guardians posted his final message to all his followers…here is the part he said that forever changed the lives of Peter, me, Savannah and Sage:

The miracle that saved My life happened seven years ago when two humans looked out into their yard and saw a desperate, starving kitten looking back at them. They didn’t know who I was or where I had come from. They didn’t know what potential lay within Me, or the cat that I could become. They only knew that I needed their help. The miracle happened when they made the choice to rescue Me.

Although My spirit has departed, a part of Me will remain. When you look out into the world without walls and see a cat in need looking back at you, I will be there by your side. You will feel My soft breath on your cheek and My purrs of encouragement in your ear. Listen closely, and through the purrs you will hear My final commandment come to you in a whisper.

Be the miracle.

Friday morning, November 1, 2013, as soon as the adoption manager arrived at work…we accepted Leader Otis’ whispers we could already hear in our heads, and his purrs we were feeling in our hearts…and we took Sage home with us to her personal Promised Land. We fostered her two months to make sure we thought we could work with Nana to accept another cat…and on January 3, 2014, we officially made Sage part of our family.

We thank Leader Otis for encouraging us to Be The Miracle for a cat who started out in limbo in a box in a pet food store…a cat who has changed our lives forever.

That is how Sage came to be in her forever home. I felt it was time to share how much Leader Otis’s passing and final message meant to the final motivation to make a life changing decision for all of us. What true joy!

Thank you Savannah for allowing me space and time on your blog to tell Sage’s story…Leader Otis is not forgotten…he continues to be a guiding spirit in bringing many cats to their forever homes…with safe, loving and healthy living environments…

And I appreciate you all for hanging in until the end of this very long post…June is Adopt a Cat month…please encourage others to “Be The Miracle“…perhaps you know someone who might want to Be The Miracle for this precious cat…

Scuttles

What? You said you want me???

Please click HERE to learn all about here…she is waiting…desperately…for her future guardian to recognize her and to Be The Miracle for her…don’t let her languish without knowing her true home…please share her urgent plea for a home. Thank you for sharing