Savannah's Paw Tracks

Autobiography of a Former Shelter Cat

Archive for the tag “Savannahs progress”

A Real Rescue Human Is Talking: Monday Meowsie News

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

I am actually here today to introduce Mom L again. She wanted to give an update on The Kid Sage and me (as though anyone is interested!) and how we are progressing in managing how we share a home together.

Snoozing while Mom L talks away about me

Snoozing while Mom L talks away about me

So as you can see, I am taking this opportunity to get a much deserved break from writing this blog post…take it away Mom L!

Thank you Savannah.  First let me clarify the title of this post.  I believe that Savannah coming into my life saved me, literally, from a retirement spent in boredom and complete loss of any way to exercise my need for a creative outlet.  My consulting business gave that to me for over 30 years.  I am indeed a “Real Rescue Human”.  More on that topic in later posts this year…stay tuned.

I hope Savvy’s readers won’t mind me stepping in to share some of the recent progress the two girls have made  in learning to accept each other.

As most of you know, The Kid Sage arrived November 1, 2013 and we had to keep them separate for almost four  months due to many reasons. One of those reasons was a long absence on our part in January and February 2014 for a long planned trip to South America.  You can read about their progress up through June 2014 by clicking HERE.

I asked Savvy to allow me this post to share some truly wonderful happening between our two girls…and one not very ‘happy making’…but I digress…

I have some photo proof of the following interactions, but not for all…just remember how timid Savannah is/was and how The Kid Sage has tried to establish ‘top cat’ position…Savvy running from her etc…

  • Nana had already ‘won’ the dominant cat struggle about 3 weeks before we ever realized it. We suddenly noticed that when Nana would turn to leave the room and Sage would dash to follow…Nana stopped, turned and hissed and growled…she was standing her ground. We realized that Savvy had not been UTB for a month!!
  • Sage used to jump up on the bed in our shared morning routine, and give her teeny hiss and raise a paw over Nana…Sage no longer ever does this…she does tippy paws on the very edge of the bed to give Nana room and to avoid her hisses and growls
  • Savvy became less and less vocal when Sage jumped on the bed to get her morning brushies from me; Savvy had already had hers
  • Our morning routine now includes treats for both girls and Sage ALWAYS does the search for where I have stashed them! Truly a die hard food hog that girl LOL
  • Savannah began to walk normally across the living room from her bed on the floor to go to the litter box, get a drink or search for a snack.
  • Miracle of all miracles…they are now mostly eating both their AM and PM meals together in the little breakfast nook we use as a “Cat Feeding Station”…and often we can also dispense their AM and afternoon snacks of kibble together as well.
  • Nana will get up and invite me to play with her even with Sage on the couch, or anywhere for that matter…and Sage never tries to interfere though we know should would love to play with Savvy.
  • We have always been able to play with Sage and Savvy never cared so that is still good
  • We never separate them during the day unless Nana needs a rest or break so she can play or eat because she is still watching Sage and leery…but less and less everyday.
  • We still separate them at night…Peter sleeps with Sage and I sleep with Nana…yes…separate bedrooms but that is about to change…our pet sitter left both girls out for two nights a couple of weeks ago when we were gone…no fur was shed!! So we are ready to start leaving them both out all day…and see what happens.

Now the part that is still hearbreaking…

  • Sage is clearly lonely…she desperately wants Nana to play with her; allow her to snuggle with her…it is so precious to watch Sage trying to convince Nana that she, Sage, will be good if only Nana will love her.

And the change that surprised us, actually shocked us, over the last 3 weeks…

  • Savvy, for absolutely NO reason, attacked Sage on the bed during our regular morning routine; then she followed by doing it again in the living room…Sage has been shocked and very afraid.  We suspect Savvy is now trying out her ‘top cat’ power…crossing paws this phase passes.

And now some photos…hope you have enjoyed learning about how our girls are progressing…we have day after day now that is absolutely normal and we are loving it.  We have never had a cat as timid, afraid etc. as Savannah so this has been such new, but much needed, learning on our part.

 

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And so it ended…Savvy is not yet ready for any “touching” from Sage…but Savvy has been admiring my lap at night…heh…heh.  The Kid Sage is slowly, slowly helping Nana learn what it means to be loved by humans and what she can do to finally show her own cat curiosity.

We are so happy we brought The Kid Sage into all our lives.

Human hugs, Mom L

Sunday Hopefulness…

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Have you ever noticed that sometimes our humans’ have all kinds of ‘hopefulness’…for us, the cat(s)?  I mean, they often don’t even let us know they have this ‘hopefulness’…for us…on their minds.

Nice morning in bed

Nice morning in bed

Maybe it’s just me…but I think that can lead to all kinds of miscommunication, misunderstandings and what not…don’t ‘cha think?? Or is it just me???

Well you all know I have been having to do some investigating…about several things…

  • First…there were some rumors around blogville that made it sound like my furriends thought I might miss having Cuzin Leo around…and they were feeling a tad sad I was all alone…so I had to go check out who thought that and make sure they knew…”nope, nope and more nope”…don’t miss Cuzin Leo at all…happy he has his very OWN furrever castle…thank you very much…so ’nuff said on that rumor
  • Then…there have been these recurring shadows around my home…some of you have seen the evidence in some of my photos…so I had to get out my steampunk investigative tools to try to learn what that was all about…what I learned…not pretty…no siree…not pretty at all.

So as the saying goes…”who ya gonna call…if there’s something strange in your neighborhood??”…why our peeps, of course!!! Right???

Wrong…when I finally brought all my findings to Mom and Dad…guess what they tried to do?…go on…guess…guess???…you won’t believe it…I am telling you…not for one itty bitty minute…you so won’t believe what they tried to do…one last ditch effort on their part…

They tried to pass off the shadows, the rumors…etc. as if it was all about…get this…SANTA PAWS!!! Like ‘as if’ Santa Paws was right here in my home!!! HAH!

And then they did it…they presented their evidence…

Seriously? Santa Paws??

Seriously? Santa Paws??

Yup…there was Dad…holding this stoopid plushie black panfur kitty and saying it was “Santa Paws”…harruuummmppfffff….

And then…that plushie moved!!!

It can leap!!

It can leap!!

It's in my Three Way Teleport Tunnel!!!

It’s in my Three Way Teleport Tunnel!!!

Playing with my toys!!

Playing with my toys!!

Holy Ceiling Cat!!! They were hoping I would want a SISFUR!!!! AIIIEEEEEEEE!!! Who asked me??? Who, I ask, who????

Now I realized that Mom and Dad had been trying to get me all softened up for this “great new adventure”…heh…heh…yeah…like whose adventure is this gonna be???

Here is some of the photo evidence I have collected as to just WHAT I have been subjected to over the last 6 weeks…

…first…I began to notice someone had been messing around near one of my beds…(you can click to bigify OR see each gallery as a slideshow…hover cursor over photos to see captions)

…I set up a surveillance camera…look what I found…

This is when I just knew this was no “shadow“…HAH! Can’t fool a Tuxie, no way…no how…

So one morning…minding my own business in bed…just chilling with Mom…

Now I knew…this was no mirage or shadow…this was INVASION!!!….so there has been a lot of this…

…and this…just look at her…sneaking up on me in my very own special TENT my mentor Sammy taught me how to use….harummpppfff….

There have been some relaxed times…when I feel especially safe with Mom by me…

Sigh…I am not a very happy cat right now…so I am gonna give this last bit over to Mom Linda…

“errrrr….ummmm…Hi Everyone…Mom Linda here.  So here is what is going on.  Dad Peter and I believe in everything about Pets Add Life….more than one is always more fun and usually more comforting for both humans and our furry furramily.   And we committed that if we EVER adopted another cat, besides Savvy, it would be a black panfur.  We have looked, researched, waited…and learned…it doesn’t matter what gender, nor age,  the companion feline is, what counts most is the personality when it comes into contact with the resident feline.  Especially when that resident feline is Savannah…an adult survivor of kittenhood trauma…I am not mocking the real challenges of Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma…rather using what I know, as a counseling psychologist, as I work with Savannah who so mirrors many of the human challenges of moving through to recovering from this early child/kitten experience.

I have been trying to chronicle our Nana’s recovery process.  She has nightmares, cries out in her sleep, mews like a newborn kitten and seeks solace at my side. We have conferred with many long time feline experts…and they, like us, are convinced that Nana was feral early in life, most likely attacked by males cats in a feral colony for mating…hence she has such developed shoulder and neck muscle…and she is terrified of other cats…convinced they are out to harm her.  She has little to no self esteem/self confidence. She only defends and hopes to escape.

Sweet Sage, so pure and innocent…perhaps one of the most well socialized cats we have ever been around. She is about 17 months old…mellow…non-confrontational in the beginning…but now learning she can dominate Nana.  So sad.

We have not talked about this effort on our part on the blog…we did not want to have others have the same hope we have had…that Nana could accommodate a housemate. We have done all the Feliway, Spirit of Essence, behavioral consults, book readings…consultations with cat vet specialists and long time feral cat rescue folks etc.  Trust me, we have not missed any homework.

But…we are not convinced that Nana can survive having another cat in her safe space.  She is truly a special need feline…psychologically/behaviorally speaking.  We honor her and her willingness to give us her trust to protect her.

We have not yet ‘thrown in the towel’ so to speak…but want you all to know what has been going on in our home.

Thank you all for continuing to come by and visit Savannah even when I have not been able to consistently visit and comment for all of you.  This has been very time consuming to manage the girls’ integration process with the care we want to give it.  You are such good friends and a wonderful supportive community.  Thank you for your care and understanding.

Paw Pats from Savannah, Head bonks from Sage and grateful humility from Mom Linda and Dad Peter.

Following My Early Blog Days…

Hiya! Savannah Here!

Still moving…so here’s another reprint of my first posts for my blog…

Memories from Kitty Corner…and lots more to come!

Ok, I’m pretty much ready to tell more of my life…at least stuff others have told me…and the stuff I kinda remember from when I was saved from…ummm…well…you already know that part.

So, anyways–another HUGE WHEW! Tammy, who volunteers with the Contra Costa Humane Society in Pleasant Hill, CA—they have this really cool place for cats called Kitty Corner—anyways—Tammy got the shelter to let her take me to her house February 10-16, 2011—until a place opened up for me at Kitty Corner.

Tammy says I was really sweet at her house, but still so painfully shy; hiding and not able to interact with her much….GOSH!  I am so sorry Tammy that I couldn’t show how grateful I was already feeling.  You really got me started on my first steps to Mental Recovery…I started to remember what it felt like to have a human touch me with kindness and love…big furry hugs being sent to you RIGHT NOW TAMMY!  Puurrrrrrrrrr!! Tee hee!

Then…2/17/2 011 I got to go to CC Humane Society’s Kitty Corner…WHOOPPEE!!!..weellllll…sort of a little whoopee maybe.

But, guess what?!  Yeah, you guessed…I was still just way overwhelmed with so many other cats and we could all roam free—so there was lots of activity, my new roomies were mostly all playing with each other, the toys and even with the human staff who came several times a day to hang with us—actually—pretty cool setup!

The volunteers petted me when I let them, and gave me attention but I was too overwhelmed and most of the time hid under the chairs or in the towers.

My constant stress led to me getting ringworm from another cat…YUKKY awfulllll stuff!  Holy smokes—just my luck!  I got over it eventually, but I had to be isolated, meaning in a large enclosure so I wouldn’t give it to any of my roomies.

Does anyone reading my autobiography know what it means to have “body memories”???? Wellllll…I can tell ya all about that.  At Kitty Corner I think I started to have body memories…that’s when something you touch, smell or something that touches you or you hear—reminds you of an earlier time in your life.

That started happening to me lots at Kitty Corner—so mostly I was more troubled, scared and terribly worried cuz’ I couldn’t figure what was bugging me so much.  Like, I am sure I used to be chased when I must have been a stray or living kinda wild I guess.  Cuz when one of the volunteers would move quickly toward wherever I was…I totally freaked out!  I thought I was gonna be chased again…maybe even hit…

Oh dear…I know my body remembers getting hit and chased…and I just acted out because of that…so I usually ran from the volunteers and hid out ‘til they were gone so I could use the litter boxes and grab a bite to eat.

But my body also remembered nice things…like the first time one of the volunteers brushed me…OMG…I totally melted!  Better than kitty treats—seriously!  I just know someone loved me when I was a kitten and I think they must have brushed me lots…I kinda go into a trance and daydream when I get brushed…oooohhhhh love it, love it, love it! WOW!

Well, I’m ready to go hang out in my upstairs cat bed…ya know, the one in the window on Mom’s office counter??  Well, it is a great place, cuz first I can watch Mom work on editing my blog…and the bed is in front of a window that she leaves open so I can have fresh air and listen to the outdoor noises…I especially like the birds tweeting…yumm…oh my gosh, I forgot myself—did not really mean that—of course I wouldn’t think of chowing down on a bird—heavens no!!!  Must have been a body memory again—sorrrrryyyyy!  Well, now I really gotta go—embarrassed myself—so thanks for dropping by to keep up with my—catch’ya later, Savannah  

Sunday, September 23

I didn’t know how to use photos in the early days…so here’s some from the weekend…enjoy..

…Fooey!…she caught me…I’ll just pretend I don’t even know she is there…(whispers behind paw…just using the prison  hotel suite facilities)…

…MOM!…I was just stretching my legs…OK??!!!…

Paw pats, Savannah

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