I am not referring to the approaching cold-weather, or the choking smoke that lays over the valley. I am talking about a decision. I made last week, after much consideration, procrastination, and reaching out to others who rescue within their homes. After listing the pros and cons of such a monumental decision, I decided to go ahead and move Ashley and Magoo into the introduction cage.

This decision was not an easy one for me to make. Moving them could mean a major upheaval, and setback from where we are right now. It would also mean for the first time in my life, I would not have cats in the house. The only cats from here on in that will be in the house will be bottle babies or small kittens. Once they have been weaned and spay and neutered, I will do everything in my power to find them loving homes.

I had cats in my crib growing up, I played with them instead of dolls. They were my best friends. Now my house is empty of cats and it feels very strange.there are no cat condos, litter, pans, cat toys nothing it feels like another planet.

When the carpet and the pad were pulled up and I saw the damage underneath, I knew that even though I “thought” I was smart and ahead of the urine game, clearly I was mistaken. If you have more than two cats in your home, and you bring in others, either periodically or consistently, one of the ways to communicate with each other is through pee-mail (as I have mentioned before). You cannot stop this interaction, it is instinctive. Of course they communicate in other ways, but one way that is not spoken about until litter box mistakes start to happen is how they talk through their pee.

The cats have been out there now for a week. Yesterday I realized that the move has helped both Ash and Magoo. I have had more contact with them in the last seven days then in the year they lived in the house. They are not in a small cage. It has three levels, and I have created warm caves inside to give them extra security. I decided while I was cleaning yesterday to leave the door open and see what happens.

After I emptied their litter pan and cleaned the cage, I left the door open. I settled back on the couch out-of-the-way to watch what would happen and be ready to stop any rumbles. Magoo was the first one to depart. He met pigeon first they sniffed, there was no posturing, growling, hissing, after they met, Magoo continued in, exploring his new world while pidgin watched intently from overhead. I observed him carefully. There was no twitching of his tail, his ears weren’t back he was almost indifferent. Magoo next met Bentley and PITA, no issues presented themselves. I was finally able to breathe again.

Ashley, soon followed she was more apprehensive than her brother. But no issues presented themselves when she met the other cats. However, she was the first one to jump back into the safety of the cage. Magoo wanted to stay out, but I put them back this was a first time experiment and it will be continued another day. I will do this gradually for the next few weeks, and then, depending on what happens during these experiments will determine whether I will leave the cage door open permanently, keep it open during the day and close it at night or not open it at all. I suspect that my next phase of this experiment will be keeping it open during the day, but closing it up with the kitties safe inside at night. Cats behaviors change at night their predatory instincts kick in . Both of these cats can spray to their hearts content out there and it won’t matter. It’s a dirt floor that gets treated every year with lyme and fresh dirt  I hope within the next two weeks they find their way safely into the group.