Yesterday, inside the cat enclosure, as I was leaning down to put clean litter boxes in for PITA, PITA chose that very opportunity to escape. She was perched on the upper level shelf watching me. So far during this process  it has never caused her to react other than just stick around, but she didn’t seem like she minded being in the cage.

Just as I was bent over to push the litter boxes in the corner, she launched off the shelf, bounced on the middle of my back and flew out of that cage. It took me a minute to react because it took me by such a surprise. When I straightened up and looked, she was flat on top of Magoo!

The way that they were positioned, it almost looked like when she launched outside the cage. She had a target and she just landed flat on him. My heart was in my throat ,  I went over, but she would not let him go. I’m trying to calm down and breathe because she’s feeding off of my energy,just as I am feeding off of hers. I finally managed to get them apart. But there was no way when PITA is in this state of mind that I would even touch her without gloves and heavy clothes on. I was in T-shirt and jeans.

Once I calmed my breath, I did try to follow her around and get her to come to me. I don’t know how long that was, but in the end she won. I almost had her at one time, but she decided to go another direction and ducked underneath the couch.

So I challenged myself and thought what can I do now? The first thing I did was leave the situation. I knew that Magoo was not safe. I had already been on the couch with him for about 20 minutes, just snuggling with him and checking him to be sure he didn’t have any bite wounds on his neck. I didn’t feel any and I didn’t see any, but anyone who knows about working with kitties, bites don’t show up immediately. Thankfully, Magoo is a very loving kitty. He was not that way in the house, but he certainly is that way out in the enclosure. We’ve spent many an evening just cuddling on that couch. He still loves to be groomed (unlike his sister who looks like a real mess). I thought maybe Bentley was the reason that she was pulling out her hair. Now I know that it was PITA all along.

But here I am getting off track… I went in the house and grabbed a can of cat food. I don’t have many left but springtime is coming so the need for the wet food won’t be as constant now. They will mostly get that at night. That’s just how I have to do it because of all the insects.

I went back out to the cat enclosure with the cat food. I didn’t pop the top until I got in there and the minute I did all the cats came running including PITA. I teased her with the can by opening it just slightly. When she bent down to smell it that’s when I gently grabbed her and immediately put her back in the cage. She did not struggle. She did not growl or try to bite. She was perfectly calm. I took my high-end stress out of the situation so she was able to calm down and get back to her own energy.

I visited with all the cats. I was looking for any other type of bite wound because if she was doing this to Sweet Magoo, chances are pretty strong. She was also doing it to all the others. Sometimes it’s hard to live in thier world and when you think that you might’ve figured out at least one part of a complex puzzle, they turn around and show you that you were wrong.

I thought until yesterday when I saw it for myself. That the disruptor within the clowder was Bentley. I had been encouraging Bentley to stay out on the warmer days until nighttime. He is an inside-outside cat enclosure kitty. He has never wandered. He goes on his walk-abouts almost daily when the weather permits. It seemed to lessen the stress  that I felt when I came through their door in the mornings. So I thought I had solved it. Turns out all the time it’s been PITA.

This is in no way her fault. I will never know (maybe I don’t want to know) how she went from a loving, happy kitty who loved my lap- to the snarling, growling, totally hissed of kitty that I saw when I returned back to the shelter, I had given her to only a week before.

I went to reach for the cage door to open it up and see if I could calm her down. Before I could open it this attendant close by yells at me not to! I looked at her like she was nuts. I turned back to the cage and I was opening the door. I could hear behind me the worker hurrying away. I’m sure to report me to the supervisor.

PITA, she was hunched in the very back corner of her cage. Her back hairs were standing on end and she was growling. Another adult comes running in and demanded to know what I was doing? I turned around to see the supervisor. I told her I am leaving. I’m taking my cat and I will not be bringing you more in the future.

I leaned in, talking to PITA gently. I have a special song that I sing to all my bottle babies. So I started singing to her. I could see her finally relax. I picked her up and snuggled her deep in my coat and I walked out of that place, I’ve never walked back in.  As we got into the truck, I turned to Mike and said : “Come on, Babe. Let’s all go home!”

So that’s where she is. She’s home. I wish she was with the others, but there’s no conceivable way that will ever happen. Once again, I’m grateful that I took the time to figure out something I’ve never done before which is construction. I was always doing construction with Mike, but I never paid attention to what he did even when we were building side-by-side. I believe you call that taking someone for granted. The cage is larger now. There is an insulated box of straw inside the new edition. It’s made of wood and cozy so when it gets super cold, all they have to do is crawl into there.

I need to get rid of the guilt I feel for being the one who put her there. But in retrospect as I said before, it’s not her fault, nor is it mine. It’s just the way you have to work with kitties who have PTSD.

On another note, just because I got my haircut for the first time in I don’t know how many months. I now have two donation jars around town. One is at the beauty salon that is pretty new over by Subway, the other place oddly enough is the gas station Main Street Market. The two women who run the beauty shop encouraged me when they found out what I do for a living to put a box into their establishment. So I did. Apparently, when they’re cutting hair, they’re also talking me up! So I learned that the manager over at the gas station wants me to put in a box. (Times have sure changed, those boxes are expensive! It’s been a long time since I’ve bought one of those.)

I don’t go to town much. My truck is still pretty unreliable. I’m grateful that it is now paid off, but it also needs a lot of work. The mechanic who worked on it last, told me not to drive it more than 15 miles. I try not to drive at all, which is another reason that I’m not active rescue  right now.. I won’t ignore those that cross my path, but I don’t go out anymore and just run all over the county rescuing kitties. Too many people would have to turn around and rescue me! Lol. I know every Tow truck drivers’ in the area by their first name now.

Hopefully by tomorrow morning the tension will ease and  peace will reign. I know Bentley can stir things up in there, but keeping him outside during good days until after dusk seems to help that. Kind of like a teeter totter: You have to find the balance, you have to figure it out and learn why their behavior is suddenly off. Sometimes you get it wrong. But sometimes you just get lucky.