“He’s wild, he should have never been adopted!” That’s what I was told this morning from the woman who adopted both Jordan and Darby recently. I was stunned, Darby isn’t wild! He’s shy, he scares easily but he is not a feral cat. But last night, he got into her glass cupboard and went nuts and knocked every glass on the floor and busted them. Sounds to me like something scared him, perhaps that horrendous thunderstorm that passed through here late might have something to do with it?
At any rate, Darby is back here at the sanctuary and this wild boy just finished sitting on my lap for a bit before he headed out to the enclosure to say hello to some old friends. Barbara said as far she is concerned, Jordan has a home for life, but Darby shouldn’t have been part of the deal because he is wild. Related to Dennis the Menance is what she said.
I checked to be sure he didn’t get cut and I don’t see any wounds on him. I am sorry she lost all her glassware and I told her that. Sometimes kittens just react- but they do so for a reason.
I just took the above photo a few minutes ago- how “wild” does this boy look? And the flash in his eyes doesn’t count!
Darby
About a week after I rescued Jeb Stuart from the muddy crawl space under my front porch, where he had been born seven weeks earlier, I was in the kitchen, making dinner. Suddenly, I heard a small “meow” above my head, and looked up to see Jeb entwined in the rack of my good wines resting on the top of the buffet by the ceiling. How he managed to climb up there I will never know. He looked so cute up there among the wine bottles. He was paying me no attention. I couldn’t reach up there, it was too high. Then I did something stupid. Unthinking, I clapped my hands to get his attention. It sure did that. It startled him so much that he beat feet to get out of there, got tangled up in the wine bottles, (all 12 of them) and down they all came–onto the tile floor seven feet below. The kitten was fine, thank goodness–but $700 of good wine was a total loss. I would much rather have a safe and unhurt kitten than stupid old wine, any day. I know what you mean when you say, “…they do so for a reason.”
Jordan has a home for life…… till she does something wrong too?
That was on the tip of my tongue when I went to pick up Darby, but I didn’t say that to her. She told me she is following my instructions and ignoring Jordan except to see that she has food, water and her litterpans scooped out on a scheduled basis. I did ask her if she wanted me to take Jordan as well but she was adamant about Jordan having a home for life with her. Time will tell I suppose. I am sad for Darby because he is a sweet, shy kitty and he needs a forever home. But, I will find one for him- in time.
Poor Darby. Many cats will act wild if they get caught in a situation in which they panic. One never knows what situation may make a cat react out of character; some never do, some do until they regain their bearings. We just have to understand things from their point of view, if we can.
I feel bad for you, Rocky: all the wine gone. How many times have I done something I thought innocuous only to make a situation worse!
Sounds like it was a domino effect – maybe he was in the cabinet, accidentally knocked something over, it scared him and he panicked, trying to escape the now-terrifying cabinet. As things fell, it got scarier and scarier…
This is the sort of thing I would blame myself for – not making sure the cabinet was cat-proofed for entry. But not everyone sees things like that…