A Tale of Two Tails

I mentioned that on January 27 of this year we rescued a very large neutered male cat whose playmate had been a pit bull. To top it all off, he was declawed and so used his teeth to express his displeasure or playfulness.

Our vet had a brother and sister pair who looked very much like our original cat, Tiki, as well as like Ki. They were feral, one and a half years old, and had not been handled. No one had been willing to give them a chance of life outside a cage and we felt that was just not acceptable so we brought them both home to foster.

The first two days were a trial of try to find a cat as they hid and we pounced to catch them. We finally brought in a large-breed wire dog cage and kept them in the living room where they could get used to us walking around, the TV, dinner, etc.

After three days we opened the cage door and let them choose when to go in and come out. For a few days they still slept on the loft – a board my husband had installed for them to have a higher elevation and provide more space on the floor.

We named them Jazz and Jillie as their names at the vet were Jack and Jillie. Now we have a jazz combo. Ki is the keyboard man, Jazz is the sax man, and Jillie is the diva vocalist.

Watching them come to accept us has been a great distraction from focusing on MSA and my limitations. The other night Jazz climbed onto my husband’s lap, flopped over on his back, and begged to be petted. Last night even shy Jillie jumped on the couch where my husband was sitting and fell asleep.

We still cannot approach them when we are standing up or try to pick them up, but they accept our presence around the house. They are a blessing in disguise. My therapist said that sometimes you don’t get the cat you want, but the cat you need and I think all three of our rescues are that. We are learning so much about ourselves as we learn how to interact with them.