A Rachel Shadow update
Golly I feel like a proud Papa. So many firsts with Shadow, and of course Cuddles and Shadow and Petunia and Shadow lol.
She has really fit in so nicely, almost as if she was my dream come true for Cuddles and Petunia.
She is a playful, engaging, tough and courageous kitten. Shadow doesn't cover, if Cuddles tries to play with her, she brings it right back or initiates it herself. Not to say that the feel out period is over, but the progress is way ahead of what I could have hoped.
Shadow sings for her dinner, carrying on a tradition with my female cats going back thirty years or more. She is so very friendly and yet exceedingly calm. She gets climbing the curtains wound up maybe once or twice a day and the rest she chills with me or becomes a window decoration.
I've been training her very slowly to get more comfortable being held, as I'm sure she never had that. I'll pick her up and hold her by the scruff while my other hand is a base and I'll wash her head with my goatee and she instantly relaxes. The first time was maybe 30 seconds, and we're up to a couple of minutes now.
Shadow also had another first today, she jumped into my lap and I made her lay down for a few seconds.
She came back up again a bit later, and sniffed around without laying down.
I've had incredible 15 year bonds with cats twice in my life, and of course others but Shadow seems almost umbilically attached to me in the sense that when we meet on the bed or living room floor, she has this whole feel out routine, as in tubbing against me again and again as she paces back and forth, and then she'll make what looks like an exaggerated attempt to lay down exposing her tummy to me and then she loves it when I scrub that with my beard hair, OMG she loves that, purrs as loud as she ever does, and it's not like other cats where you get the ooh ooh she's letting me rub her belly only to have vice claws emerge seconds later.
She just loves it. I would never EVER EVER put myself in that position with Cuddles or Petunia lol.
I posted this in my morning message, but it's worth seeing again.
https://imgur.com/a/nvTt3hV
Please don't worry, I still walk Cuddles every day, I still dotr on my baby Petunia, someone asked me the other day, why can't one cat be enough for you?
I answered, because my heart has room for a lot more than one cat. Debm55 suggested that Shadow came to me as a gift from Rory, him seeing how much I've been struggling since his death, and I'll just say that this world would be such a better place if those things happened and we knew that to be true, so forgive me if I believe.
Have a wonderful evening and day ahead and I hope you found this somewhat entertaining.
Love, John and Shadow 