Caturday - Mojo's First Days

Caturday

For years, our family could not really join this initiative that I still remember from the old platform that shall not be named days. But at the time, I still had a cat. We did not after moving to Hungary, which we all regret but we had to deal with circumstances and quite long without our own rental apartment. Such is life, but finally, after almost 5 years, life just got better! I wrote about how we met Mojo in this post two days ago. It has been great & loud since. I think we can't complain after a few days with the progress we made, after all this cat was not a domestic one but rescued of the streets. We knew that it could be a bit more challenging rescuing this one instead of the tiny kittens that were clearly just weeks old, while this one is most-likely a few months old. Patience is needed, meanwhile, I will just enjoy the good moments and celebrate the victories so far.

Hiding behind the closet

As soon as our new furry friend came out of the carrier, she hid behind the tv closet. It was already evening and she actually stayed there without meowing once. We decided to let her be and give her space. We made sure there was a litterbox as well as food and water not too far from the closet so that she would not have to cross the room to get there at first. My boyfriend decided to sleep on the couch to make sure nothing crazy happened during the night and he woke up with her on his hip looking at him. She meowed during the night and in the morning she was back to hiding behind the closet.

The first day

At some point during the first day, she was brave enough to come from under the closet and grab some snacks we placed at strategic spots to motivate her to come out of her hiding spot. Meanwhile, we tried not to bother her too much as we knew she was probably still scared and not used to having humans this close constantly. I had some laundry laid out on the table as well as a few clean mats from the bathroom that I put on a dining chair the evening before and she decided to pick this as a safe spot for most of that afternoon. We could see her as our table is from glass, so even though there were items on the table, making her feel safe and hidden, we could easily check her well-being every once in a while as well. She picked a smart spot, overlooking the full living room without having to be scared by every sound. I could even bake a banana bread without her waking up from the sound of the mixer.

Curiosity won over fear that evening

At some point, I could sit on the chair next to her to eat, without her being scared immediately, I knew we were making a bit of progress already. I sent my boyfriend and daughter out for some groceries so that I could have some time with her alone seeing if I could lure her out of her comfort zone a bit. I sat on the couch, without the tv on and decided to find some calming music to help her get relaxed now that the (little bit wild lol) child was not in the room. The music had purring cats in it and it did not take more than a few minutes for her to realize she heard another cat and started moving. I saw her little head peaking around the corner of the chair and checking where the sound came from. After about 10-15 minutes, she came of the chair and started to walk around carefully. She also started exploring other sides of the room, I did not interfere much and let her be as I knew soon the rest of the family would be back home and it would scare her if she'd be close to me when they'd come in.

She started exploring

And here the meowing started as well. She probably realized it was time to call for her family now. It did not take her long until she actually jumped on the couch next to me and was very close. I didn't move so she wouldn't be afraid and she actually came quite close to my face checking me out as well as meowing to me. I would love to pet her but I can't do it yet she's still too scared for us to touch her and needs more time. When she's meowing for her family I wish I could just pet her and make her feel safe but she doesn't know that kind of affection yet so we have to be patient with her. This is new to us because we don't know anything else than to have many cuddles from kittens to older cats when we held them in the house. I'm sure it will be fine eventually though, she's proven to do very well so far!

Using the litter box

It only took her one little pee inside our shoe cabinet (in my water shoes, lol) until she figured out the litterbox. My boyfriend used toilet paper to clean the little accident and threw this inside the litter box immediately. Not long after, she used the litter box and she has done so since. I did not expect this to be so easy with a kitten that's not just weeks old and used to do this outside. I really expected more accidents but she seems smart and has not used other secret spots go to the toilet. I'm very proud and happy about this!

A loud second night

While my boyfriend stayed with her the first night, I was lying in bed hearing her extremely loud meows until 2 AM before I decided I could not let him do this another night while having to work at 8 AM the next morning. I took the living room shift that night and it was LOUD, I really think the whole floor here must have heard her, but what to do. She will need some time to realize we are her new family and until then, I bet the nights will be filled with meows. I used ear plugs which was not too helpful but at some point I fell asleep and woke up with her licking my foot, haha. My auto response was to move it so she jumped under the closet again. I'm not sure if she was playing or trying to get my attention or just showing affection already. Maybe she tried to kill the mosquito on my foot as I've been attacked by a few lately. Either way, I think we are slowly becoming friends.

That's it for my first Caturday post about our new friend Mojo. Thanks for reading!

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