Richard Available

Richard passed his exam and is available at CCHS.

He's a good cat. He doesn't play much with people (string, etc), but happily plays by himself as long as the people retrieve his ping pong balls from wherever he got them stuck. He enjoys attention but mainly just wants people nearby. He's happy to just nap in the same room as people, but does not like being stuck in another room. He will howl if he's stuck away from people, but tends not to ask for attention (just takes it with a purr if you give it).

He didn't seem to be much of a jumper. He liked being brushed and it made him much softer as well. A good cat for someone who wants a companion without constant demands on attention.

Available now!

Richard's Thanksgiving

Has it really been a week since Thanksgiving? Richard has really come a long way. At the end of last week he had finally reached the de-congesting stage of healing and kept choking himself on his own drainage. This was the state when we reached the 30th, supposedly the day he was getting off the meds and going back. He didn't--he'll be here until sometime this weekend.

He's doing much better finally. His breathing is clearing, he's actually able to purr again. He's also discovered energy. He loves ping pong balls! Chases them all around the room. We have to dig them out from behind the crate and behind the desk frequently!

Here are pictures of Richard's Thanksgiving. Like most of us, he ate to much, watched some ball, then slept!

Richard's Visitors

Richard has calmed down considerably. It seems he just needed a couple days to adjust to new surroundings and has shed most of his scardy-catness. He's still a bit suspicious of new people, but warms up quickly.

Today he hid from the cable internet repairman who was checking equipment in the cat room, but only for a few minutes. When family descended he started to run from the first person, but we shook the treat container and he came right out and stayed out. He was fine as the rest of the family showed up and they all came in to see him.

He likes people in the room. He likes attention but he's content to just lay on the sofa or the table behind it as long as people are in the room. If we aren't he's usually by the door of the room waiting for us, howling from time to time.

He spends a lot of time laying on the table next to the window. Today he had a visitor looking back in at him!

Richard Arrives

It was starting to look like we'd be cat-free for Thanksgiving, but nope! Richard came to visit us for the next week and a half.

He's a big cat at 12 lbs, and he's simply large, not round. He's 5 years old, has a cold, and has conjunctivitis in both eyes. This means he has crusting around his eyes and gets goop in his eyes along with the dual meds for the URI.

We also may have some behavioral work to do with him. He came out of his crate straight under the bed and stayed there for a couple hours until we pulled him out. He calmed down as he held him, but if either of us stood up or moved he was back under the bed.

It's now been about 10 hours since we brought him home. He is out from under the bed and in fact sits at the door and howls if we aren't in the cat room. When we come to the door he still skitters backwards and is very nervous as long as we are standing up. The sofa seems to be a "safe place", though, and he happily takes petting there and will head-bump you very solidly. If someone appears at the door or walks in he still hunkers down and debates fleeing. He is calmer if we are sitting, either on the sofa or the floor.

We'll see if he just needs time to adjust to a new place, to new people, or if we need to actively work with him about his being a scaredy cat. We'll have guests over Thanksgiving, so we'll get to see how he does with new people and how long it takes him to warm up to new people.

The first picture I took when he was hiding behind the sofa. The second he was out and about. I think he used to be fed off a saucer, though--I carry the medicine into the cat room on a saucer and he charged over and jumped up trying to see what was on it. Very unexpected given his other behavior, but hopeful.

I think the medicine was a letdown from what he wanted, but he took his meds in a very civilized manner.