11/02/2002

She just had her dinner and used the cat box for the first time. What a relief to see her do it all by her self without any problems like Tenz had. She also did what Tenz would never do. She dug a hole in the litter then covered it up throughly when she was done. :-) She's very talkative with me and is becoming quite a little character as she gets more comfortable here and less nervous about her new home. I'm sure she'll be more comfortable here with me by tomorrow.

She was confined to a bathroom for the past 6 months so I think she'll like having the run of the house now. There were other dogs and cats in the house she came from and she didn't like them. That's why she stayed in the bathroom all the time.

She looks like she has a white mustache around her mouth and nose that reminds me of the ferns on the back of the old pennys, I'm calling her Penny. She's been sitting on the back of the love seat most of the time watching the house to see that there are no other animals in here but a few minutes ago we were playing with her toys. I think we are going to take to eachother very well as we get to know eachother better :-)

DAY 2: Penny is doing fine and adapting well to her new home. She follows me everywhere and loves to play all the time. I'm not sure where she slept last night. She came up on the bed when I went to bed but was moving around the room allot before I went to sleep. She was on the dresser next to the bed waiting for me when I woke up this morning. We've been playing in the living room this morning. She hasn't learned to use the cat pole for her scratching yet and has been using the corners of the couch and love seat. This morning I sprayed a little ant & roach spray on the corners and after her first attempt at using them, she hasn't tried it again. I guess she still can smell Tenz on the cat pole and is a little afraid of it still. I'll try using some household spray cleaner on it to see if that helps. Penny is a wonderful little friend to have here and she seems to be very healthy and strong. She's becoming more comfortable with me all the time and the bond is forming between us. I'm glad I found her. :-)

Penny seems very happy to have found a new home now. Yesterday she spent most of the afternoon and evening on the love seat back watching for other animals in the house, I think she's convinced now that she is the only one. This morning she was again on the love seat but on the seat instead of the back. Now she has moved over here onto the couch with me and is cuddled up against me now. She would hardly even let me pet her yesterday but now she is enjoying it and kneading with her paws on me and on the couch. She's in a deep sleep next to me now, I think it's the first time I've really seen her sleep since she's been here. She must be very tired. She's been doing something else today too. She comes up on the back of the couch and rubs her head against my face. I kiss her and smooch with her and she just seems to love it. She follows me around the house and rubs up against my legs. I think she is really beginning to appreciate having a home of her own and is showing it. She's becoming a real pal. :-)

DAY 3: Everything is still going very well with Penny. She's laying here next to me on the couch now. What a delightful little character she is. She just seems to be telling me all the time how happy she is to be here. She love to play with me but is always very gentle with the teeth and claws and careful not to hurt me. When I'm in the kitchen she is constantly rubbing up against my legs and when I"m on the couch she comes up behind me and smooches with me in the face. She just loves to smooch even if she's on the kitchen table or the back of the love seat and we're face to face. She'll just stick her head out and rub against my face. She just hasn't begun to sleep in my lap or my bed yet. I think she might be smelling Tenz on the bed so I did something about that tonight....we'll see.

Penny's eating is a real change for me after Tenz. She ate dry cat food this morning and a can of cat food tonight. When it's time to eat she heads for the kitchen table, then usually ends up on top of the refrigerator where she can be close to her food cupboard and supervise me while I prepare her dish. She doesn't particularly want people food except a little sliced turkey I give her for desert. When she's hungry she eats whatever is down for her. She a real expert with the cat box too and does a thorough job of burying what she leaves there. The only one problem that I've noticed with her is her scratching on the couch. I've also noticed that she does it to get my attention when she wants to play. We are working on that problem. She still has yet to use her cat pole but she was looking up at it this morning and getting curious about it. All in all I have found Penny to be a delightful, fun, and loving companion and we are becoming very attached to eachother.

DAY 4: My fondness for Penny is becoming as strong as it was for Tenz. Penny is less subtle about showing her affection for me than Tenz was. With Tenz, it was just sort of understood with little need to display it. Penny is still rubbing up against me and is ready for a good play session whenever I am. We are becoming the best of friends.

Another step toward Penny feeling at home was made today. She has finally adopted and accepted the cat pole as her own and was all over it today feeling at home in both the upper and lower enclosures. She slept in it the whole time I was at work today. I came home around noon for a while to find her in the lower chamber with a big sleepy look on her face, then again when I came home this afternoon. She began investigating and playing in and on the pole after discovering some catnip for the first time this morning. It was hard to tell if the catnip was effecting her or not since she is so often in a goofy, playful mood. Now that she has accepted the cat pole, hopefully I can train her to use it for her scratching instead of my furniture.

12/28/02: I've lost count of the days now. Penny is feeling right at home and happy. She lives on her pole now and knows it is her piece of furnature in the house. When she's not playing at the bottom, she's on the top sleeping or looking out the window. This is where she's chosen to sleep either day or night. She doesn't scratch on the furnature anymore and uses her pole for that now too. Friends who have seen her picuture say she looks "cute", some say she looks "evil", and another says she has a "cartoon face". Whatever you may think, I've nick named her "Spooky".

I left a large plastic bag from Christmas on the floor for her to play with the other day. Last night I noticed her in the bag chasing her tail....lol. I have never seen her chase her tail before so it was a sight to see her in the bag doing it. She's such a nut and always looking for something new to play with but her favorite toy is "Mousie" that hangs from her pole on a ribbon. It used to hang from an elastic cord but she's broken that too many times so I replaced it. Now her second favorite toy is the ribbon. She was such a great help holding and pulling on the ribbons while I was wrapping Christmas presents. Even holding the paper down while I was folding it, she had her paws into everything. :-)

01/19/03: Opps.... Penny just cracked me up last night. When I go in the kitchen to prepare her dinner, she always hops up on the sink, then over the waste basket to the top of the refrigerator where she watches and waits for her dinner. Last night I had a new roll of paper towels up there and she didn't notice it until she was already leaping up and found it in her way. She caught the top of the refrigerator with her front paws and tried to hang on but slipped off and fell tail first right into the waste basket and sank in up to her head as the trash compacted ...LMAO. Of course she immediately jumped out shaking off her paws and looking so intimidated and foolish and ran out of the kitchen. LOL. She wouldn't come back in there for the next 10 minutes. Cats can be so silly at times.

02/02/03: Penny has changed her sleeping habits over the past week. Several days ago I awoke early in the morning to find her sleeping by my feet on the bed. What a surprise! The next night after I had gone to bed she came in and hopped up there before I had fallen asleep. When I awoke in the morning she was laying next to me right up by my arms. That is where she's been sleeping for the past couple of nights now. After I get up and about, I often find her sleeping on the bed right where I usually sleep. She seems to have finally overcome her fear or reluctance of being on my bed after 3 months.

This story will continue to grow as new things develop with Penny. I'm keeping this log for myself but happy to share it with my visitors.