Mistake No. 1

March 2008

After our visit to the vet, I returned Silver back to the "her" bedroom. I set the trap down on the floor and opened the trap door. Silver, who was still slightly sedated, cowered at the back of the trap. She would not come out. So . . . Mistake No. 1 . . . I left the room, turned off the lights and closed the door.

Why was this a mistake? I'm so glad you asked. I now realize, after reading about feral cats (which, you remember, I didn't know that's what she was), that to ever socialize her, I should have left her in the trap and gradually bring her to the point where she would let me pet her. I really think we would have bonded if I had done that. But . . . I didn't know.

Eventually Silver came out and retreated back to her spot under the bed, only coming out to eat, drink and do her business when the door was closed and she felt safe. I knew this could not last forever. But was OK for now.

We also had our house on the market during the Cat Trapping experience. So, when the realtor called to say he wanted to show the house, I had to leave notes, etc. about the cat situation. LOL I never told the truth. I said we had a sick cat in that room, they would never see her, and please close the door after showing that bedroom. We didn't sell the house. Oh, well, no surprise. Weird people leave here!

Then, on top of all that drama, I was hospitalized with double pneumonia for ten days. It was very serious. And the crazy realtor people were still trying to show the house.  

Ah, hello? I can't clean or straighten the house right now. I'm a bit occupied trying to keep from dying here!

And my husband was going back and forth from his job to the house to the hospital. Fun times. And we had a wild critter in the bedroom. He did a great job taking care of everything. When I was allowed to go home, I was still very weak and I had to promise my doctor that I would rest and not do anything.

Joe Ed brought dinner over during my recuperation time and came upstairs to check on his patient. He said she seemed to be OK. Of course, it's hard to tell when he had to look under the bed to even see her.

Finally, my mother and I decided it was time to let Silver out of her room so she could explore. We decided that she only needed to start with the upstairs first before having the run of the entire house. So I used everything I could find to make barriers so she couldn't go downstairs. Then mother and I went downstairs to eat lunch.

While we were eating, Mother says, Silver is in the living room. What? How on earth did she get past the blockade? Mother, I don't know but she did. So we sat frozen while Silver proceeded to investigate the place and make herself at home.

I left Silver's litter box in the bedroom a while longer but eventually she discovered the box in our bathroom and also the one downstairs in the laundry room. The cats have a two bath house, too. Don't forget, Cassie lives here too.

When I finally went back to work, three weeks later, Silver seemed to be very comfortable in the house. She liked to be close to wherever we were. But would run away if we got up or made any attempt to get closer to her. Definitely a relationship on her terms. And a very strange one, for sure.

We would always get very excited whenever she would play with strings and toys while we were watching.  The more comfortable and safe Silver felt, the more she would play and hang out with us.








Then we discovered that she loved to watch TV. So of course, I got her a cat video. She loved it!

When one of the critters disappeared, Silver would look behind the TV. Too funny!


We felt very good that Silver had a safe home and she actually found a friend.

No, not the squirrel.

She did not choose wisely, however.

Silver bonded with . . . Cassie!

Of all the crazy things.

Silver was definitely—

Looking for love in all the wrong places!