etc.

When we moved, we were in the fortunate position of having 18 days of overlap between when we got The House and when we had to hand the keys to our apartment back to the landlord. We took the first few days to do new-place-stuff like cleaning and painting and three days later we rented the truck and actually moved everything. But we left the cats in the apartment, figuring that it would be less traumatic for them to witness the dissolution of their universe, than be thrown into a brand new space, ten times the size of their old space, with the clamour of people moving boxes and furniture around them. We think we made the right decision but we have no way of really knowing.

Once we did make the big move, Sebastian, the alpha male, took roughly 30 to 60 minutes to become comfortable in The House. It took him about that long to explore the place, top to bottom, with ears pricked, head tall and nostrils all aflutter. When he found his way back down to the main floor, to where the mister and I were hanging out, he flopped down on the floor, rolled on to his back with legs akimbo seeking the tummy-rub, and we knew then that he was going to be just fine.

Heidi, the timorous female, was not so easy to convince. It took her 60 coaxed minutes to step out of the pet carrier, after which she scrambled, low to the floor, up the stairs to our bedroom to some corner somewhere, after which we didn’t see her for about 3 days. We didn’t fret, we knew she would have to do everything in her own time, but after around day 2, when we realised there had been no eating or pooping going on, we sought her out. She had managed to tear a hole through the coarse, fuzzy fabric on the underside of the box spring on our bed and had wedged her way into so cozy a hiding spot that I would be tempted to crawl up in there in times of trouble.

Five weeks into living in The House and Sebastian is making the most of all the extra space and slidey floors, and Heidi is finally easing up, the only real evidence of which is that she asks for affection more often and has found her perch on the windowsill in the guest bedroom. We think the cats like their new home.