Days 3 - 5
On the third morning, when I went in to see Buckbeak, he seemed confident enough to make small chirping noises for his food. He still hid under the couch, but it made me happy to hear his timid, high pitched meow.
This leads me to another conclusion - Buckbeak was not the cat we heard overnight two nights ago. That cat had a lower pitched yowl and Buckbeak has a high pitched chirping sound that is almost a whisper. I admit that he could have the low pitch yowl when he is more confident, but I'm not sure.
In other news, our other cat got into a fight outside last night. I don't dare try to break it up because the other cat (this isn't the first fight) is scared of me and runs away ... and then our cat chases it down. So, I just food call and get the treat bag and crinkle it. Anyway, our cat is BIG and very strong and can be quite violent. He is limping now. I'm hoping that he just pulled a muscle. I didn't find any signs of swelling so far and there is certainly nothing wrong with his paw. He will let me touch his paw, but if I get too far up his leg, he doesn't like it (and he attacks, so I'm scared of him).
I played with Buckbeak in both the morning and evening with a little stuffed sardine that I tied to a string. He mostly watched it, but at one point, he grabbed the sardine and held it in his mouth. I'm so glad that the foster home was incorrect about him not enjoying play. He's just more nervous than many cats and doesn't have the confidence yet (and may never).
Day 4 was much the same as day 3.
Day 5, however I had a snow day from work and my husband had the day off, so we were both home all day. I gave him his food in the morning. He chirped louder than before. After I put the food down on the floor, I sat about 6 or so feet away from the bowl and played games on my phone. After about 10 or 15 minutes, he came out to eat his food. I made no moves to get closer. I just let him eat in peace. I did the same thing with his evening meal.
In the late morning and again in the afternoon, I engaged him in play again with the sardine and he grabbed at the toy with his paw and put it into his mouth multiple times. I think he had fun.
In the evening was the most interesting development. He knows there are other cats in the house. He has seen them. We were sitting on the couch he was under reading out loud. All of a sudden he started meowing like crazy. High pitched, but loud, meowing. It was so cute. I grabbed the toy and tried to play with him, but he wasn't interested. I had heard another cat at the door earlier, so I opened the door and there was Jabez, our nearly 20 pound giant - his birth certificate says "Maine Coon," but I think he looks more like a "Norwegian Forest Cat."
Anyway, Jabez can be aggressive with other cats, but he is also supremely food oriented, so I gave him some of his favorite treats to eat while he was seeing Buckbeak. I stood halfway between them, but out of the line of direct eye sight. Buckbeak, who had no interest in treats, came out from underneath the couch and was standing right next to me!! He all of a sudden realized that he was nearly touching my pant leg and looked up at my face. He quickly backed up completely under the couch again. Soon enough, he was out again, very curious to meet Jabez. Jabez, however, was eating his treats and hissed at Buckbeak to make sure he didn't come any closer. I'd say they were about 3 feet away at that point. Buckbeak stopped, and Jabez kept eating. When the treats were gone, he started looking harder at Buckbeak, so I gave him one more treat and shut the door.
This meeting was a lot sooner than I had anticipated, but I think it went very well. We heard Buckbeak crying again after we had gone to bed. It sounded different than the cat we heard the other night, but who knows - maybe it was him. :)
Also, I've come to realize that the picture the shelter had on its website of Buckbeak was NOT Buckbeak. That cat was all gray. Buckbeak obviously has a white goatee/soul patch (we call it milk drool), whiskers, bib, and paws.
This leads me to another conclusion - Buckbeak was not the cat we heard overnight two nights ago. That cat had a lower pitched yowl and Buckbeak has a high pitched chirping sound that is almost a whisper. I admit that he could have the low pitch yowl when he is more confident, but I'm not sure.
In other news, our other cat got into a fight outside last night. I don't dare try to break it up because the other cat (this isn't the first fight) is scared of me and runs away ... and then our cat chases it down. So, I just food call and get the treat bag and crinkle it. Anyway, our cat is BIG and very strong and can be quite violent. He is limping now. I'm hoping that he just pulled a muscle. I didn't find any signs of swelling so far and there is certainly nothing wrong with his paw. He will let me touch his paw, but if I get too far up his leg, he doesn't like it (and he attacks, so I'm scared of him).
I played with Buckbeak in both the morning and evening with a little stuffed sardine that I tied to a string. He mostly watched it, but at one point, he grabbed the sardine and held it in his mouth. I'm so glad that the foster home was incorrect about him not enjoying play. He's just more nervous than many cats and doesn't have the confidence yet (and may never).
Day 4 was much the same as day 3.
Day 5, however I had a snow day from work and my husband had the day off, so we were both home all day. I gave him his food in the morning. He chirped louder than before. After I put the food down on the floor, I sat about 6 or so feet away from the bowl and played games on my phone. After about 10 or 15 minutes, he came out to eat his food. I made no moves to get closer. I just let him eat in peace. I did the same thing with his evening meal.
In the late morning and again in the afternoon, I engaged him in play again with the sardine and he grabbed at the toy with his paw and put it into his mouth multiple times. I think he had fun.
In the evening was the most interesting development. He knows there are other cats in the house. He has seen them. We were sitting on the couch he was under reading out loud. All of a sudden he started meowing like crazy. High pitched, but loud, meowing. It was so cute. I grabbed the toy and tried to play with him, but he wasn't interested. I had heard another cat at the door earlier, so I opened the door and there was Jabez, our nearly 20 pound giant - his birth certificate says "Maine Coon," but I think he looks more like a "Norwegian Forest Cat."
Anyway, Jabez can be aggressive with other cats, but he is also supremely food oriented, so I gave him some of his favorite treats to eat while he was seeing Buckbeak. I stood halfway between them, but out of the line of direct eye sight. Buckbeak, who had no interest in treats, came out from underneath the couch and was standing right next to me!! He all of a sudden realized that he was nearly touching my pant leg and looked up at my face. He quickly backed up completely under the couch again. Soon enough, he was out again, very curious to meet Jabez. Jabez, however, was eating his treats and hissed at Buckbeak to make sure he didn't come any closer. I'd say they were about 3 feet away at that point. Buckbeak stopped, and Jabez kept eating. When the treats were gone, he started looking harder at Buckbeak, so I gave him one more treat and shut the door.
This meeting was a lot sooner than I had anticipated, but I think it went very well. We heard Buckbeak crying again after we had gone to bed. It sounded different than the cat we heard the other night, but who knows - maybe it was him. :)
Also, I've come to realize that the picture the shelter had on its website of Buckbeak was NOT Buckbeak. That cat was all gray. Buckbeak obviously has a white goatee/soul patch (we call it milk drool), whiskers, bib, and paws.
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