Last Monday morning, we opened the door to the cage and gave all the cats the run of the house. Sapphire immediately stepped into the front hall and checked out the stairs. She hasn’t let us near her all week, but she has chosen to be close to us. (Mr. L just reported that he was petting her, so maybe being able to be near her will change.) When we go upstairs at night, she’s upstairs. When we come downstairs in the morning, she comes downstairs. Most of the time, she’s in her favorite haunts in the parlor and the kitchen. We feel if we needed to catch her, we could with some difficulty.

Rossie has, for the most part, chosen to remain in the parlor, which is what I’d hoped she would do. We can keep an eye on her. We can pet her several times throughout the day, and she is free to move about. We ask her to step into the cage at night to give her the peace of mind she will not be attacked by Lady or Daphne (or anyone else). She does this willingly. The first person downstairs in the morning opens the door for her, and she steps out and finds where she wants to spend her day.

If you missed my comment about my game camera Boomer sighting last week, I want to mention he is alive. I saw him in person last night. While he still looks thin and wasn’t moving too quickly, he is very much with us.

The cat I was calling Fluffy Gray Tail is now being called Zelda. I think she deserves a better name, and Zelda seems to fit her. I’m still at a loss for what to call her kitten. Mr. L thinks, Scott, Gatsby, or Nick. Nick might work. I keep hoping Zelda’s kitten will begin showing up during the day, but so far, he’s a night owl only. This photo captured them about 6:30 am the other morning.

Ajax and Sneaky are still at an impasse. As I was typing this, they had a minor spat. Sneaky is under the linen cabinet in the bathroom, and Ajax is hounding her. I try to offer as much supervised time as feasible, because if they’re never exposed to one another, they will never learn to get along. So far, Sneaky prefers to remain in her domain — the dining room and downstairs bathroom.

Having the parlor door open all the time means Ruby can come downstairs whenever she likes. This is usually still in the evenings.

We may open the door to the back stairs again. Then we can really get some raucous chasing going on as the cats run the loop through the house. Maybe not.