Shortly after last week’s update, we decided Rossie was not adapting well in the dining room. She wasn’t letting us approach her. She didn’t want to be caught, so I opened the pocket doors and let her walk into the parlor on her own (the classic “me do” if you’re familiar with toddler behavior). Once Rossie came into the parlor, I closed the pocket doors behind her.

Sneaky has been more relaxed this week. Sneaky and Rossie didn’t disagree, they just didn’t want to be with one another. Rossie is relaxed in the parlor.  She’s moving around. She’s eating and drinking. She lets us pet her. And she easily goes into the cage at bedtime. The other night, Sapphire was in the parlor, and she went into the cage at bedtime, too. I wasn’t going to argue with her.

Sapphire remains with the run of the house, but she is not approachable (although she’s almost always nearby).

Walter was last seen on the game camera on December 8th. He seems to be on night shift again. We miss him during the day, but it’s comforting to see him making appearances on the camera at night.

When I knew Zelda was expecting, I put a box with newspapers in the bottom inside the dog house on the porch. The game camera captured Boomer using it. I’ve recently refreshed the paper and placed the box on its side (to make it easier for Daisy to get inside) perpendicular to the dog house door. Over the last few days (temperatures dropped into the 30s at night), the game camera has captured Zelda, Nick, and Daisy going in and out of the dog house — Nick and Daisy more than Zelda. It looks like they have spent some time reclining there.

One day last week, I was able to pet Daisy while I was sitting on the side steps and she was eating Fancy Feast from the dish at my feet. I was also able to do the same with Nick and Zelda, but they’ve caught onto that ploy now. I’m able to lightly brush my fingers along their back, but they move away. They usually resume eating again. We did this dance with Junior. It took a long time to be able to do more than brush his back, but we did make progress. We are making progress here.

I need to be able to catch Daisy by shortly after March 30 to get her spayed. Dr. Val won’t spay or neuter before six months, so I have a little time to earn Daisy’s trust. I still have to catch Zelda and Nick by the end of the month for their FIV boosters. Since they are outdoor kitties, this is important. I’ll do my best, but, as Dr. Val says, all I can do is try.

I did enjoy watching Nick and Daisy play yesterday afternoon. They are both kittens, after all. Even Zelda will play with Daisy a little. On the other hand, I watched Nick do a very normal big brother thing yesterday morning. I had the Fancy Feast on the heat pump duct work. Nick was eating. Daisy approached, and Nick reached out with a paw and plopped it on her head and pushed her away. Poor kitten. I tossed her some chunks of Fancy Feast this morning when it became apparent she wasn’t going to push through her mother and big brother to get to the bowl. She’s getting to eat, but she’s the smallest.

I increased the amount of food the feeder puts out at each feeding this week. With cold weather coming and us being here to be able to refill the feeder, I want to make sure every one of our four has an opportunity to eat. There still doesn’t seem to be enough for Walter, so I’ll be increasing the amount that drops each time once more this week.