TRIXIE!!

Trixie is here and officially one of the Houes of Cats! She is such a sweetheart, but so nervous too. We met Chrystal down in Effingham (and in my mind I just hear someone at dinner going "Pass me the Effingham" and it cracks me up.) It is about a 4 hour drive with a stop, but we ended up not stopping (we were going to stop in Champaign but there wasn't really anything right off the highway which surprised us because it is a college town, and by the next stop we were close enough we decided to continue). We met up with Chrystal and we switched her over to one of our cool carriers - the ones that they only made for a short time that I wish I had more of. She was totally calm and did great. Once we got going I opened the carrier so she could come out if she wanted but she just fell right asleep, and slept happily the whole way. I was amazed how calm she was to sleep the whole way. Once we got home we reziped the carrier and brought her in. She had to sit for a minute or two in the carrier in the living room and everyone had to check her out - no hissing but a lot of curiosity. I didn't want to thrust her into the crazy group, and I know that you should always idealy keep everyone separate for about a week before putting them together, so we went up to the bedroom. She came out tentativly but once she was out there was some noise that freaked her out, and she went and hid under the bed. Not hissy or anything just scared. I brought her up soft food, water and crunchies, and tried to coax her out - but no dice. So I would go in, spend some time, then give her some time alone - that way if she was nervous with me there she had time to come out and explore, and eat, and use the litter. When I went up to go to bed she stayed under the bed so I talked to her a bit and went to sleep.  The other cats so wanted to get in there. But they did calm down eventually. So in the middle of the night I woke up a couple times and she was out from under the bed, but when she heard me move she would go right back under.

This morning I decided to try to coax her out with treats and that worked. She loved them and would come out whenever I shook the bag. And when she came out boy was she lovey dovey. She purrs like crazy and loves to be petted and to play. She doesn't like strange noises, and that seems to make her go under the bed, but usually she will come right back out, and also she isn't a fan of the big mirrored closets, but she is getting used to them. She was nervous on the bed at first but got over that, and she can jump high! I was so tired I ended up going back to sleep and she got on the dresser - which I don't think any of the others except for Stella has ever done. That is a tall dresser so I am not sure how she got up there. Then she jumped to the bed and hung out a bit. She did meet Barney - he got in the room once when I was out. He was hissy (he is always like that - even when Gus and Stella got neutered he was hissy for a couple days), but she was brave and held her own and didn't hiss at all. She has the sweetest meow, and she is starting to explore things like the new bed I got for her. I came down to eat lunch and she was sleeping in it. I think she will be fine in a couple days and ready to meet everyone for sure. I haven't taken any pictures yet because I don't want to freak her out with the flash, and our house is so dark it is hard to get pictures without it. I am going to try to get some video to post later, but I don't want to freak her out so if she seems nervous at all I will have to wait. Tomorrow we head to the vet - I took the day off, and will be hanging out with her all day. I hope the trip goes as smooth as the one here was!!