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Last night she came out of her carrier briefly to check out the nest we made for her next to it and explored a bit behind the toilet. So, I put out some wet food. She ate it all overnight. This morning I found her in a new hiding spot behind a cabinet. She meowed a bit when I looked at her while I made toast. The toaster is on top of the cabinet. She seems pretty comfy back there and I suspect it may be her preferred hidey hole for a while. #CatsOfMastondon

Here she is in her hidey hole. There is evidence she’s used the litter box. So as long as she is eating and excreting, I’m going to treat everything as OK. It’s been less than 24 hours since we got her. I think she might be using that cardboard box to scratch a bit. That seems like a good sign too. #CatsOfMastondon

Shinjuku is the name her last family gave her. I think it’s a great name and since she had it for 11 years, I see no reason to change it.

Shinjuku makes me think of Shinjuku Station (a real railway station in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo) and also of Shinjuku Medical Center (a fictional hospital where the action starts in the game Shin Megami Tensei III).

Yesterday afternoon, Shinjuku became curious while I was cooking dinner and poked her head out. I was able to convince her to come out with gentle words and a paper bag. #CatsOfMastondon

A few hours later, I lured her out even further and she went to explore the living room, and eventually settled on my lap, lovingly kneading my knees with her unsheathed claws. I think she might need a trim and I need a heavy lap blanket. Perhaps sheating claws on the lap can be trained. #CatsOfMastondon

She’s found some new spot to hide. I want to get her a collar and an airtag so that I can have the peace of mind that she’s in the house somewhere. #CatsOfMastondon

Good morning from Shinjuku who figured out the chair Mr Dys prefers and claimed it as her own. #CatsOfMastondon

We misunderstood what was dry food and what was treats and have been feeding Shinjuku fish-cracker shaped cat treats as kibble since Sunday. The error has now been rectified but perhaps that’s part of why she adjusted faster than we expected. Imagine if you moved to a new house and all they fed you was caviar and cake and acted like this was normal.

She just came by and munched a bumch of the real kibble. Again, imagine if all you had was cake and caviar for days—bread would probably be appealing.

We sometimes hear coyote howls from our house, especially from upstairs as the sound seems to echo off the hills. With her better cat hearing, Shinjuku can hear them from downstairs, it seems. Around 1 am a passing siren truck set off coyotes howling, which then set her meowing very loudly. We did not go to her because 1) we were sleepy 2) it will reinforce that meowing in the middle of the night gets positive attention.

However, this evening we will open the whole downstairs to her so she can hide in my study at the opposite end of the house if she wants. There’s a cabinet with space underneath that seems to have become one of her refuges.

Evening seems to be her most active time and last night Shinjuku cuddled on my lap for half an hour. I have an impromptu blanket from cut up jeans to protect me from her claws out kneading.

I wasn’t sure how to get her off me when it was bedtime, so I tried talking to her. I said something like “it’s time to get off” and pointed at the floor. She got up and did just that! Still meowed a lot when we first went to bed.

Here’s Shinjuku last night, sitting on @paulmison ‘s lap (protected by a fluffy Lego “gift with purchase” blanket) She does not seem to mind, and perhaps even likes, the stream of bleepy noises that come from the Switch as he plays various old games. This time it was some version of Mr. Driller.

So far, I think @paulmison is much better at getting her to come sit down on his lap and then settle, while I am better at talking her out of her hiding places. I’m not sure if it my higher pitched voice or simply a willingness to sit on the floor and speak stream-of-consciousness nonsense about the advantages of coming out from under whatever dusty place and eating some wet food before the ants do (or whatever) for minutes at a time. I also noticed that when there are new sounds it seems to reassure her if I talk through them, indicating by my demeanor I know and think they are fine.

Having a cat who goes into every crevice and under evey thing that has an under has raised a lot of dust in the last week. Today Mr Dys and I did a deep clean of the bedroom. We are not very tidy people and there were a lot of big dust clumps in every obstructed corner and under the bed. But there aren’t any more. We’ll have to do the same thing for the rest of the house soon.

Cat: Meow meow meow (pay attention to me?)
Me: Hello? Where are you?
Cat: Meow meow MEEOW
Me: Ah, upstairs?
~Me climbs stairs. Sees cat cat sitting insdie the Ikea bag in front of the bedroom door~
Cat: MEEEOWR!
~Cat abosolutely books it down the stairs, thorugh the kitchen, past Mr Dys in the livng room and then goes to hide in my study~

Cat psychology is going to take some time to figure out. If I ever do.

Big shop at Daiso for cat supplies. M— told me to get the silicone shower brush here, and they had a lot of other useful things, too: plastic bins for food, toy mice, bowls

Shinjuku did a big leap to the top of the built-in cabinet on top of the fridge and seems to have spent all day there. It’s probably really warm up there, and there’s no way we could reach her if she goes to the back. It’s completely her spot.

Shinjuku enjoyed the toy mouse I bought her at Daiso. I couldn’t get a good action shot because she’s very fast, but believe me there was pouncing. Here she is examining the toy between rounds.
#CatsOfMastondon

Shinjuku used to be an outdoor cat before we adopted her, so I think she’s going to need a good bit of enrichment. I’m trying to introduce new toys slowly to figure out what she really likes. The mouse is the biggest hit so far.

She also never had her claws trimmed. I guess she must have worn them down naturally outdoors. My mom harvested a bunch of catnip and will mail it once dry—and I think once I have that, I might try some trimming. Possibly, we’ll need to have a vet do it. But I hope catnip and treats will be enough.

When Shinjuku is sitting under somerhing, she generally needs a personal invitation to come out. It started on her second day with us when I got her to come out of a crevasse by talking to her gently. Now, it’s usually a lot quicker but she really seems to want a personal invitation to come out.

For example, last night she wanted to sit on the couch after dinner, but Mr Dys and I had to go out for half an hour. When we came back, she was around but no longer as interested, but we sat down and figured she’d come back when ready. But nope. Finally I went to go talk to her while she was under the bed where she had gone and she came right out and then followed me to the couch. But only after I invited her.

Shinjuku seems to understand “gentle paw”

She was kneading me with her claws out and as she got progressively more comfortable and up-side-down, her paw moved off the blanket protecting me to my belly. The first time I said “ouch” and she stopped.

But after that, when her paw was getting near an unprotected part of me, I would just say “gentle paw” and she *sheathed her claws*

How much can this kitty understand?

Now I remember my mom used to talk to her cat like this. While sitting on my mom’s lap, the cat would sometimes put a paw up in the direction of her belly or face, and my mom would say “[Kotku], bądź grzeczna” meaning, Kitty, behave yourself. Except she used the cat’s name, in the vocative. The cat would then put her paw down. She told the cat all kinds of complicated things and the cat adjusted behavior as she wanted. My mom is a very consistent and calm person so I figured the cat got trained even if she didn’t do formal training. But again I have to wonder, how much do they understand?

Mr Dys is out this morning so it’s just me and Shinjuku. She has definitely figured out the wet food in the morning routine, follows me around with eager meows as I wash her dish, cut open the sachet and serve up the food. Maybe we can work on not trying to trip me as I carry it to her food mat.

We experimented with letting her into the bedroom in the hope that if she could see us asleep it might cut down on the plaintive “Hello” meows in the middle of the night. It did not. But neither did she try to attack our feet or stick her furry butt in anyone’s face. In fact, when it comes to the bed, her preferred location is _under_. I’m of two minds about trying again. The closed door dampens the mindinght meows, but I like having the door open for air. #CatsOfMastondon