Author: annagoebel
Hazel watches Hazel
I took some video of Hazel a couple of weeks ago, and today I played it when she happened to be near my computer. She was fascinated! She came over to check it out, so I filmed it. So funny! Especially when the Hazel on the monitor seems to react to the real Hazel!
Hazel comfortable in recovery
Hazel had a trip to the vet last week, and is recovering very well from her spay procedure. She was confined to a dog crate for 48 hours, to restrict her movement so she didn’t injure herself, but now her favorite spot is on my bed. Of course! It has a heating pad for cats!
Hazel is still not 100% tame. She’s very comfortable lying on my bed, with me right next to her, but she still doesn’t like hands reaching out for her. To get her to the vet, I opted to use a trap (thanks for the loan, Joelle!). I could probably have grabbed her, one way or another, and gotten her into a carrier. But I’m pretty sure that would have set our progress back a lot. So I spent a week getting her used to the trap, and when the door shut on her, it didn’t feel like a human had caught her. It was anonymous, with no one doing it to her. She made the short trip to the vet with a blanket over the trap, and it was as little trauma as I could make it. Then I got to be the good guy who brought her home.
Gallery of Mamba, aka Queen Blep
Mamba is the only cat I know who sticks her tongue out almost all the time. Here she’s been playing with a broken peacock feather, and her tongue is at least partly out the whole time.
This is Hazel’s room, and you can see her in the basket below. She feels a bit invaded, and is ignoring Mamba playing right over her head, but I think she’s really happy to have company.
Quintus and Mamba explore Hazel’s domain
Today we invited Quintus and Mamba into Hazel’s big room, so they could explore and get acquainted. Hazel and Mamba are from the same farm, so they certainly knew each other, but it’s been awhile, and both have raised kittens since then. Hazel’s kittens were all adopted, and Mamba has only Quintus left. It’s pretty likely that they are related. There were 30 cats on that farm, but many of them were likely by the same dad. Mamba and Hazel could be cousins, sisters, even mother and daughter. There have been no big fireworks when they were together!
Quintus likes attention
Even in the middle of playing, Quintus will stop for pets. He never attacks your hand – he just leans into the pets. Such a sweet boy!
The top of the cat tree is his own play station. His mom, Mamba, heads for the middle level, and Quintus shoots for the top. He’ll launch himself onto the bed from here to chase a toy, or down to a chair – but he loves to start on the top of the cat tree. Then he’s ready for anything.