Adoption tails: Sushi

 

1 day: She’s settling well. She used the litter tray, drank a few hours after leaving her in the room yesterday, and ate in the evening. She hid away yesterday but came out on her own today when they fed her.

1 week: Sushi has been lovely. She’s been very much an explorer. They had a camera set up in her room to monitor her without disturbing her.

She came out pretty quickly and explored. Then, she hid and explored on and off that night and the next day. She slept out in the open in the room that night.

They’ve let her set the pace this week. They’ve rearranged the furniture to give her more hiding places. She still seemed very open and curious, so they expanded her space. She makes use of all of her space - she has one safe room in which she sleeps, a second room in which she has daytime naps, and the hallway for her food. She sits or lies down in the hallway to be near them or wait for attention.

Sushi has not been introduced to the resident cat, Mach, but they have been feeding them on opposite sides of the doors/barriers and occasionally swapping scent soakers such as blankets. Sushi sleeps on these blankets when they give them to her. Mach has never met another cat so he is unsure about it all. They have a large apartment and he doesn’t seem bothered by Sushi so far. Last night, Sushi was waiting for them to get home. They gave her some pats and she went off to bed.

1 month: She’s come really far and is doing really well. She’s definitely more settled - not all the way there yet but definitely far more comfortable. She’s always up for a good pat and scratch. She still sleeps in her safe room and hallway and will go back there when startled. She’s fairly anxious about their large and open living/dining space so she crosses it quickly. If she wants to hang out with them in that room, she’ll sit or sleep under the dining table.

Around a week ago, she woke them up from the bedroom doorway (she’d never gone that far before) and was in the mood to play, which she hadn’t wanted to do before. She plays on her own with a bell toy but has never wanted to play with them. They used their resident cat’s string toy and she loved it. She can go anywhere in the apartment now and they’ve found her snoozing in all different places but she seems to be settling into one or two favourites now. And if they’re around at home she’s often nearby, within eyesight.

She woke them up to play

It’s been around two weeks since she started interacting with their resident cat, Mach, and about a week since the whole place has been open to both cats. Sushi is keen to become friends but Mach isn’t very interested and is curious but wary. There’s no ill will between them and her owners believe it’ll take Mach some time to warm up.