Even though Charlotte still won’t let me near her, she is quite active in my apartment. Debbie, the woman from whom I adopted her, gave me a bag of food and a couple of plastic sandwich bags full of toys so Charlotte would have something to play with should she so desire.
Charlotte seems to love these toys, because every time I come out of my bedroom when I wake up in the morning, I find them scattered all over the floor in completely different places from where I placed them the night before. And she seems to play with them ALL the TIME because even five minutes after the last time I saw them they’ve been further scattered and in different positions than they were previously. The only rule seems to be that she doesn’t do any of it in my presence.
The fact that she refuses to play in my presence brings up another, slightly sticky subject. She still won’t come near me, and runs from me if I walk anywhere even remotely close to her. I did manage to get her to sleep in the same room with me last night by virtue of closing the door to my bedroom immediately after coming in so she wouldn’t have a chance to escape. But I wasn’t sure if she was actually in the room, because it was dark, and I couldn’t see anything.
And, as it turned, out she was in the room, as I found out this morning when she woke me up because she wanted to get out, but couldn’t because the door was closed. It was the first time she’d made a sound since I got her, so I was delighted that she woke me up so I could hear her voice. She has a tiny, high-pitched, squeaky cry, but she’s still pretty little, being only three months old.
So when she started meowing I got up to open the door. When I stood up, she leapt into the air in terror and flew into the far corner of the room with her tail all floofed out. It was quite a sight. She’s such a pretty little thing with her blue eyes, but the terror she was obviously feeling kind of obliterated everything else.
Isn’t she beautiful? I think she’s perfectly lovely! I just hope and pray that she’ll get used to me so she’s no longer terrified of me. I love her so much already!
The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel. ~ Proverbs 12:10, NLT.
So that’s the latest in the continuing saga of Charlotte!
God's Not Through With Me Yet 
Ha ha Charlotte seems to have a lot of energy, its good she is burning it off!
You know she seems kind of feral, and she also seems to be in a kind of ‘survival’ mode. Which of course makes cats very jumpy. Have you noticed yet if she is a tree dweller or a cave dweller?
I so like you are reading to her even if she doesn’t come out yet.
You havent had her very long so she still has a lot of time to release a bunch of her anxiety.
We had 2 cats they were sisters, but were pretty scared of all human contact. It just seemed to be how they were wired. We were taking care of a feral cat and that cat had a litter. Three of the cats acclimated to humans really well, 2 were more fearful. The boys named them Screech and Bear. Screech because she couldnt meow, just make this weird bird like sound and Bear, well for obvious reasons. She was a beautiful black fluffy fur ball.
Bear came and would sit with us while watching tv or cooking or homework. We learned quickly not to pet her unless she asked, which she would do by grabbing your hand and dragging it over to her. Which was fine as a kitten, but a little more painful as she grew up (lol) She did learn to come out for some visitors and they were very honored.
Screech would come out once in a while, but I cant remember her ever appearing for a stranger. 🤔When she came out, it was the same as Bear she would just want to sit near us. And very rarely come to get a pet, which you had to do on the top of her head or under her chin. If you tried to pet her anywhere else she would run away.
Nice memories.
The Vet gave us a spray to put in their carriers to make them relax when we took them in for their check ups. Trying to remember the name of it, it seemed to help a bit.
And yes Charlotte is very beautiful!! And other good news is cats with Siamese in them tend to be very loyal. Go Charlotte. 😻
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Hi Kim,
Sorry for taking so long to post this reply. Even though she keeps herself invisible, keeping track of Charlotte is a full time job, but I’m having so much fun doing it, I can’t even tell you.
She does have a lot of energy. I was laying in bed this morning, and I heard this thumping and thudding sound coming through my bedroom wall. It continued for about fifteen minutes, and I wondered what could be causing it. Then I realized it was Charlotte playing on the stairs going up to my loft. Those stairs are on the other side of my bedroom wall, and she must have been chasing one of her toys up and down the stairs, and that’s what was making all the noise. As I listened to all the thudding and thumping, I started to giggle, because I could just imagine her running up and down the stairs chasing whatever toy she was playing with.
It’s interesting that you would mention the idea of her being kind of feral, because that thought had occurred to me as well. I don’t know whether she’s a tree dweller or a cave dweller, because I don’t have a cat tree for her to climb on. The little I see of her is as she’s diving under or behind furniture, so that sounds to me like she’s a cave dweller. So since there’s no tree to provide a basis for comparison, I’m going to go with that just because that’s the only behavior I’ve seen.
I’m really enjoying reading James Herriot’s stories to her. I think I’m reading them just as much to myself as I am to her, because most of them make me laugh out loud, they’re so funny.
I’m not sure I can use Karen’s idea, as good as it is, because I never know where she is enough to guess where her vicinity is. Most of the time I don’t even know what room she’s in, much less her vicinity within a particular room.
I’ll see what transpires over time, but right now that part is a no-go. I don’t know that it’ll always be that way, but it is for now.
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She is so beautiful! I have an idea. Remove all the toys but one. Tie that one to a long string and toss it somewhere in her vicinity. Pull the string in slight, jerky movements, gradually moving it closer to you. See if she follows it, and how close she will come to you if she does. Don’t try to pet her or move anything for the first hundred, or thousand, times you do this. Maybe this gets her more comfortable being near you and she can find out you are not a threat, but a source of some real fun play times! If this doesn’t work, maybe it will trigger some better ideas. Love you, Sarah!
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Hi Karen,
Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful reply, and thank you even more for following my blog!
Unfortunately I’m not sure I can use your idea just yet, mostly because I never know where she is in my apartment. The majority of the time I don’t know which room she’s in, much less what vicinity in a room.
At some point I’m hoping to be able to play such a game with her, but I can’t do it now. I will see what happens over time and take it from there.
I always appreciate your thoughts and comments. You always come up with the best ideas, and I’m grateful that you’re in my life and thinking about me and Charlotte! I love you LOTS!!
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Karen, what a great idea!!
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Yup, I agree!!
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