Improvement

There has certainly been improvement with Apollo. That saying, "You gotta be cruel to be kind" is apt here (although we have not been cruel per se, just firm).

He went into the bathroom around this time yesterday. Last night, after a bit of a hissy fit, he allowed me to pet him and hold him. He's got quite the motor, too. And, he squeaks when he meows.

As we were having a substantial thunderstorm, I went back in there around 11:30 or so because I heard him crying. He was cowering in his litter box and hissed at me. I scruffed him and he immediately started to purr and cuddle against my neck.

I put him in the sink, along with a nice comfy towel and a few toys to cuddle with.

When I came in this morning, he was still there. Again, he hissed at me but his displeasure was short-lived.

And so has gone the drill all day, although he doesn't always hiss and sometimes I find him camping out behind the john rather than in the sink.

I sit on the floor and coax him out. Eventually, he comes over to me and lets me pet him and starts to crawl on me. At some point, I'll pick him up for a bit, or, he'll roll over and let me rub his belly (he loves belly rubs and having his ears scratched).

I'd like to see him eating a bit more but he is eating some of the dry food and he gobbles down turkey lunch meat like a fiend.

It is tough to leave him because I can hear him crying all the way downstairs.

But, we're making progress towards the goal of getting him friendly enough to be adopted. Once he's been in there long enough (whatever that turns out to be but it can't be longer than Monday since The Kid is due to come over and she'll want her bathroom), hopefully, he'll continue to be as friendly, even if his siblings are around.

Here is one of the (many) videos I shot of his progress this morning. The rest are on my You Tube page.

Apollo 6.10.09

I'm thinking rather than simply taking him out of the bathroom and putting him back in with all four, I might bring one of his siblings into the bathroom with him for some company and see if he's still doing okay with being petted, etc.

Obviously, my life has been somewhat absorbed by this adventure; hope y'all don't mind reading about kittens!

And speaking of kittens, here are a few pictures of OUR kittens hanging out with a few of the foster kittens. I let the fosters out in batches today (not Apollo) and both Pete and Lily were interested in them and in playing with them. Lily did better than Pete.

Both of them would run up to a kitten and lift a paw to play (no aggressive behavior allowed). Pete took great joy in bounding across the room at Zeus several times, but, for whatever reason, after reaching him and meowing, he'd then hiss and huff and puff away.

Pete and Lily ARE still, technically, kittens as they are not yet 11 months old. It's hard to believe that, though, when you see these pictures of how huge they are, Pete in particular, in comparison!

Lucy is being real champ about it all. I know she wants to spend more time with the foster kittens and lick them all over and she seems genuinely concerned when she hears Apollo crying in the bathroom.

But, a face to face intro between Lucy and the kittens is an adventure best saved for another day!

Mrs. B