Jimmy is having a breakthrough!!

Aww, bless him.

You know, when I got Jimmy he was depressed. I think he has come out of it. He does not act depressed any longer. It took him a while. I think part of his depression was because he felt like he was being kept by hostile humans who he was afraid of. The depression has left along with the fear. He is turning back into a naturally curious cat... I just love him so much and it feels so good to see him running around the house with the other cats. He is going to "hopefully" love his new home.

For his move, he is going in his own crate. I'm going to have to get the door back on it. That way while he is sleeping, I just have to close the door and Jimmy will be packed..........hehe

I am so glad he loves his crate.... It is his den... I still can't decide whether to put his crate by our bed or in a closet when we move. He can see the kitty door from either place. I will probably start out with it in the closet because he likes closets and tight areas. They make him feel safe....We have a huge bedroom closet with plenty of space in it for a cate.

aww. Have sent you a pm.

I am so tired of packing..............ohgod...........

Here's a couple of pictures.

One is Jimmy on the couch that I took yesterday but it is real real blurry. I was so excited to see him there that I did not focus the camera.. I tried to straighten it out but to no avail.

The other one is Jimmy and Hank eating together in the living room floor. They are buddies now... They have been hanging out and watching me pack stuff. I am so tired and am getting ready to head to bed...... The cats can have the rest of the boxes for the night!!

Here's couch potato Jimmy.


And here is Jimmy and Hank eating together while I pack. I am really surprised that Jimmy sat in the living room so long while I scurried around packing. It was noisy and unusual. Everything looks so bare. He has been watching but not this close up........ He wants to know what's going on... Little does he know........soon he is moving. In just a very few days........hehe Hank and the one in the foreground is Honey were in Jimmy's room when they were infant kitties. He bonded with them and loves them. Minny is his favorite and has been since she was very tiny. The cats probably wonder why or where their toys are. I have them all packed up except for one scratching post...


Sorry for the cig butts in the saucer. Neighbors and husband have been smoking and I don't have any ash trays.... I quit months ago......... And that was a money saver.

I also want to add that today Jimmy stuck his head in one of the cubes and looked around. He did not go in it but he is definately curious about it. Star stays in one of them all the time. She rolls it around on the floor and if it is close to another cat, she attacks from inside trying to play. After we get moved, I plan on buying at least 3 more cubes. They love them more than anything I have ever bought them. I also found in my new foster smith magazine a "cat cottage". I am going to buy that too. I love it! It is made of heavy cardboard and has 4 stories with windows for them to look out of. I have a perfect place for it. I might even get two of them. They will have a blast since they love boxes so much.

Here's a link to it.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Oh my god.......

I got pictures of Jimmy playing in the cube!!! He can't stand it. He sees the other cats playing and he wants to play. While I sat here in my chair, I got pictures of Jimmy actually playing in the cube with hank.....

First he sat at the door with the dogs.........watching the others play in the cubes.


Then he made his move and went in there. He just couldn't stand it. He is staring at Hank in the blue cube here while JJ is stalking [playing with] another cat. Night time is play time in my house.


Then he stuck his head in there with Hank who promply attacked Jimmy and then jumped to the red cube........


Jimmy decided to stalk him......... He was so intent he did not see me leaning over him to take this picture..... His tail was twitching back and forth as he got ready to attack.


But it is a wonderful thing to see Jimmy playing. I have waited so long to see this. I knew he wanted to play in the cubes. He watches everything the young cat do and he wants to do the same things. He is making major progress..... Major!!!

Now............I'm going to bed......... quite happily I might add!

You've come a long way baby!! [This is one of his first pictures at my house].. He was so scared. He hid for two months at least........ possibly more. I was thinking too, that more than likely Jimmy never got to play as a kitten. It was all about survival and scraping for food and hiding and looking for a place to sleep that was safe and trying to stay warm. This is probably the first time he has ever in his whole life felt relaxed enough to play openly. It's about time he had a life and feels safe. Thank goodness I have him. Thank goodness he was trapped and rescued by Elaine and her group... Thank goodness. It is just inspiring to me to see him this way. This is the beginning for Jimmy. I can tell. This is his beginning. He is on the way now to feeling good and being able to put all his past behind him now. He feels safe. I honestly think he feel safe now. Otherwise he would not be playing.. He is part of the kitty pride now. He has integrated himself with them and with the dogs.. ahhhhhhhhhh........

That is soooooooooooo great!!! Hoooooray for Jimmy!!!

Aww, I do love hearing these wonderful updates, he is certainly sounding a happy cat, adn it is good he is feeling safe enough to play, he deserves it.

Oh wow, Jenn! Seeing those pics of Jimmy playing was another kleenex moment. He's come such a long way. He looks so confident and happy. I'm so happy for him that he's found a place where he feels secure and can just be himself. I love that big guy. Thanks for the update and pics and good luck with your move! I'll be thinking about you.

Ellie, I knew you would like these pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words...expecially with ferals. Jimmy is doing so good. I have to go back and re-look at his first pictures to realize how far he has come.

And I have a feeling the best is yet to come. This is only the start of Jimmy feeling happy. And since he has started getting on the couch, he will probably start doing that on a regular basis as well.

So get those kneenex's ready Ellie. I have a feeling there will be many more of them as the days pass. I also am looking forward to them. It was for the best that we had Jimmy in this house first. He is already of member of the cat pride so the move will be easier on him. He will look to them for support and safety. They will all group together if they do the same way they did when we moved in this house..

I can't wait to get home from work today....

Well, we've had this cold snap in the 20's. I was worrying for nothing about Jimmy coming inside. Since both me and my husband work nights I had no idea what was going on with them. Worrying if they were cold and that sort of stuff.

But my worries are unfounded. Last night I was off and I kept myself in the living room to see what was up "with the kitties and their door". Festus and Felix stayed outside in a warm cathouse. Jimmy slept in the middle of my bed with Star all cuddled up. Jimmy has been inside for a long time now and I guess he knows where his bread is buttered so to speak.

But I am through worrying about him coming in and out. When it's cold, Jimmy is a bed kitty....as long as the humans are NOT in the bed.... He cuddles down all snug. If I walk in the bedroom, he shoots back out the kitty door and then when the house is quiet, he comes back inside and settles back down on the bed!!! I love it!!

Jenn....

It sounds like Jimmy has really come to appreciate the good life, Jenn!
Hopefully, the next step will be for him to realize that beds are even better when there are humans in them to snuggle with!

Absolutely!!!! And it will happen. He has not been in his crate once since we moved. The bottom of the enclosure is hay filled and I have them a cedar litter area in there filled with hay and sand that they use outside. I do still keep little boxes in the house as well but most use the outside area. Jimmy uses the outside litter and eats meals in and out of the house. But he loves our bed to sleep in. He gets square in the middle of it.

He went through a small change when we moved when he discovered the enclosure and only wanted outside but he is more relaxed now. He still does not venture through the house on my nights off but he is IN THE HOUSE on my nights off.. but just in the bedroom. He will eventually start feeling like coming back in the living room again. He has to do it on his own. And then he will start playing again in the cubes. He doesn't realize yet that this is his forever house... But he will. Eventually he will forget moving and be as relaxed as he was in his old house. He is not unrelaxed now but just not totally relaxed as he was. He areas right now are the hallway, [where the food is located] and my bedroom where the bed is and our closet. He likes to climb in boxes in there and get on shelves. He has probably checked out the litter boxes in the house which is in the laundry room but I have not seen him in there. And that's a good thing. I like him living in our bedroom and hallway. He also is moving his area toward the rest of the house. The kitchen is his next room to explore. And then the living room. He has been in both but he is not comfortable roaming in there yet but it will happen. I can tell from past adventures with Jimmy that he is on the move to increasing his territory. hehe

But his favorite place is being outside in the enclosure. When we finish it and it is huge, he will be in hog heaven. And still be safe... He has a wonderful story.. I am so proud of him. He rolls in the hay outside and lays in the dirt stretched upside down in the sun. He is throughly enjoys his enclosure...

Star is different in this house as well. She is more relaxed as well. She spends her realaxing time on a high shelf in the kitchen so she can view everything in that area. food food food is her favorite thing. She has approached me twice and has actually laid on my feet with cookie on a blanket and let me rub her. She, after nearly three years is finally deciding it is ok to actually approach me on her own. She is also eating and smelling food I hold out to her finally. She might not take it yet from my hand but I can approach her with food and she stands her ground and smells it from my hand. I can then lay it down and she will eat it and wait for more. Time is all she needed and time is what Jimmy needs too. They have both made huge progress since the move...

Jimmy suffered no trauma and is NOT like he was in the old house when he first came to live with us. Everything is exactly the same...people and animals... the house is the only difference and the enclosure. I think in the long run the move is good for him and he will thrive here in fresh air and sunshine and lots of love.

Jenna and the gang...

I am so pleased to hear that everyone is still doing well.

They are all doing great. Star actually is wanting to be loved on finally. Mama groomed her today while I brushed her. For a good hr. She enjoyed it so much she closed her eyes. I lay beside her from an arms distance on the chaise lounge chair while we did this. When I think back to how she was it just blows my mind..............wow.........

LOL! The posts jumped from Sep to Nov with no mention of the move at first, and I thought I was going crazy! You've probably written all about it in the Lounge or something, but I was dying to know about Jimmy and Star - and after like nothing happened, you did write about it! *phew*

I'm SO GLAD everything seems to have gone SO WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can just imagine Jimmy loving it out in the sun.....

And what pics - interacting with the other cats, out and about - I wasn't crying, I busted a HUGE smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I should be able to post some pics next week. Our internet should be up and running by then... [fingers crossed on that]. we are getting satellite. No other option out at the new place.

We are also in the process of expanding the enclosure. We are going to keep the part we have [10 x 20] and make it rainproof/weatherproof. But we are nearly ready to add on an additional room which is already laid out to continue brightening the cats world. The new room will be 30x30. We have just finished clearing the land for this new room. The cedar posts are already cut. I just need to dig a few post holes to put them in.. The long side will be 50 feet and coming up to meet the old section to complete it being 30x30. The original enclosure will be a huge covered tunnel with beds leading from the house.

Jimmy adores his enclosure. He is out there all day and comes in the house when cold or rainy.... He is a smart kitty man... He has made a 100 percent adjustment....

Way to Jimmy! Can't wait to pics, Jenn. The expansion to the enclosure sounds awesome. Those are some lucky kitties!

Jimmy is finally coming around again like in the old place. The other night while I was in the living room, he sat in there with me under the tv. He was content as long as I did not look at him. But he is coming out in the open again more and more. But it is quicker progress. Since he already trusts us, he just had to get used to the new area.

Today I bought a new bale of hay and put it real thick on the bottom of the enclosure and restuff all their beds outside. Several of them sat nearly hidden in deep hay today. They love it. While I hayed everything, Jimmy went in the house and peered out through the kitty door while I worked.

Jimmy just comes and goes at will. I can't wait to see him with a larger enclosure. We are leaving all the natural ground cover except for leaves. I want to sod grass for them. But as far as vines and all that, we are leaving it so they will feel like it is a natural environment. It will be a couple months before we will have it finished. We finally have the woods cleared where we are expanding. It has some huge rocks in there and all sorts of trees that we are going to have to fence upward and secure the top some sort of way. But they will have real trees to climb, or at least a tree trunk.

I can't wait to see Jimmy climb a tree.......

Progress sounds good!