Friday, September 28, 2007

Ruby and Skittles, this is your new home

The trip from Castle Hill to Canberra was uneventful and the animals were well behaved. We reached our destination by early afternoon. It was time to introduce our mulies to their new home.

One of our neighbours helped David with the kennel, and so we were able to offload the kennel and move it around the back so that Ruby could be settled into her new home.

Skittles was still in her cage, and after fetching the key we were able to go inside. I placed Skittles in the bathroom (our ensuite is sufficient for the two of us), and I opened the door of the cage, but Skittles remained firmly entrenched inside the cage. When we left to go to the hotel for the night Skittles was still inside the cage. She had not budged. I left her with some of her favourite meat as well as her favourite dry food. I still had her special box for toilet needs, and she is such a good cat that she immediately began to use the tray that was provided.

When we arrived the following morning I went to check on Skittles. There she was, with her head right up against the wall in a spot that was between the bathroom cabinet and the door. She looked so cute, yet I could see that she was so frightened. By Friday morning Skittles had emerged from the bathroom. At first it was a few small steps, then she would run back into the room where she felt so much comfort. By Saturday, though, she was exploring several rooms, had taken herself downstairs and found herself a hiding place. Today, she took the first step towards her adventures in her new home, and she went outside for the first time. She explored a part of the yard, and as soon as I headed for the door, she was ready to shoot past me and to enter into her safe area.  She has continued her exploring of the house, but I must admit that I am not sure that I want her walking over my bed (and getting caught by David).

Ruby was a little bit unsettled, and she was more than a little bit unfriendly towards the removalists. However, we kept her on the chain whilst our boxes and goods were being delivered. She is now a lot more settled. Her appetite has returned and I do think she is miffed because I have not been giving her the dry food. The morning routine is also back and she knows that she must say "woof" in a certain way (it is doggie for please and thank you) or she cannot have her treats. Ruby is very protective of her new territory and she has not as yet accepted Matthew our new neighbour but given time she will settle down.

There is no swimming pool here for the mulies so they no longer have their large drinking bowl. Ruby has her bucket of water, and Skittles has her bowl of water. I am hoping that they will not miss their big water supply. At least I will be able to knit without my thread ending up getting wet!!

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