We're back to a two cats house - Maya and Sabra!
I posted (https://www.democraticunderground.com/116150042) about adopting Lucas and Maya at the beginning of September. WEll, exactly a week after adopting Lucas, he somehow got out of the house. Unfortunately, the next day began five days of work being done around the house and on the farm. My husband and I walked all over the eight acres closest to the house, no sign of Lucas - but he's a brown tabby and under a bush would be invisible. He never learned to come to us calling him.
I've checked the local animal shelter site, put in a lost cat notification, put the word around, but nothing.
I was sort of in denial that we had lost him, especially since the day we realized he was gone, Maya hid for twelve hours. I was devastated thinking that if we lost two cats in one day, I could never get another cat. It turns out that the barn cat had disappeared from the barn last year, but he turned up at someone's house and is now an indoor cat. I can only hope Lucas finds a new home - I did register his microchip so if he is found, I will be notified.
Maya has gotten very friendly and comes when I call her - she loves canned food so I would call her and give her a little treat. Now when I call her, she may not come to me, but she will run to her food dish, LOL.
But I really wanted two cats on the theory they would keep each other company. Maya and Lucas had begun to interact so it was sad to see Maya left alone. The night after he got out, she wandered around the house calling. So I decided it was time to get another kitty.
I had gone back to checking the Humane Society web site for cats and fell in love with a black kitty they named Vera Bradley. Last Monday I went in and adopted her - they were thrilled. It turns out that Vera had been adopted, then dumped on their doorstep with no explanation. Vera was traumatized by that treatment and spent all her time at the cat cafe hiding under a love seat. Maya had been shy, but she would just walk away from people. Vera never let people see her!
I had intended to put Vera in the master bedroom and let Maya still have the run of the rest of the house, but unexpectedly the crew to rebuild the porch showed up Tuesday morning. Both cats spent all this week in the bedroom. Nights were rough - they would growl at each other and one kept pawing at the window blinds, maybe to get the view. Not sure which was which. Wednesday night when I went to the bathroom, Vera was in there and when I closed the door she freaked out about being trapped in there with a stranger. I talked to her, but she was very upset so as soon as I could I let her back into the bedroom. I saw her for the second time yesterday morning when I took food in - she was at the bedroom door and as soon as she saw me, she disappeared back under the bed.
Today all the work inside the house is done for a few days, so I opened up the bedroom door. Maya is thrilled - she'd been giving the cold shoulder for locking her up with a strange kitty, but once she had free roaming she came over to let me pet her and keeps dashing from one end of the house to the other. For a tiny eight pound cat she makes a lot of noise when she runs!
Vera is renamed - she is now Sabra (named for my fourth great grandmother) she's still hiding under the bed but when I go to sleep I will leave a door open and hope she will start exploring. Even if she stays really shy, she will have a home. We will just have to figure out how to get Sabra to the vet for her shots and other treatments that are now overdue. I have a plan but will give her another week or two to let her settle in before I try it.
I'm still hoping Lucas will show up but don't have much hope for that. If he does, he will have a home and we will be a three cat household.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I adopted a cat back in May who was 17 years old and had health issues. The vet at the shelter was brutally honest with me. "She might live two months, she might live two years" I was told. Not a problem.
Sadly, she was with me a bit over three weeks. But I am so glad I had her for those three weeks.
In July I adopted another cat. She was a stray, so the shelter didn't know a lot about her and pegged her age at four years. I'm pretty sure she originally lived in a house with dogs, as she has a lot of dog-like behaviors. My neighbor across the street was willing to bring her dogs over to visit (she also has a cat, so her dogs are used to cats) and it was very clear that my cat wanted to hang out with a dog. I've given some thought to re-homing her, as I am really not the right human for her, but there's no rush at all.
What's somewhat surprised me is how we are still adjusting to each other, even after a couple of months. The earlier cat looked around my small place and was immediately at home. That's probably because she was owned by an older woman (as I am) and was surrendered because her first human could no longer care for her. Again, I'm so glad that cat was in my life even for so short a time.
This current cat, name Tatiana, is VERY lively. I've learned to give her a lot of activity. Fortunately she loves chasing the red laser light. I do wish she were more of a lap cat, but she's not all that crazy about being touched in the first place. I may start a conversation with the people at the shelter about re-homing her, but I won't give her up if they won't guarantee they'll place here in a home with dogs. She does not deserve to be jerked around.
Oh, and how I hope Lucas shows back up. 
