Kitty in a box.

Kitty in a tote.  This is the tote we brought her home in.  She loves her tote.

Kitty in a work bench drawer.  We've had to secure that.  A work bench drawer is not safe.  We found her curled up on a hacksaw.  Who would have thought she would have been in a drawer full of things?  

Miss Leia is slowly bringing herself to the family.  It is a slow transition and we've learned that patience is key.  You see, Leia was kitty in a box at a local Petsmart for at least a few months.  That box was probably (generously figured here) 2'x3'x3'.  She was used to being in a small enclosure where people would look at her, but not touch her.  She was used to people pounding on the glass (even though they aren't supposed to) and perhaps used to getting a scratch and left behind.

There was no space to run.

Her bed and food bowl were litter box adjacent.

She has started to fill out a hair, or at least that is what M and I thought this morning.  He mentioned it and I told him that I was thinking that myself.

We discovered that leaving a heaping bowl of food for her is not the best way.  We thought it was.  She is rather skinny, but we discovered that she will eat it and have ill effects of digestion later on.  In short, girlfriend pooped on me.  Oh, she didn't mean to.  Overfeeding isn't a good thing for her.

We're all getting used to each other and we discovered that she is afraid to go to the litter box while we're present.  If she needs to go and we are there, she won't.  The incident that happened was because she needed to go, I didn't know, I scooped her up, snuggled her up in my coat and frankly, I think I accidentally squeezed it out of her kitty person.

Oops.

She did earn herself the nickname of "Who flug poo?"  After the snuggling/pooping incident, we needed to give her half of a bath.  I had her snuggled up in a towel, scratching her kitty mustache and telling her, "Awwww, you smellllled sooooo badddd."  She did.  Her motor was running and though the bath was a bit jarring for her, I think that she knows that we saved her from her own stench.  In fact, I told her that I was certain that she finally gave up because she couldn't stand the smell of her own self.

She has gotten use out of the kitty gym we built for her from scrap pieces parts and only involved a few dollars worth of kitty toys.  M built her a box at the top about the same size of a work bench drawer and we gave it a bubble moon roof.  (A clear popcorn bowl we had.)  We set it up with toys at night and in the morning, the toys are scattered.  She has herself a grand time.

Leia has not come upstairs yet.  It isn't because it isn't available to her.  I think that goes back to kitty-in-a-box syndrome.  She'll get to it.  Just this morning she came to M and let him give her good scratches.  Our basement spans the 1008 square feet of the house.  She has more room down there than she has had in months.  She'll come up in time.  We bring her up, but her feet haven't hit the stairs yet.  Poor thing is scared of everything, but she's working through that.

It's taking time.  A lot of time.  That's okay.  We're used to kitties with issues of kittyhood.  She doesn't bite, so it's all good.