Frik and Maddie

It's been interesting to watch my cats adjust to their new lives. Maddie just moved right in, started a new routine, and pretty much followed the instructions I've been trying to get through to them via telepathy - "Stay With Mama!" Frik, the sensitive one, has had a harder time. He spent the first week in the apartment hiding in the lining of the box spring under the bed. Too many odd smells - that Maddie didn't mind smelling - for him. But after several weeks of our smells - Maddie's probably - on the furniture and carpets, he's come out of the closet, so to speak. They both revived their habit of mooching some milk in the morning to lick off the countertop - old habits are reassuring, I guess. And we're even back to playing 'string' in the morning.

We are on the third floor in a very wooded area so our windows look out right into the trees - and there are birds and squirrels all over the place. But I can't get the cats to look. Maddie will look down at the parking lot in the front, but not at the trees in the back. Frik abhors nature - won't even sit at the window. Too bad. They're missing quite a show.

The apartment comes with a cleaning service - which I tried to get out of but can't. (I find it embarrassing, for one thing, but am afraid that the cats will get out while they are here for another.) And yes, when they showed up last week Frik almost had a heart attack. Maddie got stuck under the bed, which was a real problem because they started by replacing the sheets. But Frik headed for the kitchen and managed to squeeze himself above the upper cabinets just under the ceiling, where he peered out with wide eyes looking straight into mine. Maddie soon came shooting out from under the bed and fled into my lap, until I showed her where Frik was, and then she joined him. 'Housekeeping' comes again tomorrow - I am hoping they have the drill down and will go to their 'safe place' right away!

I bet they'd feel better with their own 'stuff.' I know I would!