Well, it’s been a couple of days, but The Outsider is adjusting rather well to being an inside cat.

Our other inside cats are also adjusting, if not as quickly!

The Outsider has found a spot somewhere in the living room to disappear – the first time, she was gone for so long, we ended up doing a search for her. There is an opening on the side of one step near the washing machine that she is small enough to fit into. It is above the root cellar, which we don’t use right now (along with the basements, in general), so the girls even went down there to look for her, just in case. We never found her. When she finally came out all on her own, all we could tell was that it was from the living room, somewhere. I think we’ve narrowed it down, in an area that had already been checked, but even with a flash light, she couldn’t be seen.

She did make a couple of messes. A puddle in front of the couch, before we had a chance to catch her in the act. With the ground frozen, the outside cats don’t bother trying to find somewhere to dig and bury, so they’ve taken to taking a dump pretty much anywhere the snow isn’t very deep – like the shoveled sidewalks – so The Outsider started taking a dump in the hall. One of my daughters grabbed her and dashed to the litter box, but it was too late.

Our little box has a cover on it, with a filter built into the top. She was not comfortable going into it. I remembered that there was a litter pan in the basement, so we’ve set that up in the corner opposite the other litter box. It’s a lot more shallow, so we’re going to have more sweeping to do, but she did actually use it. So that’s a good start.

As for Mama and DahBoy, they are no longer constantly hissing and growling at her. Mama has even gone so far as to sniff at The Outsider. She’ll still hiss if it’s the other way around, and The Outsider goes to her. DahBoy mostly just keeps his distance and watches her. He’ll growl if she comes too close, but that’s it.

Meanwhile, my younger daughter has taken on the task of trying to brush out that fur. We don’t have the right brushes for long haired cats, but she has been able to make do. The mats aren’t completely brushed out yet, but we did get to her before they could get bad.

As I write this, she has been entertaining us, playing enthusiastically with a toy mouse, while DahBoy watched her from a chair.

One of the things we’ve noticed, is that she has a hard time with carpet! She sort of grasps the floor with her toes when she walks, and on carpet, her claws get caught a bit, so every step she takes, we hear a tearing sound as she dislodged her claws.

As for the outside cats…

Here we have all the remaining original siblings! Jim, Bob, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Butterscotch’s litter, and Doom Guy from Beep Beep’s litter. There is still no sign of Corvo, and after all this time, I don’t expect him to show up.

I think Doom Guy misses The Outsider. He doesn’t seem quite as active and energetic when I come out to feed them. Or it could just be me, reading into his actions, something that isn’t there. I do get the sense that, even though things have warmed up, the cats are getting real tired of the cold and snow!

It’s been another cold morning today, but we are supposed to warm up throughout the day, then stay a bit warmer for the next while. My primary goal today is to work on the snow blower and, hopefully, start with clearing the driveway. I have to drive my husband into town for some blood work on Friday, so I have a couple of days to work on it.

I don’t plan to head outside again until it warms up a bit more, though!

The Re-Farmer