Expect the unexpected

Sometimes things come our way that we just weren’t prepared for. I invite you to now sit back, maybe grab a drink, and enjoy the story of Magnus.

A couple weeks ago, someone that I follow on Twitter retweeted a picture of a 6 month old kitten that was up for adoption. All of her sisters had been adopted, but she was left behind. She was super cute so I applied! After a few days I assumed I wouldn’t hear back (since these things tend to happen quickly) so I put it out of my mind. Then last week I received an email telling me that they had prospective adopters for her, but that they’d be in touch if anything came up. On Saturday morning, I received another email telling me that they just got a few kittens in that were ready for adoption. I checked the website, saw this picture, and my heart instantly melted…

Just look at that face!!

I replied as quickly as I could because I just knew this little guy needed to be a part of my family. Shortly afterwards I received a call, had a short phone interview where we talked about Magnus (named Marcus by the shelter), and talked about Mojo a little bit. Then she asked, “so when can you come by and see him?” New kitten here I come! But first… I had to get to him and he wasn’t a close as I was hoping. You see, this shelter has a location in Manhattan but it’s under renovation right now and they are only processing adoptions out of one location… in Wantagh on Long Island! Oof!

I told them I’d make it work and would figure out a way to get down there. So Sunday morning around 11:30 I left my apartment, took the subway to Penn Station, then hopped on the LIRR for the first time ever and headed out to Long Island. 2 hours later, I made it and finally got to meet Magnus.

I could tell he was scared right off the bat. He was hissing if you reached for him, but once I had him in my arms, he chilled out. So it wasn’t that he didn’t want to be held, but he had some trust issues. I had faith that I could help him out, and he was just so cute, that there was no way I could say no to bringing him home.

Once I got him home, however, things were not looking good. He was still very scared and kept retreating away from me. Everything I had read online about new kittens (especially when you have a cat already) is to give them their own space to get comfortable before doing anything else. So I set up a little suite for him in the bathroom, left some food and water, and kept checking on him. The problem was, every time I went in there, he would hide behind the toilet and hiss at me if I got too close. I let him spend the night in there hoping that by morning he’d feel a little better… but there was no improvement.

Ok, time for plan B…

I grab a soft-sided carrier, put a blanket inside that already had his scent on it, and took him out to the living room. I put a bowl of food in there to try and entice him to eat, and did my best to just get him used to my voice and touch. After a few minutes, I put some food on my finger… and he licked it off! Once he realized that “oh this is food!” he ate from the bowl and allowed me to pet him while he ate. This was huge!

After a little while I was noticing that any time I was out of sight, even for a second, he would start retreating again. Even if I just ran to the kitchen for a second (to, say, wash cat food off of my hands), he would get nervous. Well, we couldn’t go back to the bathroom at that point, then! So I took him, in the carrier, up onto the couch with me. This way he could see me, I could reach in and pet him, and he could kind of look around and check stuff out. I figured this would be a long process, but once he started getting comfortable and relaxed a bit I hoped that maybe it wouldn’t be that long after all.

Eventually he fell asleep and not only did he have kitty dreams (melt!), but he started to roll over and expose his belly to him while sleeping. For anyone that doesn’t know, a cat showing you their belly is the ultimate sign of trust. If they do it while they’re sleeping (aka when they’re most vulnerable), that is huge. He was starting to trust me and I knew that, given time, things would be ok.

In the short time that we’ve tried this new tactic I’ve learned that he just needs to know he’s taken care of. He has trust issues and needs someone to just say, “don’t worry, I got you.” Once he realized I wasn’t leaving him alone and that he could trust me, that’s when he started to relax. The more time I spend with him all I realize is that… he’s the kitten version of me!

We all need to know that we’re taken care of and loved, some of us just need it more than others. For the last few weeks (since the book was released), I’ve been thriving on the admiration I’ve received from people and felt horrible when I didn’t get it. I wanted people to say, “You did a good job. I’m proud of you!” How different am I from this little kitten who just needs to know that he’s a good kitten? At the end of the day, we’re the same.

As the day wore on, he got more and more comfortable. By dinner time, I was able to feed him and Mojo on opposite sides of the door to get them used to each other. Well, the minute Magnus saw Mojo he instantly wanted to play. It was like, “Oooo, there’s another me! He will show me how to cat.” It was all over after that. This shy little kitten who wouldn’t come out from behind the toilet was playing and exploring… and attacking his big brother’s tail. I couldn’t believe it!

How’s Mojo, you ask? He’s… tolerant. Hissing as a warning if Magnus gets too close, but allowing him to explore. Magnus keeps looking to Mojo for cues on how to act and just wants to play with him. Every minute that I watch them my heart melts.

Magnus still has some trust issues when it comes to me, but the more he associates me with food and watches me interact with Mojo, I know that will go away. Everything is still so new for him so sudden movements or loud noises are scary. New environments can scare anyone, right? Now imagine you’re a 5oz kitten!

We’ve had a very busy couple of days here, but I think this little family is gonna be just fine.

- Danielle