Gus, get off the table!

Half the time these days, when we address Gus it isn't to coo him to come to us, it's scolding him for being too bold! He gets up on the countertops in the kitchen, he gets on the table to check out what we're eating for dinner... Gus is not the shy little dude he once was!



He almost never hides anymore, although if you go in the bedroom, he'll follow you in there and hide under the bed until you leave again. I really think that once he's in his forever home, Gus will really become a normal cat. At first I didn't think he'd ever really warm up enough, that he would always be skittish, but now I really think that he just wants to be one of the gang, he just wants to fit in. I still think Gus does best when he has one or more other kitties he can follow around. He does really well in our multi-cat household, I think as far as he's concerned: THE MORE THE MERRIER!

He still loves wet food and treats, and he is still very food-motivated. Weirdly, he really prefers the chopped-up kind of canned food (not the kind in gravy, but the loaf type), stirred up really well into an equal amount of water, so he can "drink" it. He leaves a lot of the chunks, for which the dog is grateful. He still doesn't love the dog, but he is learning to ignore him.

More improvement

Gus hardly ever hisses or growls or grumbles at us anymore. He has come such a long way. He still usually won't let you pet him out in the open, unless he thinks there's a can of wet food in it for him at the end of it. If it's breakfast time, and he's sleepy and ready for wet food, he might even let you pick him up and set him in your lap. He won't necessarily LIKE it, but he tolerates it. He's getting better all the time.

Here are some photos. The first one, I am under the brown blanket, Gus got up on the sofa to cuddle the other kitties, despite the fact that he was actually LAYING on my lap. I guess he will make sacrifices when it is chilly.

16: Just one of the gang!

As you can see, Gus has really changed his attitude about indoor living:

15: Do what, now?

This is a photo of something I never thought would happen: Gus is sleeping NEXT TO ME. I did not put him there. He got up there of his own free will.



Woah.

Post 14: Snacks!

Gus LOVES snacks! He will even let you pet him, out in the open, if he thinks there might be a snack in the deal somewhere for him.

Here is Gus having a snack with two of our other kitties. He gets so excited about snacks that he starts purring and squinting his eyes and rubbing up against the other kitties, the cupboards and even my legs!

13th post, black cat?

Gus has made such remarkable improvements from when he came to live with us. He rubs against legs now! He also likes to rub his head against the other kitties. He really is one of the gang. I absolutely think he needs to live with other friendly, well-adjusted kitty cats. He is a very social little dude.

Gus is definitely on a schedule. Every morning the three wet-food eating kitties get a half a can of wet food in a half cup of warm water, and every evening before we go to bed they get the other half. They all share the half can, and they almost never finish it, Rufus has to help out. :) So every morning, Gus is up with the other cats, walking around our feet, rubbing against everything in sight, hoping breakfast is soon! Every evening he comes into the living room and watches TV for a little bit (HE LOVES TV! He stands with his feet on the bottom of the screen, occasionally chasing something on TV with his paw. He really likes video games the best.) and then he wanders around the house, trilling for dinner. "Dinnertime! Dinnertime! Somebody open a can of cat food for me, please!"

He is a really funny little dude. He is really coming out of his shell. He will still sometimes shy away from you, but about half the time now, he will let you pet him if he is standing out in the open. If you move too fast, he will run away. Or if the dog is nearby---He still has a lot of fear of Rufus, even though, let's face it, Rufus probably can't even see him. (Rufus is 15 years old, with pretty bad cataracts.)

I am really excited that some day Gus will find a forever home with somebody who thinks he's as funny and sweet as we do. He comes off as an onery old cuss, but underneath that tough exterior is a sweet lap cat just waiting to come out!

12.5

Gus, eating treats in his cubbyhole:


"Man, these treats are whisker-lickin' good!"

12: Happy New Year!

Gus has really settled in. He's stopped hiding under furniture, and spends most of his day sleeping in the cubbyhole in the kitty condo. I put a blanket in there with some catnip for him, and most of the time if you're looking for Gus, all you'll see are his little feet sticking out of the cubbyhole.

He is such a talkative little guy! I had no idea! He wanders around the house trilling and talking and being funny. If you "talk" back to him by trilling in response, he looks at you for a second like, "Wait, you don't speak Cat!"

He is so food-responsive that he now lets us pet him if we are standing up, out in the open, because he is hoping for treats.

I've come to realize that Gus definitely needs to live in a home with other kitties: the more the merrier, actually. He finds a lot of courage in being "one of the gang" and he watches them to see how they react to things. It's almost like he realizes that, "Oh, if the other cats aren't afraid of this, I don't need to be either." I think he should either be adopted with another super-friendly cat (Like John-Boy, Aidan, Jay or Checkers from the Jesse James gang) or into a family with settled, friendly cats. He needs cues on how to be a pet. He's still working on it. I do think that he will probably always be a little "fussy" about stuff. I doubt he will ever enjoy being picked up.

Anyway, I don't have a new photo of Gus today, so here's a photo of Aiden (in front) and John Boy (behind). They are some of my favorite cats at the RAL shelter, and they have recently moved to the Big Cat room, which they love. These are some of the friendliest cats I've ever had the pleasure to know. I hope they get adopted soon!



Happy New Year!