Time for a new post about our little Penelope. We've had her for over two weeks now.
A lot has happened and she has learned so much.
She started sneezing a lot during her first week here.
That meant she got to take her first trip to the vet. She was a brave girl...
It turned out to be a feline cold...very common for cats that come from shelters.
No problem though. Her lungs were clear and she didn't seem to have developed any infections.
We took her home with a tube of L-Lysine gel to put on her food to help her immune system.
The vet trip was only the beginning of her travels that day. Later that afternoon, she got to go on her first camping trip! Other than screaming at ear-piercing levels on the way there and back home (sure hope that improves over time!), she did great. She really liked being in the close quarters of the RV where she could see us and know where we were just about all the time. She enjoyed the sun streaming through the windows. She took lots of naps and did a lot of snuggling.
She tried to stay up late but just couldn't keep her eyes open.
She fell asleep one evening as she sat on hubby's lap...
She even snuck in a few naps on Salsa's bed!
The close quarters helped Penelope and Salsa get to know one another and start to become friends.
We figured that, because it's Salsa's bed, it was only fair to share.
So, we told Salsa it was okay to lay on the bed too.
They didn't lay there very long after that but it shows how far they've come in a short time.
When we took Penelope to the vet, she still only weighed 2 3/4 pounds. She hadn't gained anything in the first week. She wasn't eating much...probably because she wasn't feeling well.
But, a week of rest did her good. She's eating like crazy now and feeling great.
So, I thought it was time to weigh her again.
She's checking the scale to make sure the setting is right...
And, checking it again while she was on it to see what she weighs.
Wow! She has gained about half a pound.
She knows where her litter pan is and has been a very good girl with using it.
As far as we know, she hasn't had any accidents. She gets to roam the entire house, even at night. She's still learning about sleeping through the night though. She wakes up every night around two or three a.m. and starts walking on us, purring loudly, and licking our faces. After a while, we usually get her settled back down and she sleeps until six or seven.
She learned a VERY SCARY lesson... We have a loft above our living room with a half wall.
We tried to keep her downstairs as long as we could but she eventually snuck around the barriers.
I was sitting on the sofa in the living room below when I heard her bell jingling in the loft. Next thing I knew...I saw her little body come flying over the wall with her legs flailing. She tried to jump up and onto the wall but jumped a little too high and far. Hubby raced over to stand below and try to catch her. Luckily, I have a quilt draped over the wall and it saved her life as she was able to grab onto it with her claws. As she hung on the side, I tried to calmly and quickly get to the loft to rescue her. But, as I reached the top of the stairs she had already gotten back onto the top of the wall and walked over to meet me. WHEW! Since then, she still goes up there. She even seems to think it's funny to race toward it and leap onto it when I'm looking...like she knows how it gets me. Crazy girl! And, she thinks it's a nice place to hang out. I'm just glad she knows about it now and should, hopefully, be okay with it. She is a lot more sure footed now than when we brought her home. And, cats are usually pretty skilled at things like this. Fingers crossed!