Scary Reflections and Cushion Grenades

Tom is settling in so well with us.  He has been here for just under three weeks, but has made amazing progress, considering how shy and nervous he was when we brought him home.

His current favourite spots are:

Under the Christmas Tree...
 

Hanging around the dining table...

But his very favourite spot is...

On the sofa with his favourite human!

However, he is still exploring and finding out about his new territory.  A couple of days ago Leo, a local cat happened to wander across the new deck, as Tom was taking a stroll in the living room.  Tom spotted him and froze, then lowered himself to "sneak position" and began to stalk the cat outside the window...  Leo didn't notice him though and strolled on his way across the grass and under the hedge. 

Good thing he didn't hang around - Tom would've sorted him out for sure! Well, at any rate, there would've been a face-off either side of the glass doors!

Tom is still learning which things to be concerned about, and which to take for granted.  He now ignores the dishwasher - though at first he was pretty scared of it; but he still thinks that his reflection in the night-time glass doors must be another cat. 

Today, he was walking into the kitchen, when he spotted "the other cat" reflected in the glass panel of the back door at the end of the kitchen.  He stood totally still for a while, obviously considering whether to rush over and take on the intruder... but finally decided to retreat to the Cat Cave and have a snack. 

He still does a double-take if he sees himself reflected in the big glass doors - daytime or at night - but he's gradually getting used to it and sometimes he barely even glances at the reflection, before deciding it's safe to carry on walking across the room (though sometimes he prefers to take the alternate route, along the back of the little sofa, then in between the sofa-corners, to jump onto the larger sofa - thereby avoiding the windows!).

 

Some sounds no longer worry him, though they did to begin with.  I mentioned the dishwasher, but he's also learned to "tune out" stuff like chairs sliding on the floor as we sit down at the table, cupboards opening and closing, the tap being turned on and off in the kitchen, the kettle and coffee maker...  All of these seemed very threatening at first, to a small, new and nervous cat, but he is getting much braver and more used to the house-noises. 

 

Other noises however, he is still learning to cope with - such as the cushion that keeps falling down when someone gets off the sofa.  We sometimes put one cushion above another, to support our back and head; when we stand up, the top cushion tumbles forward with a "flump" sound, which Tom is convinced is a Super-Dangerous Grenade.  It gets him every time... he scuttles off to a safe refuge.  Though he now comes back much more quickly than at first - and he hardly ever hides behind the washing machine nowadays!

We think he's making good progress.  And he's certainly a happy cat!