#captain toebeans t mcgillicuddy wildboi i
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On Halloween 2019, I trapped an adult feral cat. I had caught her remaining kitten a week prior.
We named her Spriggan ("you named a black cat after something invisible that knocks shit off of shelves in the night?" Yes. Yes, I did) and after getting her fixed and vaxxed and dewormed (twice because she apparently had industrial strength parasites including two types not usually found outside HORSES), we let her loose in our basement to be our very skittish semi-consenting roommate. It took six months before she let herself be seen. Another six months before she would hang out in a room with non-cats. Maybe six months after that she would (sometimes) sniff an extended finger if we moved very slowly and very carefully. And sometimes even if we were slow and careful we'd come away bloody anyway.
And that was how things have been since. It's been about a year since she's given me stripes on my hand, but a quiet finger-sniff has been the height of our interaction for three years.
Then a few weeks ago, I noticed that Spriggs was behaving a little... tsundere. Getting closer, sleeping on my pillow, but also being extra jumpy and hissy. I thought maybe she was trying to nerve herself to interact, but wasn't there yet.
Today, she was sleeping on the loveseat. I don't even know why, but I decided to slowly sit down next to her.
And she stayed. I even shifted a couple times to get more comfortable. She woke up and watched me every time I moved, but didn't so much as flinch and went right back to sleep once I settled. Asleep with her eyes closed! We sat like that for an hour and a half, when she got hungry and wandered over to the food dish.
And... just now, I did it AGAIN. But this time she was cuddled with her not-so-smol son, Captain Toebeans. So she was much closer to the middle of the loveseat. But she still let me sit down, a mere 8 inches away!
This is huge. It's progress. I'm honestly sitting here trying not to cry over how much she has learned to trust me.
One day I will figure out a way to record the happy grunts she makes in lieu of purring, for for now have some pics. One from this morning (plus Alisaie on the floor), and the one I just took (with bonus cuddly Cap).
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I DID AN OOPSIE
Okay, so context is important here.
This is Spriggan.
This is Spriggan’s not-so-smol son, Captain Toebeans T. McGillicuddy Wildboi I.
Yes, their names are immaculate. Yes, Cap has thumbs. Also yes, if you look into one ear, you can see clear through to the other side.
Spriggan was a roughly one-year-old adult feral cat when we trapped her in our backyard on Halloween night, 2019. We’d caught Cap about a week prior, and he was about 16 weeks old.
Cap assimilated pretty well for a kitten who was too old to be adoptable. He loves my husband, his mother, and Alisaie beyond life. He likes me okay. He’s terrified of my father-in-law. Very few other humans have ever seen him.
Alisaie isn’t relevant to this story, but here she is anyway. You know that meme that was going around that was like “which cat is the bby and which is the criminal”? Yeah, we got one who can do both.
So, socializing an adult feral cat is hard. I’m not going to go into it here, because I have this handy link where I did go into it. It includes more pictures, and also the most important video in human history.
https://www.tumblr.com/droewyn/710812951143219200/you-guys-you-guys-you-guys-you-guys-you-guys-my
The big takeaway that you need to know is that while Spriggan is part of the family, and likes being part of the family as far as we can tell, she Cannot Be Petted. Also, that our cats look Very Similar In The Dark, particularly Cap and Spriggs. He’s enormous but she’s very floofy, and they both can look solid black if they’re curled up or viewed from the wrong angle.
Here’s the oopsie.
It’s 1AM. I need to use the bathroom. I must pass through the living room to get to the bathroom, and Cap is on the loveseat. I pet him and rub his ears.
I go to the bathroom. I’m in there for like two minutes, max.
I come back out, and reach down to pet Cap again.
IT IS NOT CAPTAIN.
The good news is, I still have all my fingers and all my blood. Spriggan didn’t even hiss; she just teleported across the room and GLARED at me.
She’s still glaring at me today. I am In Trouble.
But this time last year she would have shredded my hand so yay progress.
The Inky Kitty Committee having a rare meeting, feat. the baby looking spooky af.
#original content#cats#spriggan#captain toebeans t mcgillicuddy wildboi i#alisaie#personal stuff#feeling cute might blaze this later
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"Santa's come down the chimney again!"
"...Please don't name the rodent."
So our fireplace has squirrels. And the squirrels have figured out that if they jump up and down on the flue, it will open. And they keep doing it, presumably because it's warmer down here. The earliest that we can get someone out to replace our obviously missing chimney cap is Wednesday, so right now we have hand weights blocking the doors.
Because one instance of finding a little guy in our kitchen is enough.
This does mean that we periodically look over at the fireplace and see a squirrel puttering around in the ashes, but they can't get in the house (and the flue won't stay closed) so I guess we just have a in-wall squirrel terrarium for the next couple days.
Captain Toebeans and Alisaie are very excited.
I can't get a picture because Santa runs back up the chimney anytime someone approaches the glass, so here is one of Santa's many cousins, found on the internet:
He is very cute, but he is an outside boi and needs to stay outside.
Also, I don't want to find half of him in a closet. Cap and Alisaie are spoiled housepets, but Spriggan spent the first year of her life living wild, and I assume that she knows seventeen ways to murder a squirrel.
Anyway, that's what's going on with me this week.
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Cats...
Captain Toebeans T. McGillicuddy Wildboi I: I AM JUST A POOR LITTLE ORPHAN BOY WHO HAS NEVER KNOWN LOVE NOR THE COMFORT OF FOOD IN ALL OF MY SAD LITTLE ORPHAN LIFE
Spriggan, Cap’s literal mother, who is watching him scream from six feet away: Eat him, not me. I’m serious, you can eat him.
Alisaie: NOW MAY I EAT AN PLASTIQUE?
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Just some cats
Spriggan:
Captain Toebeans T. McGillicuddy Wildboi I (with bonus llama)
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