Moving Mayhem – Fuzzy edition

OK, the image has NOTHING to do with the post, but it was one of those things that I just HADDA share.

Needless to say, the move was not without its bumps and snarls, and I still haven’t unearthed some of my stuff.  The big stuff came over a week ago Tuesday, so for a little better than a week now, I’ve been sleeping, showering, etc. at the new house.

Huzzah!  for owning (well, with the help of the bank!) the roof you sleep under!

First – the cats.  Mariko took the move OK.  She waltzed into her carry case like the royal queen she is, settled, and waited.  Spook, on the other hand, fought me tooth & nail.

The scars are healing nicely, BTW…

The car ride, brief as it was (it helps to be only moving a couple blocks down the way), was very vocal.  Neither cat enjoyed feeling the movement, and let me know in no uncertain terms EXACTLY how they felt about this atrocious treatment of their furhoods.

I walked both cat carriers down to the basement.  This is where we’re keeping that all-important litter box, and was a space in the house I could let the cats start to explore while all the moving was going on over their heads.  We decided to put nothing in the basement at this point, because we want to take out the old paneling and carpeting, and Chainmaille Central needs a VERY thorough cleaning.

So thorough, I’ve set up a shelf in the bedroom next to my desk and computer to maille in the meantime.   

Mariko gingerly walked out of her carrier, sniffing like a mad thing and talking up a storm.

Spook bolted out of his, then froze, every hair on end.

Mariko explored the basement, not able to keep still.

Spook dove behind the dryer and made himself as small as a 20 pound cat can make himself.

I stayed with both until the movers arrived, then left them locked in the basement.

Thumps, bangs, footsteps, weird noises – yea, I’m certain the cats were happy for the relative boringness of the basement at this point with all the racket going on upstairs.

Once the movers left, I opened the door to the basement.

Mariko was out and exploring this new level within minutes, pretty much mirroring her behavior in the basement – all over the place, very vocal, very excited.

Spook had yet to leave his ‘safe space’ behind the dryer.

In the late afternoon, I ended up pulling the counter away from the dryer so I could squeeze myself back there and dig him out.  I very carefully introduced him to the rest of the house, then let him decide for himself if he’d go back to his safe space.

He found another – under the couch in the living room, and was content to observe the goings-on from this secluded space.  He finally came out for lap time once we stuck a DVD in the player and were still for the evening.

It took both of them a good day+ to fully accept they had a new space to explore and live in.

Kitties aren’t built for moving around this Human world.