Free at last...

That's what Mickey Kitty and ShadowBaby have been saying since yesterday morning: Free at last! Free at last....!"

I have decided to let the cats roam around the entire house, instead of keeping them in the TV room and the adjoining bathroom, the breakfast room and the kitchen. Being that our house is 100 years old, there are pocket doors and French doors which enabled me to close off the foyer and stairways, the dining room and living room. Every time we went upstairs, we would open a door quickly and shut it just as quickly, so the cats couldn't follow us into the front rooms and the upstairs rooms. Occasionally, we would hear either or both of the cats meowing in the kitchen. Plus, I knew they were getting bored with having just a few rooms-- ShadowBaby just kept eating (even stealing the dog's food) and he and Mickey started to pick on one another. He's touching me! He touched me first!! Did not! Did too!!

So I decided to give them a test run yesterday. Of course, as soon as all the doors were open, both of them ran from the breakfast room into the dining room. ShadowBaby walked quickly through the front rooms and headed up the stairs, with just a short stop near the front door to look out onto the property. All that land and she's keeping us inside?

Mickey Kitty was more methodical in his initial search... he walked slowly around each room, sniffing into all the corners, looking up and down and all around at everything. When he got to the living room furniture and recognized the sofa and chairs, he rubbed his head up against them. He also stopped by the front door to look out at the view, then ran up the stairs.

Into all the rooms they went, sniffing and peeking into corners, looking under the bed, rubbing their noses on familiar furniture that was in the other house. So this is where you put the bed! And here's my favorite little pink sofa!

Before too long, they were running up and down the stairs (great exercise for ShadowBaby) and following us up and down all day long. They both know to go downstairs into the back of the house for their litter boxes, which are in the bathroom connected to the TV room. I absolutely refuse to put litter boxes in the upstairs bathrooms, or anywhere else. I could never have done this with AngelBoy. He would have taken one look up here and his blue eyes would have stared right into my soul: So.... you have four bathrooms up here.... so that means I need a litter box in each and every one of them. And if you're really nice to me, I might even use them.

Mickey and ShadowBaby quickly resumed their habits from the old house.... jumping on top of the bed to put their heads inbetween the throw pillows, sitting on the rim of the bathtubs to see what's inside, curling up on top of slippers by the side of the bed, sitting by my feet as I type. Mickey also found his favorite wicker chair, which used to be on the screen-porch in the other house. It's now in the foyer by the front door, which gives him a great view of the front property and the pond. Within two hours of their "release," ShadowBaby was trying to get Mickey Kitty out of that chair.

So the experiment worked...... the cats are happier... ShadowBaby is getting much-needed exercise by walking up and down the stairs and he isn't sleeping near his food dish all day long waiting for the Cat Food Fairy. And it's nice for me, too. I didn't like keeping all those doors closed downstairs. Now I can see into the dining room and the front hallway from the kitchen. When we're in the breakfast room, we can see into the dining room. The door of the kitchen stairway is open to the first landing of the main staircase and that stairway is nice and bright now.

When we have company, or when I have the dining room table set up for guests, then the cats will have to go into the TV room and I'll just close that one door to keep them in there. But for now.... the cats are really in the house. And they're probably saying Well, it sure did take her long enough!