Maisie’s side hustle

Last weekend (the one before the one just past), when I tried to round Maisie up to take her to what I want to soon be her new home, she refused to come when I called her. Eventually, I gave up, filled up her bowl and left without here. Went back Saturday, found her curled up on one of the deck chairs, scooped her up and took her over.

Now, okay, I get it. This is a cat who is used to having her own house, her own person and the run of a forest just the other side of the cat flap. In future home she has no access to the outdoors, other than coming out on to the bedroom balcony with me when I’m hanging washing on the line. Our first visits she was confined to the bedroom and the ensuite bathroom with a dog barking and whining on the other side of the door. Things improved slightly (or at least her territory expanded) when access was granted through the walk-in closet to the storage room on the other side. The downside of said storage room is the multitude of hiding places. She’d completely disappeared the visit before, so last weekend (the one before the one just past), we shut the closet door Monday night.

I guess she wasn’t happy about that, because when I woke up the next morning it was to the discovery that she’d peed on the bed. Not good. Clearly, she wasn’t happy (and not just about the closet) and who can blame her? Still, we need to figure something out.

My friend Jean suggested trying Feliway Optimum.

This plug-in pheromone difffuser is supposed to “help cats with more signs of stress, in more situations, and calm cats better than ever”. Well, it couldn’t hurt, could it?

Feliway is duly purchased at the pet store in town.

Check out the box. Exactly when did Maisie sneak off to do a bit of modelling?

In addition to the diffuser, I thought perhaps we should get her a bed that we could leave in the storage room that would (a) make her feel more comfortable/at home and (b) less likely to hide in nooks and crannies.

Tried it out at my place.

Tried it out at my place. Obviously, yes, she like the bed. Hardly surprising when you look at the label that came with it.

Oh, my goodness, seems to be more than “a bit” of modelling. When did this start and why am I not seeing any of the income from this side hustle of hers? I feed her, pat her, cuddle her, clean out her litter box and keep her warm in the winter. Surely I’m entitled to some piece of the action?

It is interesting that the pet products industry has discovered the Lynx Point Siamese breed and showing it so much favour. Let’s just hope the products in question work.

Did they? Hmm. Hard to say, as Maisie played so hard to get this weekend just past that I never got her over there. Just kept coming back to top up her food bowl. I would have also given her lots of pats – if she’d come anywhere near me, but no. She just appeared briefly near the deck, then ran off into the woods. Nah, nah, you can’t catch me. No, Maisie, I can’t.

We really are going to have to find a way of working this out.