So it’s been about ten months since I adopted my cat Copper from the animal shelter, and I think it’s a good time to reflect on what’s happened.
Copper spent the first three years of her life living in a cage at the shelter, and I can only imagine what that did to her psyche and her heart and mind.
When I first adopted her and brought her home, she hid under my bed for about a month and a half. I had to bring her all her meals under the bed.
For the first few days she wouldn’t eat anything. I tried wet cat food, I tried dry cat food, I tried the healthy stuff that the shelter recommended, I tried the cheap stuff like Fancy Feast.
Nothing. Nada. She wasn’t eating anything.
So I moved to human food. Tuna. Sardines. Chicken salad. Hamburger. Nope! She wasn’t having it.
Finally I realized that she would eat Greenies, the dental treats that are good for cats’ teeth.
So I fed her Greenies for about two weeks. Then, gradually, I switched to her healthy dry food. It’s Royal Canin Adult Select Protein, in Rabbit and Pea flavor. She likes it, which is all that matters.
She still won’t eat wet food, or human food, but the vet told me it’s fine for her to just eat dry food. Wet food is actually 80% water, so cats that eat wet food don’t drink that much. But dry food is only 10% water, so cats that only eat dry food drink a lot more.
I’ve seen this firsthand. Copper sometimes takes five or six-minute drinks from her water bowl, which is amazing to watch. It’s really cool.
So Copper went from the cat that hid under the bed for a month and a half and took her meals there, to a cat that walks around the apartment carefree, that allows me to pet her whenever I want, and that sleeps mainly in my bedroom on a stack of my laundry that’s on top of a chair. That’s her spot, and she loves it.
She’s come so far. In the beginning, she would make brief forays from under the bed to other parts of the bedroom. Then she started hanging out in the hallway outside the bathroom, on the rug. The she hung out on the rug in front of the TV in the living room.
All the while, she was getting more and more comfortable with her and I sharing the same space, and interacting on a daily basis.
We started to really bond at, oh I would say, maybe six months or so. We would have these really long, drawn out petting sessions where I would stroke her coat and talk to her and tell her how much I loved her.
Then at about eight months, I started petting her on her cheeks, and also on her forehead. My mother, who is an animal lover and has a dog, two cats, and fish, had told me that cats’ cheeks and foreheads are favorite spots for them to be pet.
So I discovered that Copper really, really liked being pet on her forehead. That became my go to spot during our petting sessions. She would purr with delight while I pet her on the forehead, and she would lie on her side and stretch her arms and legs out in relaxed bliss.
Another positive development came when she started warming up to my friend Mitch. He lives across the street, and we went to junior high school together on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Mitch comes over to hang out all the time, and slowly but surely Copper let him get closer and closer to her.
He started by placing Dried Chicken Treats, which she loves, near her. Then I told him to talk to her in a soothing voice, which he did. Finally after about a month of Mitch trying to get close enough to her to pet her, it happened. He pet her for a few seconds, and then she walked away. But it was still an awesome thing to behold.
Because it meant that despite how shy Copper is, she was willing to take a risk and let another person into her life and her world. Which also meant her world was getting bigger, and that was great.
So all in all it’s been an incredible ten months. There are still a few more hurdles to clear, like the fact that she’s hesitant to be on the bed with me, or the couch. She’ll hang out on the floor by my feet and let me pet her there, but she’s reluctant to share elevated furniture with me.
But even that is changing. Now she’ll jump up on the bed and stay for a few minutes. One time recently she even slept in my bed with me for a little while. So things are definitely trending in the right direction on that score.
When I sit back and reflect on how much she’s changed my life, it’s incredible. There is so much more love in my home now, and joy, and happiness, because of Copper. She’s changed my outlook on life, and made me more of a caring and empathetic person.
I love her with all my heart, I really do.
One interesting thing I’ve noticed is that she often sits on the far windowsill in my bedroom and stares out the window at the buildings and especially the sky beyond them.
I think she’s come so far from that scared little cat she was when I adopted her that maybe, just maybe, she wants to go even farther. She wants to see the world, to be outside, to feel the breeze on her cheeks and forehead, and to walk on the grass.
And I want that for her too. Right now I’m working really hard on my blog, Gen X Chronicle, and I’ve just submitted a collection of short stories to a literary agent at a top talent agency. I’ve also just completed a third children’s book about Copper. So I’m really trying to get my writing out there, and I’m hoping I’ll hit it big, or at least hit it medium, with my work.
If that happens, and if we’re able to move out of my current apartment in Queens, I’ve promised Copper that I’ll find us a place with a backyard, or a terrace, or something, so that she can really see the world and experience nature.
Because as much as she’s happy and relaxed and loved in her current home, we all, humans and animals and cats, need to be free sometimes, and to experience nature in all its glory.
So that’s my dream for me and Copper.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to pet her and love her, and we’ll have lots more wacky adventures in my home.
It’s a great situation, it really is.
So thank you Copper.
You’ve made my world better, and more full of love, and you’re the most beautiful, loving and genuine cat I’ve ever met.
Here’s to many more years together.
