Let that inner light grow bright.

I’m sorry, I know it’s been a while but things round here have been a bit busy. We’re still trying to find our new normal as our sisfur Mona Lisa tries to find her place in our furramily. It’s not been easy and we’ve had our ups and downs but we’re getting there slowly. Mummy and daddy know that me, Millie and Angelin aren’t fighters, we’re just chilled out girls who when something happens we just run away or in my case duck and cover as mummy describes it, for us it’s our flight instinct that’s strongest. Perhaps because as a blindie or tripaws running isn’t always the best option coz your at a disadvantage, even my super blindie senses go a bit awry if I’m in a panic mode and that means you doink into things, get your escape angles wrong or miss where the escape route is. Thats where the blindie duck and cover strategy comes in, that and meow really loudly, I mean scream meow to just scare away whatever is scaring you, that’s my tactic. Angelin however is almost entirely silent, I think I could count on one paw the number of times I’ve heard her really meow, but she was rescued very young so maybe she never had to learn my tactic. Fighting for us is just not something we do, except in play when we all know the rules.

Mona Lisa on the other paw, when she gets scared her first instinct is to fight rather than flight and she’s scared of so many things but as it seems it’s us kitties that she’s most scared of. My duck and cover and scream the house down seems to have worked for me but Millie and Angelin are still working things out with her. Mummy and daddy say we must be very patient as he fears are deep within her and it’ll take time to tease them out and change how she feels, show her that we’re nothing to be scared of, we’re just little rescue kitties just like she is. Mummy and daddy told us that whilst us three went through some hardship on the streets what Mona Lisa went through is just something that doesn’t bear thinking about, that will take time to heal and learn to trust us.

Poor Angelin has taken the brunt of Mona Lisa’s fear attacks and has had a cut tongue and a cut tail too and Millie keeps getting chased and jumped on but don’t worry they’re both fine now although they are both quite scared of Mona Lisa (especially Angelin). So Mummy and daddy have decided to take a few steps back with the introduction process, before we were all free roaming together after Mona Lisa was let out of her room but whilst I’m confident enough to roam the whole house with Mona Lisa about, Millie and Angelin aren’t ready for that yet. So whilst we’re supervised during the day when we’re all together at night we’re separated, Mona Lisa goes to bed with mummy and daddy and we stay together in our side. I really miss taking mummy to bed and snuggling up with her, along with our walkies it was our time together and I love keeping her company and being there when she woke up but I know Mona Lisa needs this time with mummy and daddy more than I do at the moment. She needs to feel safe, build up trust and have some quiet time.

As well as having our own spaces at night whilst Mona Lisa is napping during the day we get to swap sides and spend some time in the other side of the house to explore and make sure our scent is getting everywhere. Since Mona Lisa arrived she thinks everything is hers, they’re her litter trays, her floor, her sofa, her bed and we’re here to show her that’s not the way it is here, we all share everything and we’re all allowed everywhere, bit by bit she’s gradually learning. She no longer charges to ‘defend’ the litter tray when she hears one of us in there which is a pawstep in the right direction as we all need to be able too 💩 in peace and there’s plenty of litter trays to go around!

Whatever is in that little head of hers is in there very deep, it’s probably been ingrained into her for as long as she can remember. I remeber when I was first rescued and came to my furrever home it took me ages to be able to turn my ears off, they were on constant alert, always listening for that scary sound, that sound of danger that sound that meant I had to move quickly or duck and cover. It takes time to get over these things.

It’s not all doom and gloom though and we know there’s a sweet little kitty waiting to get out. Mona Lisa and I have our moments, she’s learning to play a little bit and I’m trying to make her understand that playing isn’t the same as charging at something, playing is a fine balance and it takes time and respect to learn the play boundaries. As the queen of our purrfectly imperfect clowder I guess it’s my job to help her understand the play rules and we’re getting there bit by bit, I’m not the most patient teacher and can get bit grumpy when I get my tail swatted or jumped out on but I do my best.

Mummy has also noticed that Mona Lisa seems to have a bit of a fascination with tails, each time she tries to jump up at Millie it’s coz her tail has been swishing and when she’s jumped at Angelin, her tail has been hanging off the back of the sofa. A few times, as I’ve walked past she taps at my tail too. Maybe she’s jealous of our tails, I mean Millies is just superb, big a floofy and oh so tempting but my long noodle tail – I’m not sure what the fascination is with that but I suppose if you haven’t got one perhaps it’s quite bewildering to see a tail in action, perhaps she doesn’t understand the tail warning system and obviously Millie can’t see how she’s feeling either. I love giving the floor a good thwack with my tail when I’m feeling a bit frustrated or annoyed, it feels so good and I guess it’s tough if you can’t express yourself like that. I hadn’t really thought about that before, how good it feels to be able to to show how you feel with one swish and if you can’t do that your feelings have to come out somehow as us cats don’t bottle things up like humans do.

It’s not all doom and gloom though and whilst I’m miss snuggling up with mummy in bed at night I also like being in the room with the warm fire, comfy in my snuggle bed and helping Millie and Angelin feel better too. I do still get to snuggle with mummy in the evenings and it’s those times that we all realise that Mona Lisa isn’t a bad girl, she doesn’t hate us as she sits and cuddles next to me and mummy with Angelin and Millie close by, the whole family together, happily, sometimes even with touching paws.

Deep inside that tough exterior is a scared little cat that’s trying to work its way out, come on little kitty you can do it.

I mean even I have to admit she’s a cutie and how could something that cute not be good?

It’s a tough life being the head of the household, trying to keep everyone happy and whilst it’s still hard going, Mona Lisa is my sisfur and mummy and daddy made her a promise that she was part of this family and she is and will be forever, whatever it takes Mona Lisa we’re in it for the long haul and we’re not giving up. As you know us blindies see with our hearts and we can see that inner light in you, even if you can’t see it fully for yourself just yet, we know it’s there getting a little brighter each day as you realise you’re safe, you’re loved you’re home.