Rilla my Rilla

Posted by Liz December 29, 2017

Rilla my Rilla

Just over a year and a half ago, our dear cat, Miss Matilda May Traff, passed away. She had become a member of our family over the 18+ years that we had her, and it was hard to say goodbye. Getting a cat in the first place was a sacrifice on the part of my husband R.J. He didn’t care for all the work and responsibility of owning a pet and wasn’t much of a cat-lover in general. I think he enjoyed her at times, and certainly he was kind to her; but for the most part, Matilda belonged to the rest of the family. When she passed away, he was ready to experience pet-free life again. We agreed that I wouldn’t be the one to bring up the idea of getting another pet. It would be up to him to bring up that topic, if and when he was ready. And truthfully, a break was good for me as well. Matilda’s death had been hard on me. The vet had a hard time putting her down, and I was haunted by her big eyes looking to me for help in her final moments.

Matilda loved to smell my chai.

Matilda at Christmas

Miss Matilda May Traff

I missed having a cat, but it helped that my daughter Emily and her husband Eric adopted sweet Ada kitty from Paws and Claws (our local shelter). She is a jumbo-sized tortoise shell cat, with the added novelty of being polydactyl, and I have been getting my cat-fixes when visiting them. She is not a lap cat, but she will come and talk to me when I am at their apartment, and she lets me scritch her ears and neck. I also visited Paws and Claws and pet stores several times. I would talk to the kitties there, cuddle them, and let them know how sweet they were. I intended to volunteer at Paws and Claws, but life never really slowed down enough for me to do that. Still, it was a good spot to stop every once in a while when I was in need of some cat therapy.

Miss Ada

Eric, Emily, and Ada

A lot has happened in the past year and a half since we have been cat-less. We rejoiced as Laura and Andrew got married. We mourned the loss of R.J.’s mom, Barb. Our adult sons who were living at home moved out. Between work and other family activities, life has been busy.

My Christmas present from R.J.

This week, we are beginning a new adventure. My husband noticed my longing for a furry family member, and his gracious Christmas gift this year was a “Certificate of Permission” to get a cat. Just Tuesday, we made the trip to Paws and Claws, our local Humane Society Shelter, to look over the cats available. Like I said, I had visited there every once in a while, and as it happens, my last visit was just a couple of weeks ago. There were a few kitties that I had met (and loved) during that visit who were still available at this time. I looked over the website and saw one more cat who looked interesting to me. I had it in mind that I would hold all of those cats (and possibly more), chat with them, and make a decision; plus there was a back-up kitten that family had offered us if nothing at the shelter worked out, so I was all set to direct the way this process unfolded. That’s not exactly how things went.

The new kitty was named Jillian. Her story was that she had been “dropped off” (abandoned) on a local property with two other cats. She was 2.5 years old and not a fan of the other cats in her room. She looked like a typical tabby cat in front, but had tortoise shell coloration on her back. Jillian was the cat we saw first. The Paws and Claws volunteer tugged a reluctant Jillian out of a little kitty-cubby-hole, with her growling and complaining. Not a great start to our relationship, to be sure, but the thing is, she didn’t hold it against me. As soon as I took this cat into my arms, she started purring. She stretched out her kitty neck and nuzzled my face – and then gave me a lick. Kitty-kisses! How sweet was that? She reached out and nuzzled R.J. as well. Her paws reached up to touch my face. She didn’t seem to want to be put down, so I had a hard time developing any interest in the other cats. The thought of someone else adopting her was alarming. I asked R.J. if he had thoughts about my looking at other cats. He thought I was asking permission to take a long time and look over every possibility. What I was actually asking was, “Is it OK if I abandon my previous plan of looking at other cats and just take THIS ONE?” Of course, it was OK. She had found me, and I had found her.

"Jillian" at the shelter

Those eyes drew me in.

We had to go home without her, as the Paws and Claws process required that we fill out an application and wait 24-48 hours to be approved. We did have some set-up to do, since we had been cat-less for quite a while. We had given most of our supplies to Emily and Eric for Ada. I sewed a soft kitty-blanket. We bought some mice toys and something for scratching. We set up a litter box and a food and water dish. I kept waiting and waiting for the phone to ring the next day, and finally, around 11:30, it did ring. “Jillian” was ours. When would we like to stop in and pick her up? I chose the time that was soon after they opened and allowed us time enough to eat lunch before leaving the house.

When we got to Paws and Claws, they had some paperwork for us to fill out, and they also had a folder of “goodies” (coupons, lists, information, etc.) for us. We filled out the paperwork and paid the fees required by Paws and Claws. It wasn’t long, though, before the volunteer once again pulled “Jillian” out of her kitty-cubby-hole and handed her to us. We took some pictures and then – she was ours! We brought her home in a giant-sized cat carrier. She didn’t utter a sound for the whole car ride. We let her out of the carrier. She made herself long and low, like a reptile, and began to slink around the house. We followed her for a while, and then I just sat and waited. She explored the upstairs. She ate some of the food we had out for her. She looked out the windows. She startled at every fast movement or loud sound. She sniffed. She explored the basement. She came up with cobwebs and dust on her whiskers. (Yup, I need to clean the corners of the basement.) Finally, I heard a few squeaky meows. She hesitantly jumped up on the couch next to me and walked across my lap. This process was repeated several times over the next hour or two, until she finally decided it was OK here at our house. She cuddled on my lap for a bit, and then took her first nap at our house, on the arm rest of the couch.

All of us, at Paws and Claws

Coming out of the carrier, in a hurry

Finding the food and water

Peeking out the window

Christmas tree background for my Christmas present.

Sniffing and feeling more comfortable

Settling in for her first nap at HOME

Part of the fun of getting a pet is naming that pet. I tossed around a lot of names when just THINKING about getting a cat, and even once I received my generous gift and KNEW I was going to get a cat. Names are important, but you only really think about them when you are in the naming process. After that, they are just a part of who the pet is. People who read my blog know what an Anne of Green Gables fan I am, so you will not be surprised at the name of Marilla for our kitty-girl. We will mostly call her Rilla. She will probably get a middle name as time goes on as well. I have a couple stashed away, but I want to get to know her personality a bit more before adding that element to her name.

Her first two days with us are in the books. She met Joe and Dave, and after being startled by them for a bit, she loved on them as well. She also met Emily, and totally bonded with her, so now she has met over half the family. She spent her first night with us, curled up at the foot of the bed (on my side, because my legs are shorter and don’t go to the bottom), after pacing around on top of us for a few minutes as she settled in. The process of pacing around on top of us was repeated in the morning, with the addition of purring loudly while kneading my neck. She was a little more settled on night two and morning two. She clearly could have slept anywhere and chose to sleep with us. Yesterday, she followed me all around the house, seemingly not wanting to let me out of her sight, and she even slept on the blanket I made for her. (Matilda always steadfastly refused to use any comfy sleeping place I provided and preferred to choose her own spot to sleep, so this, too, is a new experience for me.) Oh, and this cat’s word processing skills are off the charts. She walked across my keyboard while I was working on this blog and ended up pasting a paragraph into the document as well as changing the font and typing a few letters. I had to “undo” about five times to get back to where I was before she started her editing. This morning, I had to chase her off the counter once (so she is definitely feeling more comfortable), and she started actually playing with her toy mice. Oh, one more weird thing. If the cat is in the basement and I go to the top of the stairs and call her, she comes running up the stairs. I have never had a cat that came when called. That habit might wear off, but it is certainly fun for now.

Rilla on R.J.

Now she claimed David.

Getting to know Joe

Loving Emily's neck scritches

Getting ready to nap on the blanket I made.

Life with Rilla has begun. I can’t wait to see where the adventure takes us! It is amazing how quickly one can fall in love. A great big THANK YOU goes out to Paws and Claws for taking care of my girl until I could find her and bring her home. (The low-quality video below was taken on my computer and depicts some of my first-day loving on Rilla, and the pictures are just a continuation of what is sure to be my ongoing photographic obsession with my beautiful Rilla.)