Montana waking up

My mom got this shot. I wonder if this is what I look like when I wake up.

Montana observing

Tana likes to be up high, where she can watch everything going on around her.

Montana's antics

Thanks to my mom for taking this photo :)

Montana is really starting to fit in to our family. Well, it's impossible for her not to; she's around all the time! She ALWAYS has to follow someone around. One of her favourite spots is on a kitchen chair (it's always the same chair) under the table. I guess she likes it because there's always something going on in the kitchen. She still nips occasionally, mostly our feet. It's a good idea to always wear socks in our house now; not for warmth, but for protection from Montana's teeth :)

Montana would never bite our other pets, though she does find them interesting. Shadow, our other cat, and Montana have been getting along really well. Shadow's definitely the boss between the two. If the two cats are sitting in front of each other, staring, Montana is the one who will look away first. Sometimes Montana wants to play with Shadow (at least, l think she's playing; it's hard to tell with Montana!) and will bat out a paw. Or if Shadow is on a counter and Montana is on the ground, Montana will swing her paw at Shadow's swishing tail. Shadow's an old lady who has better things on her mind than playing, but she's actually quite patient with "the youngster" and will either ignore Montana or hiss if she's getting too bold.

Montana isn't too interested in Mika. Mika knows how to stand her ground and will snap/"roar" at Montana if she really bothers her, so Montana doesn't try anything too daring with her.

But poor Wall-e! Montana takes advantage of the fact that he's so easily bossed around. Wall-e would never, ever, ever snap or growl or do anything to defend himself, so Montana pretty much has a full control. She'll step in front of him and sit down, "guarding" him so that he can't pass by. If he tries to walk around her, she'll move with him and sit down in front of him again. Wall-e knows that if he gets too close he'll get a swat. And he's almost twice the size of her! If only I could tell Wall-e to give Montana a little bark a few times, and then she might not bug him anymore :)

Montana wanted me to say...

Montana was reading my blog and noticed that I haven't posted about her in a while.


She wanted me to tell you all that we have decided to keep her :)

She's been doing really well. She still stays in a separate room for part of the day; our 16 year old cat, Shadow, spends a lot of time in the basement sleeping, so during that time we close the door to the basement and let Montana out of her room to have free rein of the house. After a couple of hours, we put her back in the room and open Shadow's door in the basement. We don't trust the cats to be alone yet.

Montana is good with the dogs though. She actually like Mika and follows her around. (Mika just ignores "that weird orange cat.") She's a bit intimidated by Wall-e, but she's asserted her ruling over him by chasing after him a few times. Poor Wall-e wanted to make friends, but now he keeps his distance!

Luckily, Montana has never made an attempt to bite/nip either dog. She's completely transformed since we've brought her home. She actually acts a bit like a dog; she follows us around and does crazy gallops around the house. We're very glad to have her!

Merry Christmas!

(All of these pictures were taken on Christmas Eve.)

Mika loves her new dog bed, but is wondering why my mom is bugging her with the camera.

"Oh -- I get treats?! Take as many pictures as you want!"

Wall-e gets his share as well.

Shadow opens her presents; a couple cans of two new brands of food, with lots of treats on top!

Montana meet Rudolph before checking out her present.

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" Except for Shadow, who's still awake and plans to wait for Santa. (She's in the window beside the reflection of the tree :)

Merry (belated) Christmas!

Montana

Yesterday we began a new adventure; fostering a cat.

The story began at the end of October, when an orange tabby cat was dumped, in her cage, in the parking lot of a local vet hospital. She was covered in poop and had to have parts of her tail shaved to remove the mats. I'm doing a co-op at the vet hospital, and I was given the job of caring for the cat daily. She soon earned the name of "Montana."


In the past two months I have gotten more and more attached to Montana. Both the vet hospital and I tried to find a home for her, but it seemed that nobody wanted her. You see, Montana is declawed, and she bites when she feels she needs space; after all, since her claws are gone, she has no other defense other than her teeth. Nobody wants a cat who bites. And if we had brought Montana the the humane society, it was almost guaranteed she'd be euthanized because of her biting.

Last week, I offered the possibility of fostering Montana. And yesterday, after school was out and the Christmas holidays began, we went to the hospital and brought her home.


We're keeping her in a separate room until we're absolutely certain that she'll be fine with Shadow (our cat), Mika, and Wall-e.

She's already met the dogs. First we introduced them, one at a time, while she was in her cage (I realize now maybe not the best idea because she probably felt trapped). Mika wasn't that interested and didn't get too close, but Montana was hissing and growling at her. Then Wall-e got to see. He went right up to the door of the cage and Montana whacked her paw against the bars. It made a big noise, and Wall-e got scared and ran away. I guess that's a good time; I want the dogs to respect Montana and not bother her.

Later in the evening, when Montana was out of her cage (but still confined in the room), my mom brought Mika in and held her, while Montana got to choose how close she wanted to get to her. Mika was nice and calm, and stared at me almost the whole time. (She got some treats for her great behaviour). Montana was very interested and walked closer, and eventually sat down staring up at Mika. She didn't hiss or growl, though.

Montana will probably be re-introduced to Wall-e in the same way today, and sometime next week she'll meet Shadow too.

Now I guess all we can do is try to find a home for her and, in the meantime, see what happens.