Homecoming

When Bella came home from the hospital, I was expecting that we might have to teach her to walk all over again. Apparently I was underestimating her - she came out of her cat carrier walking (hopping might be more accurate), and within five minutes she had jumped on and off of a chair and the bed. She had many more emotional problems than physical ones. First was the separation anxiety. For the first couple of days, she needed constant attention. There was lots of crying if she wasn't on a lap or at least being petted constantly. Completely understandable for a little girl who had suffered such a major trauma. She's a little more independent now after five days home, but she still likes to have a lot of lap time with us. We're lucky that she came home during a holiday week so that we have plenty of time to baby her!

Then there was the problem of the other cats. We have six cats altogether, including Bella's brother and sister. The only one who didn't completely freak out at the sight of her was my seventeen-year-old male cat. Perhaps it's all those years of experience, but he seemed to be the only one who recognized her. It was especially painful to watch Bella's sister Clementine hissing and spitting at her. That situation hasn't improved too much, but I'm hoping it will get better with time.

Bella's main complaint right now is that she is missing half the fur on her body, and winter has finally decided to come to South Carolina. She shivers a lot of the time, so I bought some soft hand towels that we can put over her as blankets. She loves it, and it's highly adorable to see her all bundled up like that.

Overall, our girl is doing great. I can't wait to take her back to Shandon-Wood to get her stitches out so they can see how well she has recovered!

Bad haircut! You can see how much fur she is missing, and also one of the bite wounds on her back.