Cats arrive

The cats arriving has finally given me something to write about here! Spodding around on the internet and doing housework are really not that interesting and that's pretty much all I've been doing so far.

The cats flew in last night from London via Houston. Their plane arrived early and they were delivered to us at baggage reclaim (we should have gone to cargo but the SLC airport website didn't have a "where to go to pick up your pet" section). Ozzy was looking very sorry for himself but Izzy was quite perky - perhaps her ordeal was over? No, it wasn't, there was another car journey to endure with an unfamiliar house at the end of it.

Following cat website advice we'd intended to keep them in one room for a bit but as soon as the door was opened they slipped out to explore. They must have been well fed on the plane because they weren't at all interested in biscuits. The first place they went was naturally the basement room full of car parts which offered exellent hiding places. I'd hoped they might stay in the basement, which is mostly empty (apart from the dismembered car) but they decided that upstairs was far more interesting, probably because that is where Patrick and I live at the moment. Izzy retired to a safe spot underneath a table in the corner to contemplate the horror of her situation whereas Ozzy was quite happy to explore further, as long as someone was with him.

I am really going to miss having a door that separates upstairs from downstairs. Ozzy spent all night yowling outside our bedroom.

Today Ozzy seems happy. He still follows me round the house wanting attention and reassurance (a nuisance when I want to do some practice) but he has also managed to settle down for some naps. He has his own seat at the breakfast bar now. Izzy ventured out for a few cautious expeditions this morning and has got more confident as the day went on. She's currently on the super-comfortable La-Z-Boy rather than under a table, which is definite progress. Neither cat is prepared to use the litter tray at the moment so it looks like I am in for two weeks of following them round the house to stop any accidents (one per cat so far, one of which was in the nice new cat bed, naturally). At least they don't know where the cat flap is yet so they can't break out!