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| I see you, kitty! |
There’s air conditioning, a constant supply of food, children to pet you, places to hide when you want to be left alone, and toys to play with. Oh. And the naps. As long as it was fluffy and soft, she could fall asleep for hours.
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| Sleepy baby Nova. |
But, as it always happens, she started growing up. She discovered her claws, so the couch wasn’t safe. She wanted to play rougher than I’d allow with the kids. She yowled in the early morning when she wanted to be fed and would often wake the girls up at night when she snuck into their room to snuggle when they should have been sleeping instead.
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| Nova’s first outdoor experience. |
We at least were nice about reintroducing her to the outside world. She wasn’t exactly thrilled to be put out on the deck for a few hours at a time, but thankfully, I’d replaced the sliding screen door with pet proof screen, so when she’d panic and scale the door, begging to come back in, it didn’t do any damage.
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| Trying to have fun with grumpy Hercules. |
After the initial shock wore off, she began to discover that being outside was fun. She perfected the deck-to-car leap, figured out where the older cats hide in the garage, and cautiously began to explore.
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| Jumping down seven feet face first? No biggie. |
Raven accepted that there was another cat to boss her around now and Hercules, at the very least, tolerates Nova. Snickers? She still hisses and runs like her tail’s on fire. I’m not sure if she’ll ever get used to having another girl around. Doesn’t seem to bother Nova one bit.
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| Springing for a grasshopper. |
For the most part, Nova spends her time outside, roaming where the other cats roam (and hopefully that means staying away from the road…), snoozing beneath the bushy landscaping, climbing trees and perfecting the art of catching grasshoppers. Seriously. Our garage is full of dismembered insects. Hopefully, that will translate to other vermin we’d like to keep away.
All in all, she’s quite satisfied being an outside cat now that she’s realized all the adventures waiting for her.
