Philip and Aurora have been adopted!

I am delighted to say that Prince Philip and Aurora have been adopted! A lovely couple brought them home over the second weekend in February. I haven't met them, but I know that they are lovely because they adopted Philip and Aurora.

All the best to all four of them!

Philip and Aurora: Ready for face time

At time of writing, Philip and Aurora are back at Gifford, ready for visitors!

I have just a few more photos and videos to share.

At the last vet visit before they went back to Gifford, the cone stayed on and the tail bandage was removed, and we were to soak it twice a day in an antiseptic solution to stave off infection.

It's worth noting that even though he really didn't want these tail soaks to happen, he is a flight kind of cat instead of a fight kind of cat. Once he knew he was cornered, we didn't need to burrito him or even restrain him, just putting a hand on his back was enough signal, and he would just give up and let us do what we needed to do. We tried to make up for it with head scratches, and that did seem to help. He would purr and we'd give him treats immediately after, and he'd eat them right away. And he'd accept more head scratches after the tail soaking, so he forgave fairly easily (lucky for us!). It was easiest with two people, one for head scratches and one for tail soaking, but we both did it solo when needed without too much trouble. He's such a good cat!

Philip also supervised my morning workout on a couple of occasions. Too boring to post video, but it was endearing.

post-workout stretch

I honestly never thought we'd get this far with Aurora. (She's only this comfortable and friendly when Philip is right there with her, but it's still amazing progress! I really think that if she were to be adopted with Philip or another cat with his personality type, she could eventually be a lap cat.)

This became a typical breakfast experience.
 

For a while it was only breakfast, but sometimes she felt friendly at dinner too.

At either time, Philip will happily accept head scratches (as long as he's done eating). Aurora will watch, or cautiously investigate, or in this case, want to play but not be quite sure how to ask for that.

 

And when she does play, it's a very different experience than the first time she came out from under the bed! She's a lot more relaxed.



Last video - her progress just amazes me.


I can take a little credit, but Philip and his steady personality is really what made all the difference. He's been a fantastic role model.

Even her hiding became more brave when he was around!
Not her usual bed, not a very protected spot, and yet there she is.

Considering exploring downstairs, settling for observation instead.

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Philip and Aurora were fostered through the Gifford Cat Shelter in Brighton. Please contact Gifford if you'd like to meet their cats!

Philip and Aurora: World-expanding bravery

Normally when we foster, we start a cat out in our guest room, then as they get comfortable they start roaming the house. After a couple weeks when they're spending most of their time with us in the living room, we move the litter box and the food dishes downstairs to their usual spots. That hasn't happened with these two because they simply haven't left that room for any significant amount of time. For Philip, it's been three months. For Aurora, it's been five and a half.

There have been some exceptions, of course, in the middle of the night, but never when we were home.

Philip is being the trail blazer, and one night appeared downstairs next to my feet when I was scooping canned food into dishes to bring up to them. Reward: immediate presentation of the dish. Aurora's was carried up to the room.

He was visibly nervous, and when Husband got too close with the camera he ran back up to safety.

But in the following week, he started coming down more often and staying longer. (Not needing the cone anymore probably helped.)

And once he started to be more comfortable being downstairs when at least one of us is home, Aurora started following his lead.

Being on the stairs at all is very brave for her!
And lying down? While she can see me? AMAZING.

I've also seen her tail disappear up the stairs, so she's definitely curious to see what Philip is doing, and even started eating canned food in the kitchen as long as I'm not too close.

On one specific Friday night, Philip and I watched Into the Spiderverse (livin' la vida loca over here).

And Aurora came down to tour the living room.

I didn't think she would stay, but since Philip was there, she felt empowered to hang out for a while. The more comfortable he is with a person or room (or both), the more willing she is to give it a try.

Of course, she's mostly trying it out the most at night when we're asleep, but in the last few days the camera has caught her exploring, playing with toys, and even lounging. She's actually getting to be OK in this room that has been outside her comfort zone for months.

I'm so proud of both of them.

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Philip and Aurora are fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter in Brighton. Please contact them if you are interested in either of them!

Philip and Aurora: extra adorable

This is so cute it short circuits my brain a little.



And I'm going to throw this photo in there too.

He fell asleep purring.

Philip and Aurora: hitting their groove

I talk a lot about Aurora, but I don't want to forget about Philip or gloss over what a good cat he is. He's just a fantastic companion, a solid buddy. Other than the biweekly vet visits for his tail (only until his tail heals!), he's very low maintenance. He might be just a couple years old, but he acts middle-aged. He's an armchair-by-the-fireplace kind of guy. He plays, but he's not aggressive. The only time I feel his claws is when he squeezes my hand because I've stopped petting him.

Good news! His tail isn't ready to be un-bandaged, but he's been very good about leaving the bandage alone, so we don't need the cone anymore. He is so much happier now.

I had a head cold and couldn't sleep, so I went to hang out with the cats.
This is exactly the kind of comfort and companionship I was hoping for.

His eyes are still weepy and I can still hear him breathe in a quiet room, but it's not getting worse. The vet said that those can't really be addressed until his tail is healed because the medications needed for his eyes and nose might interfere with the tail healing. So we're in the habit of wiping the gross out of his eyes with a tissue (he genuinely loves that) and applying ointment twice a day. As long as it's in the context of petting his face, he doesn't even seem to notice we're doing it.

Philip has also been a truly amazing role model for Aurora. He's not a very needy cat and has simple desires, namely food and head scratches.

His personality is so mild, and he's so chilled out, that he's been exactly the kind of companion she needed. I don't know if they'll get adopted together, but I am confident that they are a good personality type for each other.

We can still only pet her when she's hungry (and when Philip is there), but her comfort level is visibly better every week.

We had about a 20-minute session where I was allowed to touch Aurora's feet. She bapped my hand when I tried to touch her shoulder, but this still made me happy.

For months I doubted I'd ever get to this point with her. Holy crap, you guys!

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Philip and Aurora are fostered in Cambridge, MA through the Gifford Cat Shelter in Brighton. Please contact them if you are interested in either of them!