Hello! I am new to the forums. This is bound to be a long post, so please excuse me if posting long messages is an outright faux pas. Anywho, here is a situation I could use some advice on. Firstly, I should give some background though. My husband and I have two cat-children.
The first kitty we adopted is Sierra. She is a 7 year old long haired tri-coloured fixed female. We have had her for 7 years. In fact, when we moved from Canada to the US she moved with us! She was ripped away from her mother too young, and has basically grown up with just human companions. She is very relaxed and adaptable to basically any situation. She is a bit high-strung though, so weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve taken to calling her Queen Sierra at times.
Our second kitty-child is Scary (my husband named him, because at 8 months his paws were way oversized for his body! My mom insists his name should be ScarDy not Scary.). He is some sort of strange mixed breed. Beautiful big blue eyes, Siamese colouring over his body, and a stripped tail. We adopted him from a pet-store about 4 1/2 years ago. He was around 8 months old at the time. Now, usually I would not think to buy from a pet-store, but he reached his paw through his cage and grabbed my sleeve, so, what could a cat lover do? Anyhow, I brought Scary home, and he was perfectly fine with me. He seemed to love me at first site. I did notice right off the bat though, when I picked him up, he automatically curled his long body into a tight ball and closed his eyes. He also seemed to be quite taken with Sierra, although she was not having it.
It was quite a different story when my husband came home though. My husband is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle guy in the world. However, he also happens to be around 6â€[emoji]8482[/emoji]4 and over 250 lbs. Needless to say, Scary took one look at my husband and headed for the hills (or rather, under my bed).
Over time it got slightly better, and Scary grew to really adore my husband -- as long as my husband was sitting or laying down. Still, if my husband approaches him while standing, often times Scary will spit and hiss. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll allow my husband to pick him up, but automatically curl up into a ball. He does still seem to prefer me, but that is alright. He is a complex cat.
With that said, he is a very very loving lap cat. Often times heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll be on your lap and asleep before you realize he is there. It is quite different from our other cat-child, Miz Independence herself. However, while he is comfortable with us most times, he is still very very neurotic. The slightest sound, or quick movement will send him running off to hide. Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve since had to move the frame from our bed, and put it on the floor so Scary wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t living under there!
It has taken a long time to get Scary to love and trust us, and he has become more open and friendly with visitors as well. Right now in fact he is curled up in the chair having a nice snooze.
Now, onto the issue at hand. My husband and I are looking to purchase our first home. We are both worried that after purchasing our home, weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re going to have to start from scratch with Scary again -- That he is going to revert back to being highly neurotic and stressed out about everything. We are not willing to get rid of our baby over this, nor give up our dream of home owner-ship, what I would like though, is some tips, if possible on making a transition into a new home as non-stressful as possible for a very nervous feline-child.
Again, sorry for the length of the post, I just figured that some background was necessary.
The first kitty we adopted is Sierra. She is a 7 year old long haired tri-coloured fixed female. We have had her for 7 years. In fact, when we moved from Canada to the US she moved with us! She was ripped away from her mother too young, and has basically grown up with just human companions. She is very relaxed and adaptable to basically any situation. She is a bit high-strung though, so weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve taken to calling her Queen Sierra at times.
Our second kitty-child is Scary (my husband named him, because at 8 months his paws were way oversized for his body! My mom insists his name should be ScarDy not Scary.). He is some sort of strange mixed breed. Beautiful big blue eyes, Siamese colouring over his body, and a stripped tail. We adopted him from a pet-store about 4 1/2 years ago. He was around 8 months old at the time. Now, usually I would not think to buy from a pet-store, but he reached his paw through his cage and grabbed my sleeve, so, what could a cat lover do? Anyhow, I brought Scary home, and he was perfectly fine with me. He seemed to love me at first site. I did notice right off the bat though, when I picked him up, he automatically curled his long body into a tight ball and closed his eyes. He also seemed to be quite taken with Sierra, although she was not having it.
It was quite a different story when my husband came home though. My husband is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle guy in the world. However, he also happens to be around 6â€[emoji]8482[/emoji]4 and over 250 lbs. Needless to say, Scary took one look at my husband and headed for the hills (or rather, under my bed).
Over time it got slightly better, and Scary grew to really adore my husband -- as long as my husband was sitting or laying down. Still, if my husband approaches him while standing, often times Scary will spit and hiss. Heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll allow my husband to pick him up, but automatically curl up into a ball. He does still seem to prefer me, but that is alright. He is a complex cat.
With that said, he is a very very loving lap cat. Often times heâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll be on your lap and asleep before you realize he is there. It is quite different from our other cat-child, Miz Independence herself. However, while he is comfortable with us most times, he is still very very neurotic. The slightest sound, or quick movement will send him running off to hide. Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve since had to move the frame from our bed, and put it on the floor so Scary wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t living under there!
It has taken a long time to get Scary to love and trust us, and he has become more open and friendly with visitors as well. Right now in fact he is curled up in the chair having a nice snooze.
Now, onto the issue at hand. My husband and I are looking to purchase our first home. We are both worried that after purchasing our home, weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re going to have to start from scratch with Scary again -- That he is going to revert back to being highly neurotic and stressed out about everything. We are not willing to get rid of our baby over this, nor give up our dream of home owner-ship, what I would like though, is some tips, if possible on making a transition into a new home as non-stressful as possible for a very nervous feline-child.
Again, sorry for the length of the post, I just figured that some background was necessary.