A Capricious Cat

Pimento the foster cat came to live with us in April, but it took until June for him to start getting comfortable with me and Hubby Tony. Since that time he's made great progress. He's a cat, so of course he likes his alone time, but unless a stranger comes into the condo Pimento no longer feels the need to hide.

Life with him hasn't been without challenges, though. Eventually we noticed that Pimento's nails were getting long. With our previous cats we had a procedure for nail cutting. Tony got to be the cat holder and I wielded the clipper. We tried the same procedure with Pimento. It didn't go well. By the time I finished the first paw Tony had a couple of large scratches on his arm and let the cat go free. 

Later the same day Pimento made his peace with Tony and cuddled up with him daily on the couch. He avoided me like the plague.  If I tried to pet him he'd just run away. After several days of being snubbed I started daily laser pointer play sessions with treats at the end. Slowly Pimento's attitude changed. Instead of running from me immediately he'd let me give him a pet or two before he would slink away. 

Last night Tony was out for the evening. I was sitting on the couch when Pimento walked by and looked like he wanted to socialize. I had no expectations but encouraged him to come up. Before I knew it he was curled up on my lap.

Unfortunately, just about the time he got situated I realized it would have been better if I had gone to the bathroom first. We stayed on the couch for a half hour until I really had to pee. When I moved the cat jumped off my lap onto the floor, where he gave me the stink eye before sauntering off.