If I Only Had A Feline Tongue . . .
I only slept 4 hours that first night because I was concerned that Starlight wasn’t used to being alone. She was used to being with her extended family of mother, father, 5 aunts, siblings, and cousins. I didn’t want her to be afraid or lonely. I also needed to make sure all her internal plumbing was working as she had not relaxed enough to use her litter box the entire previous day of travel.
So I popped up at 4 a.m. and went for a visit. Starlight was so happy to see me. She had urinated a puddle as large as herself – don’t ask me where she had held all that water. I could feel it in my body that she was desperate for a mother’s tongue to reassure her, and I swear, had my tongue had that rough feline surface, I would have licked her immediately. Instead, I cuddled and pet her as much as I could, and and encouraged her to eat.
As soon as the local stores opened that morning, I headed out to find a soft brush that could substitute for a cat tongue. I was successful, and if you could have seen and felt the energetic transformation that a tongue substitute provided, you would have been as amazed and gratified as Starlight and I both were.
Starlight’s Baby Brush
The brush I found is a type used for a human infants born with hair. It’s sturdy and soft all at once. Starlight loves it and chews on the bristles, too. By using very short strokes, like a cat tongue, I was able to give Starlight the sensation she craved for comfort and security.
Starlight’s total confidence was restored and her demeanor completely changed in an instant. In addition, I became “mom.” Now we start and end each day with a good brushing.
As Starlight began to explore the room in which she was staying, her talent for disappearing and getting “stuck” in places continued to reveal itself. This was because Starlight was so tiny and inquisitive. This included behind a large mirror that was very heavy and could slip and fall down on her, as well as into boxes of stuff that were piled up waiting for me to sort through them someday. Thanks to Starlight, the entire room was reorganized, with the help of a strong friend named Dave.
Starlight was so tiny she fit into one hand (when she wasn’t wiggling) and kept finding places to get into where I didn’t want her to be.
Dave stopped by and we stuffed newspaper into the holes around the baseboard radiator pipes so that Starlight couldn’t get into the walls. After her first night getting caught in the baseboards, I wasn’t about to let her out of the room until I knew how to seal off all the radiators in the house. Meanwhile, her room finally was safe for her, and I could relax.
Violet Teaches Starlight
It soon became clear to me that Violet had been chosen to train Starlight. This decision was made by Violet and Sakhara – no one had consulted me at all. But that didn’t matter. I had left all this to my two adult cats and they had worked out all the details.
Remember that Violet had been in an accident and wasn’t in the best of moods when Starlight arrived home on Saturday. First thing Monday morning I called the chiropractic veterinarian and grabbed the first opening they had for a session. On Tuesday morning, Violet’s head and jaw were released from a very painful jam. Afterwards, Violet slept most of the day.
That same evening, Violet began sitting in the hall at the top of the stairs right outside Starlight’s room whenever I was with Starlight. She would patiently wait for me outside and never tried to go into the room when I entered or exited. She was completely quiet, tuning in telepathically and being totally present.
Starlight, meanwhile, seemed aware that Violet was outside, but didn’t challenge my efforts to keep the two separated. I gave Starlight new toys each day and played with her, brushed her, and cuddled her. Her nails were needle sharp, so we had our first ail clipping lessons. Starlight didn’t mind the clippers, but had so much energy it was a project to get her to sit still long enough for me to find each claw, never mind cut it. Fortunately, I had learned techniques for doing this with Violet, and over a period of 2 days we managed to get each claw-tip on her front feet clipped.
Starlight is a very vocal kitten. She has a large vocabulary of Siamese cat sounds, and in her awe and excitement would comment on everything. When I would leave her alone, promising to be back in a few hours, Starlight would protest loudly.
On Thursday, as I headed down the stairs amid cries of protest from Starlight, Violet stayed behind. As I reach the kitchen, I heard a loud yowl from Violet accompanied by a telepathic shout . . . “WILL YOU SHUT UP!!”
Silence from Starlight.
I thanked Violet profusely as she arrived downstairs.
Violet and Starlight – two happy faces.
The story continues in “A Reincarnation Adventure Part 10: Violet the Teacher“
I have a very successful method of introducing new cats to our household. It has worked every time I have used it. I cross brush all of them, getting their personal smells all over each other. That way by the time they actually meet it is no longer as if the new cat is a stranger. It recently worked like a charm when we decided to make two 18 year old cats into companions so neither would be lonely. I’m sure it helped immensely that there also was an overly friendly young dog in residence. Our two cranky old guys seemed to unite in their hatred of the dog.
Fabulous!! I think everyone would benefit from knowing about this technique. It’s definitely a new one for me. Things are going amazingly well here, but I may still have a need to give this a shot. Thanks.
Is there anything as curious, active, or appealing as a kitten–and, let’s face it, as sure to be a bit of a handful? Star is adorable. And how lucky to have Violet to train her! (Hope she’s all recovered from her accident.) Loved the story of using the cat brush to mimic’s Mama Cat’s tongue. How creative and loving.