Raven undergoes "training"

Since Raven has mange, I have been advised to cage her instead of letting her roam around the house.

Step 1: Put cat in cage without closing door, let cat explore. Allow cat the freedom of walking in and out of cage so that cat does not develop negative vibes about cage.

 She sniffed around, lost interest in the boring cage and came out to explore more interesting objects. I was hoping she would scratch on this sand and do her business, but she wasn't interested.

 I actually prefer to be inside the house, if you don't mind.

 Or here...I like to stalk those big cats.

 The big cats like to stalk her too.

 

So all afternoon, Raven sat right outside the grille.

 3.30pm

 4.30pm

Cats have this remarkable persistence when they want something, don't they?

At 5.30pm, I scooped her up and took her for some playtime in the garden. No pee or poo, she just wanted to explore. Later, we sat on the bench and very slowly, I did the oil treatment on her. This time, she did not object too much and I was able to really massage the oil in and remove a lot of flakes. The mange seem to be located on the head and both ears. The other parts are just bald but not flaky.

 Dinner time...in the cage. That's more than 1/2 can of Natural Balance.

When I first got her, she weighed 1.15kg. Now, she is 1.6kg!

The brood wanted to know what was going on outside.

By evening, we went to Step 2: Put cat inside cage with litter box and close door. If cat doesn't complain, leave cat inside for awhile.

 What do you know? The moment I left cat inside, cat made nice poo and even urinated!

Poor thing, she couldn't find a suitable place to do it inside the house despite the litter box being there, that is why she had to go upstairs to do it on the bed. I think once she is in the cage, she has no choice but to do it in the most conducive place, which is where there is sand.

Step 3: If cat doesn't complain, leave cat in cage for a longer period.

Initially, cat complained a little by meowing softly but after about 45 minutes, cat was lying quite comfortably in the basket.

I noticed cat does not like the towel, so after I removed it, she sat in the basket!

Tomorrow, I will buy virgin coconut oil and use it for the oil treatment. Hopefully that works faster. The faster she heals, the sooner she can get out of the cage and enrol for membership in Bunny's Place.

Well-meaning friends have advised me to engage in "cognitive activities" so that my mind doesn't run into the "affective" gear and my grieving turns into depression which was what happened after Kimba's tragic and sudden death. Cry, if you must, they say. Grieve, but don't let yourself fall into a depression again.

I had already cried my heart out the whole of yesterday since Bosco passed on, so it's time to move on now and remember the 27 days of joyful bliss, of bird-watching together and sitting on the sofa and doing nothing. I still miss Bosco especially when I come home from work and there is no cat in the porch waiting to welcome me home. I still miss him whenever I open the front door because Bosco would surely (without fail) come out from under the car to greet me.

Now, Bosco watches me from somewhere up there where guardian angels dwell.