New habits

It's always interesting to see what Meow Meow learns from interacting with visitors, human or feline. From Lily, she definitely learned to look before leaping onto the couch, for fear of surprising her mid-snooze. Lily was always quick to shoo Meow Meow back to the floor with hiss and paw.

Lately, Meow Meow's taken to exploring some of Lily's old nap spots, one of which is the nook between the couch and end table. I wouldn't have thought to look for Meow Meow there -- in the past, she'd seemed to prefer the back of the couch, where she could keep an eye on both the living room and kitchen -- but the sun-path leading to this haven was what gave her away.

We're back!

But our little gray tabby is not. When I contacted the SHS to arrange a pick-up date last week after our return, we learned that Lily was no longer at the shelter -- though she hadn't been adopted either.

I've been waiting to get the full story on Lily and finally got word yesterday. So, sorry for the long silence. Here's the news.

While we were away, the SHS had the opportunity to work with N.O.A.H., another local animal rescue. Lily was chosen to be transferred to this organization's care in hopes that the facility's "cat colony" -- a more homelike environment that allows kitties to socialize or keep to themselves as they prefer -- would be beneficial to her while also providing her exposure to a different set of potential adopters. In our home, she was happy but getting no local visitors, despite our postering efforts. She wasn't having luck at the shelter either.

I think the move makes sense if it will increase Lily's chances at finding a permanent home. We hope she's settling in at N.O.A.H. From the new picture of her on their website, it looks like she's quite cozy.

So that's the story, or at least everything we know. We'll be holding off on giving Lily's suite to another foster for the remainder of the year, but Meow Meow is happy to provide blog material while she's the sole feline chez Kittitas. (I have quite the backlog of pictures too since I was trying to keep the focus primarily on Lily while she was staying here.)

Before Meow Meow gets this space back, though, here is a send-off portrait I managed to snap while Lily was enjoying some sun on our living room floor over the summer.


Best of luck to you, little lady.