[Larenti enjoying some time with me during an unusually cool evening; I’ve already decided that, once finances support it, I’ll be adopting this marvelous yet still weary feline; I so despise her evident fear of humans, especially hands, and especially when they unexpectedly move near her face; no matter when I leave Dallas, she’ll be coming with me]
There remains no doubt in my mind that Larenti now trusts me a great deal more than she does any other human.
She spends most of her time on my patio.
She’s there nearly every morning when I wake up, at least 99% of the time.
She begs me for attention. All the time.
She talks to me readily, without reserve or hesitation, and responds immediately when I speak to her.
She is less afraid of me—especially my hands—than she was when I first met her years ago.
And she doesn’t twitch when I step out to the patio, even when she’s extremely comfortable.
Like this. . .
As I told xocobra in the past, if I were to rescue another cat, it would be Larenti.
Very little doubt remains that such a thing will happen.
And as I ponder moving away from Dallas, she increasingly becomes a focus of my endeavors, a loose end I may well have to address sooner rather than later.
I find it abhorrent to consider leaving her now… especially now that she has grown so accustomed to me, so trusting of me, so reliant on me.
I am the only human she has faith in.
There now exists an expectation between us, one that presumes I will not abandon her or hurt her, something I know her previous caregiver(s) did.
This is another photo of Larenti, one of the neighborhood cats I’ve befriended. I’ve mentioned before how much time she spends hanging out on my patio. Well, she was doing just that when I knelt down on the floor and tried to capture a few close-ups of her.
Something about this one grabs my eye and attention. Is it her lovely repose? Her absolute comfort? Her lack of fear with me scrambling about on all fours in such close proximity? Or is it something with the photo itself, like the angle or lighting? Perhaps it’s a combination of many things, some I’ve not even considered.
I really like the way this photo turned out. Larenti, as is usual, was visiting me on the patio. I happened to capture this shot that drew tremendous strength from the dichotomy found where light and shadow played together, touched each other in the most obvious yet invisible ways.
And to show she was truly enjoying herself, here’s one where she was making fisties.
She still does not entirely trust me, although she’s rapidly grown to place a great deal of faith in assuming I won’t hurt her and only want to be friends.
I’m quite convinced she was abused by her previous owner. It’s in the way she reacts to hands, especially if they move too quickly near her face, but sometimes just if they move too quickly or surprise her. There’s fear in her eyes and her reaction. It’s palpable, real, a cloak of terrible memories that suddenly falls over her.
And it makes me mad.
The last week to ten days has offered a new sight ’round the xenogere wildlife sanctuary.
That’s al-Zill, a new cat who’s been showing up often to enjoy a free meal (or several).
As for the name, al-Zill is Arabic and means “the Shadow.” I felt it appropriate given this feline’s color and skittish personality, both of which help make the predator quite sneaky and oft times unseen.
But al-Zill was not alone while trying to enjoy some breakfast.
That’s Larenti crouched in front of me as she watches al-Zill eat.
It should be said that Larenti has essentially claimed the patio as her own. She’s here every day, she spends most of her time lounging about, she greets me almost every time I go outside regardless of the time, and she’s grown quite accustomed to me. She trusts me quite a bit—but not completely. The way she reacts sometimes, I’m fairly confident she was abused. But more on that later…
al-Zill and Larenti aren’t exactly friends, but neither are they enemies. They tolerate each other to a great degree and have only scuffled once or twice when one surprised the other. Not to be unexpected with unfamiliar cats, I’d say.
Despite Larenti’s watchful eye, however, al-Zill went right on with his meal (and I’m assuming it’s a male, although I could be terribly wrong as I’ve not been able to get a close look).
And as he ate, Larenti edged closer and closer.
It was as if she thought she really was sneaking up on him. Considering I saw every one of his surreptitious glances as she moved in, I knew otherwise.
Finally, though, she got close enough to interrupt the meal. Either that or he’d had enough for breakfast.
With her continuing to get closer and closer, he finally stood and walked away. She didn’t follow.
That space in the fence in front of him is where I accidentally put my foot through the wood slats. I had been leaning against the fence and had my foot propped up in one of the small spaces. Unbeknownst to me, both the wood and the nails had long since become weak with age and weather. The moment I shifted my weight and put a little too much force on that leg, my foot went right through the fence and took the corner of the structure with it.
Oops.
[on a side note, I’ve not seen Aethon, Chira, Clance or Henko in a few months; I worry about all of them and hope they’re doing well; Psiwa, on the other hand, continues to visit; in fact, he was here when I arrived home from work today; I stood quietly on the patio as he gobbled up some kibble for his evening meal]