Boots still isn’t acting like himself but, maybe because I want so badly for it to be so, I think I see a bit of improvement.
I’ve been keeping him in the sewing room. I spend probably 4 hours down there . . maybe from 9 – 1, and during that time, I’m re-arranging the fabric or doing something active but I sit and pet him as long as he will set with me. No biting at all down there. Then I go up, fix lunch, do some things around the house and usually go back down from about 4 til dark. He’s pretty relaxed and not wanting to be with me as much so I knit or cross stitch, then I go back upstairs for the night.
Wednesday and Thursday I was busy canning so didn’t spend a lot of time with him so Friday I stayed with him the entire time I was home but I left about 1 to go sign some papers for the rental building, then I ate, came home, then left about 2 to go get Addie. She and I went down and played with him for maybe an hour after she got here and he was fine, though not playful at all. I never once felt he was going to bite.
Saturday I went down a couple of times but for shorter times since Addie was here. Today she wanted him to come upstairs. I told her she could open the door to the sewing room and he could come up if he wanted to but for her not to carry him up. He came right up but he obviously wasn’t comfortable. I put food in his upstairs bowl but he never ate. He never jumped up in my chair with me. He stayed up only about half an hour and went back to the sewing room. He looked around the family room upstairs and I think all of Addie’s stuff in the floor made him nervous. Her backpack, a couple of dolls, her suitcase, George, her beanbag chair – nothing looked normal for Boots and I could tell he was a bit agitated but he never tried to bite. I saw his tail twitching and his ears back but never saw his pupils get huge.
I’m glad he went downstairs instead of lashing out at Addie or me.
Even though I’d love to have him live comfortably in the whole house, I’m ok with him living in the sewing room, so long as he isn’t biting me in there and so far, he hasn’t.
Diane in CA says
Poor Boots.. Have you checked to see if there are cats hanging out around your house? Boots could feel threatened by them when he comes upstairs and that’s why he gets aggressive..
JustGail says
OK, I’m going waaaay off the wall with this thought… you mentioned it seemed like Boots’s issue with being upstairs started when Vince left for Texas. After you wrote about the 2 men in the basement – is it possible Boots likes being down there with them? Maybe it’s not what IS upstairs, rather what’s NOT upstairs that he finds upsetting.
Judy Laquidara says
That’s a possibility. I have no idea. I’m really anxious to see how things go when Vince gets here.
Theresa says
Boots may take several more weeks to become familiar with your new home. It’s all about the smells. He’s comfortable in the sewing room because it smells familiar. I would expect his behavior to improve a lot over the next weeks, but your instinct not to rush him is spot on.