They seemed to be able to sense that something was up and were very skittish while we went out our preparations trying our hardest to pretend that everything was normal.
Disaster almost struck at the last minute - just as we were loading the car with the last of their paraphernalia before setting off, the front door accidentally swung open and both cats escaped outside. Thank goodness for a chilly, grey morning, otherwise I don't think we would have been able to coax them back in!
Thankfully Florence was quite cooperative and went into her box relatively easily, and while Lucca was more troublesome, we managed to catch him and get him secured in his box fairly quickly, and by 8.40am we were ready to set off.
It was horribly sad taking them away from their happy home in Abingdon.
The journey was relatively quiet and stress-free though. There was a fair bit of idignant miaowing (especially when going round corners), but we've had far worse just taking them across to the other side of Abingdon to the vets. We had taken the precaution of spraying the car and their boxes with the pheromone-based calming solution Feliway and dosing the cats up with the cat stress-relieving food supplement Zylkene, so maybe that is what made the difference.
We made it to Bristol just before 10am, with a warm welcome for all four of us from Mum and Dad.
On being 'set free' from their travel boxes, Florence quickly came out and started sniffing her way cautiously around the living room, investigating all the furniture, nooks and crannies. Lucca, meanwhile, ran straight to the nearest safe haven he could find - underneath a large wooden chest - and stayed there. In fact, he refused to budge for two hours - not even being tempted out by food or toys.
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| Lucca in his 'safe place' - where he stayed for the first two hours. |
Florence, meanwhile, quickly found her confidence, checked out the view from the window (lots of birds for her to watch and chatter at in the garden) and even ventured out of the room, to inspect some of the rest of the house.
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| Florence the Brave. |
When Lucca eventually felt confident enough to come out from under the chest, he let us stroke him and play with him for a short while - before going and hiding behind the grandfather clock in the corner of the room...
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| Lucca squeezed behind the grandfather clock. |
By the middle of the afternoon, though, both cats seemed to be feeling a little more relaxed and started settling into their new surroundings.
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| Feeling more at home. |
After a delicious lunch courtesy of Mum, we had a visit from my friend Louise in the afternoon, who got to meet Lucca and Florence. It was great to catch up with Louise briefly, but it felt odd to be saying goodbye knowing that the next time we saw her it might be when she comes to visit in Italy!
We stayed the night in Bristol, and the cats got up to all of their usual tricks during the night: attacking our feet while we slept (and Mum's and Dad's - not the best way to ingratiate themselves!), jumping on shelves, knocking things over, hissing at each other, and general messing about. ALL night. It was nice to know they seemed to be feeling more like their usual selves, but by the morning I felt like I had only managed about 20 minutes sleep!
We left Bristol straight after an early breakfast as we still had so much to do back in Abingdon. It was horrible having to leave our little cats behind, even though we know for sure that they will be very well loved and cared for - and when we got home the house felt very empty without them.
Mum and Dad updated us today to say that both cats seem to be coming round to the idea of being in their new temporary home, and getting used to Mum and Dad. It's a relief to know they are doing well, but we still miss them!
~ Helen
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