Classical Conditioning.

Pavlov's Dog or the Allen's Cat ... take your pick.

We knew when we bought our home that at some point we would have to consider moving TC too. Prior to moving we heard that cats generally don't move well. We thought, "GREAT! Our cat is already temperamental enough, why not throw in a 30 mile move to really get her going?"

Well, we didn't do our research ahead of time like we should have, but thankfully common sense led us down a pretty good path (I researched this morning and realized we've done most things correctly). This one sentence made me laugh though because we definitely did NOT follow appropriate protocal on the "transfer of the feline".

When it's time to go, put your cat in her carrier with a familiar blanket and transport her, properly secured with a seat belt, in the car - either wedged securely in the back or in the well behind the seats.

Seatbelt? Seriously? We definitely did the opposite. I mean, we HAD the "carrier" ie: cardboard box in the car, but being the irresponsible pet owners we are, we thought TC would have more fun riding in the car with us. FALSE! Cats are not like dogs when riding in a car. They don't tend to enjoy riding on your lap, head out the window taking in the smells. We had to drive about 40 miles/hour, we switched drivers twice and were fairly distracted by trying our darndest to keep her from going underneath the seats. Oh well, we all made it to Ruston alive so I guess we learned a valuable lesson.

I tease Grayson by telling him that TC is currently on probation until December 5th. This house has more rooms than our last which means more potential places for her cat hair. We are attempting to figure out how this new situation will work. And honestly, it's working out pretty well. We moved her only after we were done unpacking boxes and moving furniture, we keep the doors closed to all rthe rooms during the day which leaves her minimal shedding room and I think the move has enhanced our "pet/owner" bond (cheezy sigh here).

I thought I would try something new this go round with her though. We've been keeping her inside our house for about a week so we thought it might be time to let her begin exploring outside in brief increments. Instead of calling for her to come in, we have started training her to come when we ring a bell. It's actually working! We've used it 3 times now and she comes running home each time. This new system may be the key that allows TC to pass her probationary season to become a Ruston resident as well!

The only additional piece of info I learned this morning was that technically we should keep her inside for another 2 weeks or so, to learn the smells of the new house, before we let her out to explore. I figured we didn't do too badly on our own though so we may continue to let her out for a few minutes at a time, solely to improve her response to the bell.

And for those of you out there who think I'm serious about TC being on probation ... get real. I'd never kick her out because of her cat hair. It's just fun to say!