Gidget

Hello all,

Gidget is safe and sound. Sandy, Mom, and Jimmie thank you for taking such excellent care of her. She looks healthy and happy.

On Tuesday I called the Pet Travel Scheme and asked how Gidget would be when we picked her up at Heathrow. I discovered that they would not only clean her up should she make any messes during her journey, but they have private little rooms with cat runs where they would keep her when she arrived. They also said that she would be a little scared, not eat a lot, and take a few days to really settle back down into her routines.

When we arrived at Heathrow on Tuesday evening I was totally expecting a shocked and silent kitty. I was also expecting it to last for a few days. I was worried that she wouldn't remember me, that she would be scarred for life, and that I had done the wrong thing. These feelings did not last long. As soon as I asked one attendant to bring me my kitty, another one came out and told me how lovely and friendly my cat was. She had been playing and petting herself against everyone who came in contact with her. When I heard this, I knew that Gidget was okay. Most of you know how friendly Gidget is, and if she could be that friendly after going through the whole airplane ride ordeal, I knew she would be alright. Finally they brought her out. Her eyes were dilated to the point where you couldn't tell what color her eyes were. She also was as silent as a tomb, which most of you who have met Gidget will know is not normally the case. She is very talkative. I just held her while John called for a cab and kept talking to her. She didn't really acknowledge me and looking back, I still think she was in a daze. By the time we got her into the back seat of the cab she started to meow and recognize me, at least that is what I suspected. My suspicions were confirmed on the train ride home when she continuously moved inside the container to whatever side I was closest to on the outside. If I was near the right front, that was where she would move to.

We got her home and placed her by the litter box. She walked out of her container on her own and I immediately picked her up, showed her the litter box and her food. She wandered around, meowing and sniffing at all the parts of the flat. Finally, within five minutes, she had used her litter box, eaten her food, scratched on her scratching pad, and discovered her bed. They said days . . . it took only minutes and my cat was rolling on her back, loving her new home. The first night she slept right by me, which is unusual, she usually sleeps at my feet. Needless to say, she recovered quickly, is eating like a pig, and is happy to be with her mommy. She follows me around still, loving to be in the room I am in. Even John has noticed and said he understands now why I couldn't part with her. She and I are too attached to each other.

Speaking of John. He referred to her before she arrived as his lodger, with rolling eyes and a bit of sarcasm. Now, Gidget has her own Facebook page, created by John, her own picture folder on John's PC (these are all pictures he has taken of her by the way, not me), and Gidget is starting to sit next to him or go to him almost as much as she goes to me. I don't think she is just a lodger anymore. . . .