Meet Delilah the Cat

For our one year anniversary, J bought me the best present ever, a tortie cat!  She is beautiful; her coat is black with orange and cream speckles, she has white paws, her face is half black, half orange striped, and her little nose is white, like she stuck it in a bowl of milk.  The cutest thing is that she loves to lay on her back and have her soft white tummy rubbed.

Delilah and her brother were in the bottom crate of the cat rescue center we adopted her from.  The vet determined that she is 2 years old, and she had been in that tiny cage since she was a kitten.  We took her home and put her in the bathroom.  Bathrooms are a great place to transition a new kitty to your home because there are not many places to hide, something they do when they are scared or stressed.  She was so affection starved she wanted us to keep petting her for hours.  She is a friendly cat, something I am thankful or, and went up to greet any of the visitors we brought in to see her without hesitation.   

It's hard to tell, but she is nestled between the shower curtain and liner in this picture.

We eventually opened up the bathroom door to let her out into the rest of the apartment, but our little kitty was perfectly content in the small bathroom, and after having been in a dark small crate her whole life, she was afraid of our "huge" apartment. One time, we took her out and quickly shut the bathroom door so she couldn't run back in, and she had a mini panic attack, shaking and meowing; it was so pathetically cute!


Jason, fed up with having a bathroom cat who cowered next to the toilet all day, moved her food bowls into the kitchen.  Delilah was forced to venture into the big world to get her grub.  This was a great move on Jason's part.  She almost instantly went from being a "scaredy cat" to being queen of the castle.

The pet rescue place warned us that once she was comfortable, she would go through the kitten phase she never had since she had been in the cage.  "Kitten phase" is an understatement.  Delilah is a little ball of energy!  She has a cold and sniffles and sneezes all day, but you wouldn't know it, because it doesn't slow her down.  She is all about playing.  As soon as I get home from work, she stands expectantly by the closet where we keep her toys, waiting for some fun.  

I haven't been sleeping well lately.  Delilah hates when Jason and I go to bed.  She bats at our hair, sniffs our faces, and plays with any exposed hands or feet.  When we put her out of the room she meows longingly.  I read online that this is how cats try to assert dominance over their owners.  When they disrupt your sleep, they are saying that you should revolve around their schedule and needs, and not the other way around.  We don't want our cat to dominate us, so we have been trying to teach her that we are the alphas in our home.  The article I read advised pulling the covers over your head and ignoring them when they do this.  Easier said than done.  It's like when you were a kid and your mom told you about the little boy who teased you in school, "he just wants attention, because he likes you. if you ignore him, he will stop."  They never stopped, and neither does Delilah.  This morning at 5am when I pulled up the covers and tried to ignore the fact that she was biting my hands, she burrowed under the sheet and sneezed on my face!  RUDE!

Any of you cat lovers have any suggestions for the night time attacks?

Xoxo E