Cats and cozy spaces

New cat update and a reflection

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Hi, friends. I don't know if any of you have been as anxious for this update as I have been, but I'm excited to share about our new fur babies!

This is Tabitha:

Her paperwork listed her as a "tabbico" which is a mix of basic tabby and calico. She's got the more usual tiger stripes with spots of orange all over.

Tabitha reminds me of autumn; she's sweet and cozy; she's cinnamon rolls and pumpkin spice. Tab is a complete mush who was immediately very affectionate and melted in my arms the first time I met her. She's a kneady baby who loves to snuggle close for long periods.

And this is Kit:

Kit is all black with the exception of a few random white hairs. Her eyes look very gold in direct natural light but otherwise appear more green.

Kit is my Halloween cat; she's dark and playful; she's one with the shadows and also possibly part goblin. Kit took just a bit longer to open up because she was being fostered and experienced the shelter setting for the first time the same day we met her and brought her home, so there was a lot more for her to adjust to all at once, but she's very affectionate. Like any kitten, she will love you with her tiny knives claws, but she's also getting more cuddly every day.

Tabbycat is just about 9 months old, and KitKat is coming up on 8 months. Both Kit and Tab were fostered by the same family and lived together briefly before, so it felt fitting to adopt them together, and I couldn't be happier with our decision.

The cats have naturally had a bit of an adjustment period, and while they were first getting acclimated in our front room, I spent a large portion of my days in that part of the house, which I normally don't do. My go-to cozy spots in the house are the den and my bedroom, but since their safe space was more limited, I left mine a lot more than I'm used to, and it took me a few days to realize how hard this actually was on me.

I had a busy weekend before bringing them home and already needed time to recover, but instead of cocooning in my bed or on the couch like I normally would, I was sitting out in the other room and not truly resting as much as I really needed. I started spending long periods cuddling with our dog, River, on the couch to help me regulate in between visiting with the cats to help them get more comfortable.

It's difficult to get a good picture of River because she tends to notice me holding up my phone toward her and won't hold still, but on this day we snuggled for a really long time and she was super mellow and sweet.

Thankfully, the cats have been adjusting pretty steadily and are now able to explore more of the house, meaning they can now snuggle with me in bed, which is my favourite thing. But I was reminded over the last week or so about how much I really rely on my own safe spaces to stay regulated and to reset.

As a late-diagnosed autistic, I've always known I was a homebody, but especially since having kids and getting burnt out, it's been really important to make a smaller cozy space within that, and I'm realizing now just how big of a part that actually plays in my well-being. I've worked a lot on making the bedroom feel as cozy as possible, and I feel really content when I'm there — especially at this very moment, as I'm writing to you from my bed with a cat on my chest. 🧡

Anyway, as the cats get more comfortable and find their favourite spots in the house, it just reminded me how crucial mine are, and I'm feeling grateful for that and wanted to share.

Thanks for joining me to fawn over my cats. I'm sure they will feature in many future posts. I hope you enjoyed this little update, and I'd love to hear from you in the comments. And as always, feel free to share if this resonated with you.