Here Kitty Kitty Kitty!

We are just over two weeks into our "Kick the Cats Out" project. After almost two weeks of fearing that we'd lost at least one cat, we can happily say that all three cats are still here. Not necessarily happy, but here.

It seems that they are doing the complete opposite of what we expected. The cat we expected to take to the outdoors with no problem (Izzy - the most recent addition), refuses to leave the garage unless one of us is standing in the driveway. Poe (the black one) will leave the garage occasionally, but has yet to get close to leaving the property. He will also continually scratch at the front door and meow his head off. Sort of in a "Ok guys, this isn't funny anymore" way. He also got into one minor fight with a neighbor cat. But it's Jack who is baffling us with his behavior. He hid for a few days and then apparently decided that being outside is the greatest thing in the world. I have routinely seen him happily prancing around the neighborhood up to two blocks away. He hasn't really acknowledged us again since we kicked him out, but at least we know that he comes home every night.

I'm sure once the weather starts to warm up, the other two cats will be more inclined to spend time outdoors. Unfortunately for them, the weather has been bipolar and crazy over the past few weeks, switching between sun, sideways rain and wind, freezing temps at night, and random snow showers.

In terms of how the humans are adjusting to having no cats in the house, there's been some mixed feelings. Sometimes I miss seeing them at my feet as I'm doing my homework and I definitely had a lot of guilt when we thought Jack had gone missing. But I am LOVING having my laundry room back and we're the midst of a laundry room makeover project. We're breathing a little clearer (except for the cold that has been hanging around the past week) and the upstairs is cleaner since it isn't coated with cat hair and cat litter. We're also sleeping so much better. Who knew that having three cats on your bed at night would disrupt sleep so much? Plus, now we get to have my brother in law over without killing him with cat dander!