Miss Itty is being fostered through the West Columbia Gorge Humane Society, a no-kill shelter in Washington State tucked along the banks of the mighty Columbia River.

Pretty Princess Green Itty – 2016 © Colehauscats.com

We’ve been fostering pretty Miss Itty for three months now. In that time, we’ve learned a lot about each other.

She doesn’t growl as much as she did when she first arrived. That’s not saying she rarely growls. It means, to our neighbors anyway, it doesn’t sound like we’re barbequing a cat every night now. Growling is a form of communication with Miss Itty and doesn’t always mean she’s angry, surprisingly enough. We’ve started picking her up every day at least once (something she very much dislikes) to give her a hug and head kisses… because a hug and kisses makes everything better, right?

During this “procedure,” Miss Itty growls, but not a “I’m going to kill you while you sleep” growl. More like a “When I get bigger, I’m going to do the same to you” kind of growl. Subtle, but different.

Pretty Itty prefers fountains over water bowls – 2016 © Colehauscats.com

Pretty Kitty Itty (a.k.a. PKI) wishes we would buy her a water fountain for every room in the house because everyone knows water bowls of every kind and every style suck. Keep dreaming, pretty girl.

Miss Itty’s Puss in Boots eyes – 2016 © Colehauscats.com

In the last couple of weeks, Miss Itty has started, slowly, to play on her own. Doesn’t happen too often but what a joy to see! We’ve seen a lot of cats play and we’ve seen the big Puss In Boots eyes look, but no one does them better during playtime than Miss Itty.

Miss Itty has a goofy side – 2016 © Colehauscats.com

Goofing around with Miss Itty – 2016 © Colehauscats.com

Lately, she’s taken to following Mom around the house. Upstairs, downstairs, into the bathroom (c’mon, you know your cats do that, too). Mom thought it was pretty cute.

Sun Stripey Miss Itty – 2016 © Colehauscats.com

But then we had a stretch of cloudy days and Miss Itty seemed both restless and grumpy. It seemed she was following Mom around in hopes Mom would show her a sunny spot, maybe even to turn the sunshine back on. And that made us think maybe Miss Itty has Seasonal Affective Cat Disorder (SACD). No worries, she soon discovered we have heated cat beds located on the cabinets in front of a south-facing window. Not quite the same, but she’s since claimed one for herself.

Her next vet appointment to check her ears for polyp regrowth is sometime in June. She still gets ear drops twice a week and regular visual checks to make sure her ears aren’t getting dirty (or that potatoes aren’t growing in there). And she’s sticking to her Hill’s ZD special diet for food and skin sensitivities. She’s cleaning herself more often, making sure at least fifty percent of her furs are in place. And we think her fur looks downright gorgeous now.

Miss Itty is a good girl and we’re enjoying helping her feel proud and confident, like she should feel.

Proud and Confident Miss Itty – 2016 © Colehauscats.com