we've moved house!

Moving Day finally came this week, after weeks and weeks of delays and hassle and upset and frustration and crying and getting angry and researching into how one goes about suing their estate agents and solicitors.

It took more time, effort and heartache than I ever thought possible. It was a nightmare, but I’m too exhausted to go into the details right now. Either way, we’re in! Hooray! And Yoyo is settling in well. I was concerned that she would find the transition from a large, laminate-floored, double layered flat to a much smaller, carpeted, single-floor flat difficult to cope with, and it was the one thing I was worried about more than any other aspect of the move.

After the days and weeks of packing, plus the tension and frustration of the super stressful pre-move period, I was sure that she had sensed all of our stress and I was terrified that she would be so anxious in the run-up to the move that she would make herself ill - we certainly made ourselves ill with worry and anxiety, and she’s a very sensitive little thing. A week or so before the move, while we were still busy packing up our belongings, I ordered a Feliway plug-in. It came a few days before the last day of moving, and it’s now safely plugged in here in the new flat.

She seems completely changed – playful but not so scratchy or bitey, and certainly less shy and panicky. Being a rescue cat, she’s always been pretty nervous, but she has been very brave in the last week or so. She has hidden under the sofa a few times, when furniture has been being moved about, but she’s quite happy to come out and ask for belly rubs as soon as the noises die down. The carpet must be a nice change on her paws too, though it makes it very difficult for me to hear her prowling about – she’s even more of a ninja cat!

Now most of the furniture has been re-assembled and the big stuff is all in, she’s getting more confident and is happily exploring corners, burrowing behind drawers and frolicking in the bath tub. I thought it was just our last bathroom that she was particularly fond of, but it seems she’s just as fond of this new one – and this time it’s not just the bath: I found her sitting curled up in the washbasin yesterday.

Although the whole thing has been much harder on me than I had expected, and it will certainly take me some time to get used to the new place, Yoyo seems to be settling in nice and easily, and is getting back to her normal cheeky, mischievous self.

Phew! A happy meower makes me a happy Vixie!