Jasmine's Journey

We weren't able to take Jasmine with us on our journey to England. Even if we wanted to fly 7 plus hours with her, all the steps and efforts to get pets into England wasn't worth it. So she had to stay here. We weren't sure what do to with her, but finally our friend Michelle offered to take Jasmine in. The only problem is Michelle has two other kitties. Those of you who know Jasmine, know she isn't nice to strangers. We didn't know how she was going to react to other cats, but we knew it wasn't going to be good.

We took Jasmine over to Michelle's one night and she was so upset, we couldn't even approach her carrier, let alone open it up for her. The next week, we tried again, forced her out of the carrier, but weren't able to get her back in. We had let her out in Michelle's guest bedroom and she and hidden under the bed. When we tried to take her home, she began swatting and hissing at Gavin and me, really upset and angry. It was terrifying and really upsetting to see her like that. We left her that night and went to Michelle's the next day to see if we could get her. We got much of the same reaction. She hissed when we got too near her and wouldn't let us grab her. Gavin and I were sitting on the floor, waiting to see if she would come to us. She did come out from under the bed, but walked to her food and started eating while growling. One of the funniest things we have ever heard. I knew that that moment, she would be okay. Not happy, but okay. Eventually, I took a book in the room, laid on the bed and ignored her. Within minutes she hopped up next to me wanting to cuddle. I pinned her down, shoved the unhappy kitty in the carrier and we went home.

The day we left for England, we took her to Michelle's and let her out in the guest bed room. Once again, she bolted under the bed and refused to come out. Our last view of Jasmine was her hiding under the bed, growling at everyone.

Michelle had a couple of rough months with Jasmine. Jasmine wasn't very nice. She'd hiss and growl at everyone and everything. I'm sure it was extremely frustrating for Michelle.

While Michelle was working in her yard one day, she noticed Jasmine watching her from the window.

And once she noticed Michelle looking at her, she began to hiss again.
Eddie, one of Michelle's cats, really wanted to be friends with Jasmine. He finally had enough of her uppity attitude and went to go visit her under the bed.
It took Jasmine a little bit to realize how good she had it there. Michelle pampered the little princess. She got her own room, soft food every day, and friends to play with. Much better than how she has it at our house.

Jasmine eventually appeared more and more from underneath the bed. Michelle said that her and the other kitties would be sitting downstairs and Jasmine would observe them from the stairs.

She still wasn't quite sure in this one, but had her fuzzy blanket with her.
Soon, Jasmine began to explore the house and find other blankets to sleep on.
Michelle even let her take excursions outside. Jasmine was spoiled rotten there. :)

She and Eddie became friends about the last month and a half we were there. She wasn't friends with the girl cat, Cami, as much. Jasmine would stalk and chase Eddie all over the house, which must has been quite the sight since Eddie weighs over twice as much as Jasmine does.
Soon, Michelle got to see the snuggly, cuddly Jasmine that Gavin and I know and love. Our favorite story from Michelle was the time she thought she had lost Jasmine. She looked everywhere in the House for her, but couldn't find her. She went back into the guest room and noticed a bump in the middle under the covers. Jasmine has crawled her way under the blanket to take a nap. We probably should have warned that Jasmine had a habit of doing that when it got cold.
Jasmine even began cuddling with Michelle. Michelle said that the second she would sit down, Jasmine would hop up in her lap.

All three kitties on the couch.

Her and Eddie hanging out.

She started sleeping in the other cats' cat beds, so Michelle went and got her one of her own. However, the silly girl won't sleep in it at our place.

When we went to pick Jasmine up, we were hoping for, at the very least, that should wouldn't be openly hostile with us. She wasn't incredibly happy to see us, but she didn't hiss or growl at us. I think she recognized us, just not in that setting. Michelle said she reacted better to us and any visitor she had had while we were gone. She was still pretty agitated and we couldn't get too close to her. We decided to ignore her and not look at her to see what happened. She ended up jumping on my lap, demanding attention from me. As soon as we got her in her carrier and home, she was just like the Jasmine we knew before we left.

Thanks Michelle for taking care of her! It was really assuring to know that Jasmine was in good, extremely patient hands!