The cats have been with us 24 hours now.

People bored by cat posts can look away now.

We had the Cat Woman come around yesterday who mostly just talked to us and gave various levels of advice (which ranged from That vet is quite expensive to why not put a cat-flap in your shed?) and said “Oh, I’m not
here to *inspect*” when I wanted to show her where we were going to put
things.

Not going to inspect? You mean we cleaned for nothing?

Then the choice was between picking the cats up yesterday or picking them up Saturday.

No dilemma there!

So they’re here. They were confined to the kitchen for about five hours,
but Fudge was showing signs of wanting to explore further and was given the run of the house, giving Smudge some peace.
Smudge made a dive for the cat pyramid as soon as I left the room (I put
the cat carriers down with the open doors and let them get on with it.)
I’ve not seen him leave the seclusion of the pyramid since, and whenever
you approach, his eyes go wide fearful. At one point, I opened the
kitchen door and saw Fudge’s head poking out of the pyramid, and Smudge was in the open cat bed, doing his utmost to cower and hide, covering his eyes in the fabric. As soon as Fudge was persuaded to leave the pyramid by the temptation of something more interesting like an open door, Smudge bolted back into privacy.

Fudge is confidently exploring, striding through every room and demanding
attention.

Smudge still hasn’t moved, in about 10 hours.

Will Smudge gain confidence? I’m starting to worry he might be ill, rather than timid.

They both have to go back to the rescue centre next week for their final
jabs.

–later–

OK, well Smudge has braved it out, sniffed a bit, and got around most of
the house now. At one point he accosted us on the sofa and insisted on
being stroked. So we did. He went mad, arching his back, jumping on us.

He’s making some really odd asthmatic noises in lieu of purring — is it
possible the collar has damaged his vocal chords?

Should we let them have the run of the house when we’re at work or shut
them in the kitchen?

–later–

They were shut in the kitchen overnight.  Smudge not happy at being picked up and moved, Fudge prepared to tolerate. P let them out when he got up and they spent a happy hour chasing each other up and down the stairs and “fencing” up and down the ladders stored on the landing.

Smudge has purred properly but his breathing is often audible. He hasn’t miaowed yet.  Could just be that Fudge won’t let him.
I left them with the run of the house, and as I locked the door behind me they were both dozing on chairs in the sitting-room as if they’d been there their whole lives.

They might get renamed. Fudge is halfway to becoming Leo on account of the mane.  When he’s not being called ‘my little Norwegian prince‘ — on account of the mane…

Advice asked on cix of the cat experts there revealed various stories about “only hiding ten hours?  When our cats were new they cowered for 10 days!”  “Only ten days?  Ours hid for months!” variety.