This dear girl of ours had been having a really hard time living with us.

Angelica has been jumpy and easily spooked since the day I brought her home. Loud noises scare her. Clipping her nails scared her. Even visits from my kindhearted sisters would leave her trembling in my arms and feeling desperate to hide under my bed. When she did get a chance to escape, she would leave a faint pile of fur behind, having shed her glorious tri-colored coat in fear.

We figured this was just her personality and that was all there was to it! Her mama had been one anxious kitty. Our Jelly Belly was just like her mama, that’s all.

We made it through the school year. Because I taught half time, I would teach every other day while the boys stayed in for daycare. Jelly was fine with this arrangement. Once we were home, she’d go into hiding until bedtime. As soon as the kids had fallen asleep, she would slink out from one of her many hidey holes and make straight for Taylor’s lap.

Taylor was her very favorite person 🙂

However, we hit a big bump in the road when the school year ended, and we were all home fulltime for the summer.

Jell Bells did not take that well.

Instead of having to hide only half of the time, she now felt she could never leave the safety of my bedroom. And once the boys figured out her hiding place (and would crawl under the bed to chase her out), then she felt truly desperate and out of control. Eventually Jelly found a new hiding place, but now refused to come out, not even for the litter box or to eat. She’d always been smaller than average, but she was getting thinner.

Shocked at the anxiety that this dear kitty was enduring, we took her straight in to the vet. This did not go well. She mewled and howled the entire drive there, and refused to leave her carrier once we were planted in the sterile room. The children felt sorry for her, and tried to comfort her. This only disturbed her more. She had zero love for the strange man that took her away for a couple tests and zoomed right back into her carrier once he was finished. Clearly, the world was too horrid to endure outside of a dark hidey hole!

The vet confirmed that Jelly Bean Bamboozlers had developed a UTI based on her heightened stress levels and refusal to pee with so much activity in the house. I asked him the question that had been burning on my mind since she started to refuse food outside of my room. Was it all bad to rehome a pet? Would the shock of a new home hurt her even more than she was in?

The good vet understood and explained to me that rehoming her would very likely increase her quality of life. If we decided to keep her, we would likely need to keep her on anxiety medication and use some sort of pheromones wall plugins to saturate the air with chemical calmness. While I would certainly love to have wall flowers like that (cuz ya girl has real bad anxiety of her own), it seemed bonkers to me that we would quite literally have to drug our cat just so that she would feel an ounce of calmness in our noisy and active household. That did not feel like a home suited for this dear baby who thrives in quiet, calm, and limited cuddling and unlimited chin selfies.

Still, Taylor, I, and the kids all loved this sweet girl. We had brought her home as a kitten. On the rare occasion that she would entreat us with her antics, we saw how funny and fantastic she was. By far, she was the better hunter of the two siblings. And she gave Junior a good run for his money in a tackle fight. But she mothered him, too. After each play session, or whenever Junie looked a little too disheveled for her liking, she would (literally) sit on him and lick his fur back into shape. The thought of separating these two was a tough one to consider 😦

Just look at those sweet cuddle bugs!

Taylor and I hemmed and hawed over it for a couple days. However, our little ones couldn’t resist giving her a good chase if she dared sneak out for air. She forced herself to vomit her anxiety medicine. We loved her, yes, but we didn’t have the ability to care for her needs in the specific way that she needed them.

After a hearty discussion at our weekly meeting, Tay and I said a prayer to God asking if she would be okay in a new home. After a few minutes of waiting, I distinctly saw (in my mind’s eye) little Angelica trotting on the carpet my parents had installed in their new home. I felt peace about it. Taylor did as well.

So we made an emotional phone call to my parents, asking if they would like to adopt this sweet little cat. They agreed!

Hoping for the best, we said our goodbyes to our sweet girl.

I slept on the couch the first night at my parents’ house with Angelica in tow. She refused to come out of hiding for the first while and was NOT interested in these new adults who were trying hard to pamper her with sweets and toys. If she did look at me, it would be only to pass a sparing disgusted glance. During the nighttime, I heard her creeping around, just a little bit, trying to figure out where on earth I had brought her.

The next morning, Her Lovely Kittiness had tucked herself away into a new hidey hole. I called for her, but she didn’t come. I left with a prayer in my heart that she & my parents would adjust okay.

Turns out, I didn’t need to worry one single bit.

Within a few days, Angelica realized what all animals realize at some point in their lives: my mom is the greatest human in the world and has the perfect lap for cuddles. She was first smitten with my mom, and then became OBSESSED. She took immediately to her new name that mom gave her: “Lillyanna”. We call her “Lilly” for short (although I sometimes call her Jelly for fun 🙂 )

In the months that Lilly Billy has lived there, she has become more social. She loves my parents as much as they love her. Every morning she wakes them for an early morning treat and begs at night for zoomies with the laser pointer. Lilly has even put on a couple pounds! No longer is she the runt of the litter. Lilly looks like a healthy, normal sized cat. (This is both thrilling and depressing. I didn’t realize how much she had starved herself when she lived with us 😦 But I’m so relieved that her anxiety has eased for her to live a normal kitty life.)

Today, Lilly still refuses to have anything to do with little persons or outsiders. She’ll even hiss at Taylor or I if we ever seek her out from a hidey hole. (She hasn’t liked me too much lately because 1) I abandoned her, 2) I usually visit my parents and come bearing children in tow, and 3) I routinely clip her nails. All horrible, evil things to do to her.) But she has improved immensely. We are thrilled that Lilly is finally happy and that my parents have found great companionship in this little cat. Rehoming has been a gift.

Love you Jelly Belly! I’ll be over next Sunday to clip your nails 🙂