At last, the kitka!!!

Toby came home Thursday!!!

Not without drama - - Continental wouldn't accept his crate b/c it was top and side loading, so Animal Land cajoled them to let him fly San Antonio to Houston in it and then get him a new crate in Houston. Which they did and it is HUGE. By my measurements it's 15" x 18" but it looks even bigger than that.

Can't get back the crate I left him at Traveling Tails in - - it was abandoned at the airport, and haven't called Traveling Tails to see if they can send the bag of toys and mommy-clothes I left but Animal Land says they don't do that - - and postage is indeed very expensive - - but I may end up contacting them anyway. When my shipment gets here I was careful to pack his and my very favorite toys, blankie and grooming comb in a bag - - but my shipment arrival date keeps changing, so I will go to Tesco tomorrow and spend 3 pounds on grooming supplies for him. He is a bit grubby. They put newspaper in the crate but you can't put a litter box. Other expats who have had cats shipped say they usually smell of wee when they get here, and he did, but I gave him a lil bath with dishwashing liquid and he smells better. But I need a comb to groom him. He will give up a LOT of hair to get back to baseline. Combing used to be our morning ritual so hopefully we can get back to that.

He has settled in better than I thought he would. He got here about 2:30 on Thursday afternoon and I showed him around a bit, then fell asleep on the duvet on the floor. When I woke up and went to go find him he was tucked into a corner in the upstairs bathroom, apparently a little freaked, but since then he's back to following me around like a puppydog as he always has. He sleeps in the front windowsill a lot to keep an eye on the neighborhood. When it's warmer I'll let him be in the solarium, where he can see the back garden life, but it is still pretty cold out there even though I did manage to turn on the radiator.

He must have been sound asleep yesterday b/c when I got home and called for him I heard nothing at first, and then it took him a while to get his voice back. Do cats get jet lag???

IT IS JUST BEYOND WONDERFUL TO HAVE HIM BACK WITH ME!!!!!