One Month has Passed

 ZaP update:

Not much has changed after a month. Zuzu and Petal are still genuinely frightened of us. If we sit in a chair next to theirs (down closer to their level), we seem to be able to assuage some of their fears, but when we stand back up, they push into the back corners of their chair while eyeing us with mistrust. If we take too many steps toward them while standing, one or both of them will jump out of the chair to escape us.

I am doing all I can to appear gentle and loving, but I have never felt so much like an ogre.

Zuzu's fear is expressed with growling and barking when she first hears us approaching or entering their room after being elsewhere for even a short time. And during some nights she seems to have night terrors, barking for no discernible reason when it's dark and the windows are all covered with curtains. And it really does sound like genuine fear. (We keep one small lamp lit in their room.)

Petal has never made a single noise that we have been able to hear or record. Not even a whimper.

Based on all we have seen, they are both completely harmless, in spite of Zuzu's posturing. And they are both as sweet as can be.

The previous owners of our house installed a small pet door (after removing a glass pane that was at ground level). Pixie never used or even knew about the door, and it's a messy installation with ugly black tape and an old warped door flap, so we have just been keeping it covered and blocked. One night Zuzu managed to unblock it and pop off the cheap cover, and it has been her door ever since. Apparently, she knew exactly what it was. So now we keep it open for most of the day, and she goes out repeatedly, but always comes back to Petal before too much time has passed. We block the door at night (with better blocks) because she's tiny—and looks even tinier—and we have seen some pretty large owls around here. I will soon replace the pet door with one that is properly installed and more worthy of Zuzu's adventures.

Zuzu still never goes outside or steps into the house (beyond their room) if she thinks we might see her. But she seems to be gaining a sense of ownership of the back yard, so we make sure she has plenty of time to make the rounds (and we sometimes watch her via additional cameras I have installed).

Petal watches Zuzu go out, and she can often see her when she's in the yard, but she just stays in her chair, all day every day, except to use the papers, which she does only when my wife and I seem to be out of range. Then she's right back in the chair. If we didn't know she was moving around the room during the night (and sometimes still playing pretty hard, wrestling with Zuzu and pinning her down with headlocks and such), we would be worried about muscular atrophy. They both still stop playing every minute or two, to look at all the windows and doors from which we might be observing them. When they don't see us, they continue.

And yes, Petal still needs a haircut.