Spencer Cassadine Lives Under My Bed

I trapped two male siblings in spring 2022 from Allegheny West. Mama was trapped a few weeks later.

My naming protocol was based on soap opera characters. Mama became Helena Cassadine. Her boys were Stefano DiMera and Spencer Cassadine.

Stefano is a love bug albeit an 18 lb love bug. We adopted him after realizing he had a seizure disorder. Spencer was very bashful.

We took him back a few socialization steps and crated him in our bedroom. He had access to the full room during the day, but slept and ate in the crate.

We eventually released him into the house to give Helena a chance to try the crate. That was great for her, but not for him. It was a mistake.

All he wanted was to be back in our room with his window perch and his BFF Kinzua. Eventually, he fled to the attic.

When I returned home in March 2024, I incorporated behavior tools – pheromone sprays. Interactive games. More trees. More scratching posts. Water fountains. Play time every day with my narration.

Spencer came down infrequently..

I put a cat bed and a fabric tunnel under my bed. There are multiple entrances and exits. Every afternoon is snacktime under the bed and in the attic.

Spencer divides his time between the attic and my bedroom. He sleeps on the bed and in the tunnel. He comes out daily to visit me. If Kinzua is around. Spencer is glued to his side.

At night, he curls up with me.

I can pet him. He freaks about being picked up as do other cats. I’m confident I can get him in a carrier, but he’ll need a gabapentin beforehand and perhaps more at the vet.

Spencer is so tightly bonded with Kinzua, imprinted even, that I can’t imagine separating them.

I wish we could go back and change the decisions that left him secluded and traumatized. Beyond kicking him into the house too soon, Spencer was removed from his home by sneaky people who tricked me when I was ill. I cannot imagine how traumatizing that was for him – being dragged out, taken to a strange place, then returned to find his human gone. I was gone for 196 days after I was also dragged out and held against my will, then found my human gone.

Standing up for Spencer cost me everything. I don’t know when he returned. I cried for him and the other cats.

My first night home, he came into my room. That began our recovery journey.

The people who snuck into my home while I was sick to steal my cat are wretched creatures. They took advantage of my disability. They have never apologized to me or Spencer. I don’t know if they took other cats. Or that they care how much damage they wrought.

I will always come for him. We share a bond of abandonment, terror, and defiance. We still thrive and do what others claim is impossible.

But for now, we are healing. And he prefers Kinzua to me anyhow.