I'm at work, not working. It's not my best day. Last night I got 3 hours of sleep. You see yesterday my sweet and generous family brought home a stray kitten they found darting in-and-around traffic after school. I think he may have belonged to someone at some point, but it was obvious he had been fending for himself for at least a couple of weeks. Skinny, dehydrated, and under siege by dozens of fleas he was more than happy to be picked up and carried home in the strong and loving arms of WW. She said he looked "relieved". Our girls were trailing after her begging to hold/carry/put him in their backpack on the walk home from school.
We have three other pets, four if you count the fish. Two small yappy dogs and one beautiful and stately cat. Coincidental, they are all the same age, 1 year and 7 months at this point. We adopted yappy1 and yappy2 when they were 10 weeks old and we adopted our cat just 4 months ago. As pets go, they are all relatively new, especially our cat, Cowboy.
I have an odd history with cats, going way back to when I was 5, but I wont blog-on about that. I will say that when I met WW she had a beautiful cat, Astro, (he was about 2) who adored her and hated me...well, he resented me. After many years he started to like me, maybe even love me.
I had never had a cat that was friendly. My cats were always 1/2 feral strays that I just couldn't take to the animal shelter. So Astro and I grew on each other. By the time he died at 10, I really loved him and realized that he was an excellent cat.
The last year of his life, we got a kitten. It was a give away at the farmer's market. I'd never had a kitten before and I thought it would be fun, which was weird because I'm not a lover of cats. I am 99% a dog person. She (Pi) was great...for Astro. After a couple of days of posturing he did nothing but play with her, even when he was too sick to get up, he let her pounce on his head and jump over him while he batted listlessly at her. We always said that getting him a kitten was the best thing we ever did for him. He was so happy. After he died I realized he was the only cat that I ever bonded with.
Pi was an outdoor cat and a hunter and she never bonded with us, but she was incredibly docile with us...when she wasn't running away from us. You could hold her and bathe her while you were in the shower (WW was the only one brave and crazy enough to try that) and she would complain, but she would never scratch or bite...NEVER. But she lacked the need for human companionship or affetion, which made all of us very sad. Then one day, after 4 years, she just never came home which broke our hearts. I vowed to never have another cat...too much cat drama! After all, we would never find another Astro. Of course, WW thought I was crazy and wrong about not ever having another cat...but whatever...
Last summer we were boarding our dogs for a vacation and long story short, there was an office cat at the kennel who was up for adoption...and somehow through brainwashing and other mental and emotional finagling I agreed that we could adopt him...that's Cowboy. Yeah, and you guessed it, HE is the best cat in the world. I love him. He is different from our other cats because he is an indoor cat, but he does remind me a little of Astro. He is bigger than our dogs and he is not a bit afraid of them (grew up in a boarding kennel...he has seen a parade of far more impressive dogs). He even nibbles their dog food while THEY SIT AND WAIT, just to show them he's the boss! He's sweet, crazy, and he loves all of us.
After WW brought home the stray kitten, we did all the introductory stuff with our other pets. This tiny kitten, who maybe weights 2.5 or 3 pounds immediately commanded the dogs. No fear at all. But when Cowboy has responded very differently. He has attacked the kitten both times when near each other. It's not the posturing or the pecking order aggression, it's the "I'm gonna kick your ass all the way to Tuesday and back!" aggression.
So, I'm bummed about that. He's a sweet and loving little guy. The old me would not have entertained the idea of another pet, but I realize now that Astro wasn't the only great cat, there are others, not many, but some. So in the next few days we will see if things work out with the new guy. If not, some lucky person or family is going to get a really cool kitten. Funny thing too because Cowboy and the kitten look almost identical. I will try to get some pictures here of them.
I guess there isn't any random thoughts in this post...just cat drama. I should just go home now.
In other news, I am still not pregnant. HA! Funny right? Well, no, not so much.
3 comments:
I hope things work out between Cowboy and the new little guy. Sometimes it takes certain cats a little longer to accept a new feline in the house. I am first a cat person but boy do I love my dogs too. Great pets bring so much to our lives. Whatever happens the little kitten is sure lucky to have been picked up by your family. Good luck.
Oh, I am definitely a cat person, and I married one too. Can you believe that we had six cats when we got married? He had one, I had five. They've been slowing dying off, and we are now down to two.
Sometimes, cats need a slow introduction, like putting the new cat into a room with food and litter and keeping the door closed. That way, the cats can smell each other through the door to get used to each other without the shock of an immediate introduction. And, it can take a week or two for them to get used to each other a little bit. As for the fighting, well, even litter mates fight (my two remaining cats are litter mates).
Good luck with your new friend.
1. there is nothing insane about writing the longest post yet about your pets.
2. I agree with midlife mommy that cats need a slow intro, and they almost always work it out on their own. If mr. cowboy continues to beat the shit out of the little one, i would practice the cesar milan technique and hold cowboy on one side of your lap while holding little one on the other. if cowboy moves to strike, just hold him down with a firm but gentle hand until he begins to exist peacefully on one side of your lap while little guy exists on the other.
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