We cleaned the house the other day so I picked up the cats toys and Turbo Scratcher and put them on the bed so I could vacuum. At that point, Frankie decided he wanted to play with the Turbo Scratcher.
Then Chris shows up and the fun stops.
I have introduced many cats to our household over the years and it is never easy but usually after two or three days the war is over except for some minor skirmishes now and then. This time the war lingers on after eight days. It is getting better though. This weekend has been a bit of a turning point and the war has gone from the Civil War to the Cold War.
I did not expect Chris to be this bad. When we introduced Puck, Chris was eager to play with him. It was Tigger who had the problem. I can’t say it is all Chris’s fault though. Frankie gets very defensive when Chris or Puck enters the room and hisses and growls at them. Puck does the right thing and keeps his distance but Chris is undeterred and pushes forward, causing Frankie to retreat under the bed or stand his ground and fight.
Sometimes a fight starts just because Chris is too close. He seems curious about Frankie and wants to smell him but Frankie feels the need to defend himself. Other times Chris wants to show Frankie who is boss and will Chase him under the bed. We were leaving the house today and as I was locking the door I saw Chris chase Frankie out of the living room and down the hall. Out of pure impulse I went back in the house and chased Chris from the bedroom making a show of stomping my feet as I followed him out to the patio. I think I might have over did it though because it looked like I scared Chris. I felt bad about it but I also think Chris needed to learn that what he was doing was not acceptable.
We did have some good moments this weekend and I think we can at least leave the bedroom door open when we are gone. There was one moment yesterday when the two of the smelled each others nose without a fight starting. They also spent time together on the patio, although not too close.
Frankie keeps a watchful eye on Chris.
Frankie, enjoying some time on the patio, has to keep an eye on Chris and Puck.
Puck made it to the second perch but Frankie’s hisses forced him back to the table.
Things are slowly getting better. A little too slow for my taste but we don’t know what kind of trauma Frankie went through before we took him home. He may just need more time before he trusts the other cats. I think he might also have to accept Chris’s role as the alpha or we may never see peace.
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, before we introduced Frankie and turned our house upside down. I also thought this would be a good photo for Valentine’s Day.
Saturday Rose and I were discussing Valentine’s Day and she surprised me by saying that instead of jewelry, I could get her a Bengal cat. She then added that a Snowshoe cat would be acceptable too.
We were in the car so I brought up Petfinder.com on my phone but there were very few that met her criteria. The ones that were listed were a fair distance away. They also had photos that were poor and descriptions that were almost non-existent. There was one possibility at the Hillsborough County Animal Shelter but they don’t answer their phones on the weekend and their description on Petfinder did not even mention the age, sex or temperament of the cat. I don’t understand why shelters don’t do a better job promoting their “detainees.”
We happened to be near a shelter called The Suncoast Animal League (where I once volunteered) so we decided to look there. There was a female Siamese cat that I thought was very friendly but Rose didn’t like her eyes. They were blue around the outside and had a reddish glow in the middle. Rose thought she looked evil but I would have taken her.
Next we went to The Humane Society of Pinellas County in Clearwater. I was impressed with how the cats were housed there. They had very large cages outside but under cover. Each cage was (and I’m guessing) about five feet by ten feet and housed between two and four cats. The cages were tall and there were structures for the cats to climb on or go inside. If I was a cat waiting for my forever home, I would want to wait there.
While we were there we saw a black and white kitten named Wilma. She was a frisky little girl and Rose liked her but someone else was in the cage with her so we decided to look around and come back. When we did come back that other person had already committed to adopting her.
From there we went to Petsmart in Clearwater, not far from the Humane Society. We found a three-year old gold and white cat that seemed very friendly. When he was brought out of the cage he immediately climbed on my shoulders, just like Chris did when I met him. Actually, Chris dug his claws in my back and scaled me like a mountain so it may not have been just like that. He then went to Rose’s shoulders and started treading (Rose calls it Marching) on her sweater while holding a piece of it in his mouth.
We decided to adopt him even though he was not the female Bengal or Snowshoe Rose was looking for. He was from the Pinellas County Animal Services and didn’t even have a name, just a number, B311304. We had to change that because we couldn’t call him B311304. I mean it is hard to remember. What if I accidently called him B311340? I wouldn’t want to confuse the little guy. Rose decided to name him Frankie after the Snowshoe cat that we wanted months ago but waited too long to decide and lost him (see here).
When we got him home we didn’t separate him from the other cats, which we should have, but Chris has never given a new cat a hard time and Puck is so friendly we didn’t think there would be a problem. We opened the cage door in the living room and the cat made a beeline for the spare bedroom and under the bed, where he remains as I write this. He came out for five or ten minutes on Sunday while we had the door closed and the other cats locked out. He was very friendly and let us pet him but he then went back under the bed and did not come back out until after we left for work yesterday (Monday).
Frankie was out from under the bed for a short time Sunday.
Frankie was “marching” and sucking on the blanket.
When I got home yesterday evening from work, he was lying on the bed in the spare bedroom. I closed the door that morning so he could have peace from the other cats and it seems to have worked. He let me pet him for a good ten minutes while Chris sat at the doorway staring. I got up and pet Chris too so he wouldn’t feel left out.
Eventually Frankie got tired of the attention and batted at my arm and hissed at me. Our cat Sneakers used to come around for attention and then bite you when he had enough. I hope he is not going to be like that. I did notice he did not extend his claws when he batted me. We were not informed that he was declawed (which I would never do to an animal) so I need to check that when I can do it without upsetting him more.
Frankie eventually ended up back under the bed again. I’m a bit worried because, as far as I can tell, he has only used the litter box I left in the bedroom once since Saturday. I plan on closing him inside the bedroom again today. Hopefully he will come out and do his business.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night keeps Chris from wanting to go outside. There have been times when I have come home at night during a cold rain only to have Chris slip past me and run outside. Once out, he doesn’t care that he is getting wet. He only cares that he is outside.
Last weekend he was begging me to open the door on the patio and let him out, despite the fact that it was foggy and wet. I complied and he ran out and immediately started eating grass. He must be getting old. Two years ago he would have raced out the door to look for lizards (see here), now he just eats grass. Granted, he does other things too, but he always starts with the grass.
Since the first day Chris graced our home with his presence, he has had a fighting spirit. He would attack the other cats, hoping to find someone willing to play with him but would instead just get growls and hisses.
That changed when we got Puck, who was a kitten at the time and is now about a year and a half old, still young enough to keep up with Chris. That may change when Puck matures and Chris doesn’t, but we shall see.
The other night the two of them got into a major fight, taking it from one room in the house to the next.
My box, stay away!
Oww! You’ll pay for that, Puck!
This should show you who is boss around here. (Chris will sometimes hold Puck down by the scruff to show dominance)
No, wait! That tickles.
Let’s dance.
Do you want a face full of this?
You can’t hide from me!
Who’s the boss now, Chris?
We are fortunate that our two cats, while they fight a lot, are also friends. By that I mean Puck is able to tolerate Chris’s behavior and occasionally put him in his place when necessary.
Last week I showed you what I go through when I try to make our lunches in the morning (see here). I mentioned that puck takes lettuce out of my salad. This time I caught him stealing spinach straight from the package.
Are these vegetables organic?
I believe in an ideal world, every indoor cat would have a cat-door leading to an outside area tightly enclosed by a cat-proof fence so the cat could come and go as they please. Of course, this is not an ideal world so we have to make due with what we have. In our case, I try to let the cats outside for a supervised “recess” once or twice a week.
I think being able to run around outside, eat grass and soak up the sun is good for them. I also think there are many dangers outside which is why I won’t let them out unless I have the time to make sure they stay close to the house. It can be difficult to watch them when both cats are out at once but Rose was out there yesterday for a second set of eyes.
They really enjoyed their time in the sun and both were in no hurry to go back inside when we tried to collect them.
I usually make lunch for Rose and myself every morning. This lunch usually includes a salad which Puck waits for so he can steal a piece of lettuce. I don’t know why. Perhaps he thinks he is a rabbit.
Chris can’t have Puck on the counter without himself being up there to make sure he is included on anything good that might be given out.
Our cat Puck has a few favorite spots in our house. Of of them is on the ledge between the kitchen and living room. From there he has a cat’s-eye view of most of the house. It is also a good place to get attention from one of the two-legged creatures that will occasionally walk by. The ledge is also a great place for jumping to the china cabinet, another of Pucks favorite spots.
