After the death of Mister Puss, we decided to look for a new feline friend for our remaining cat, Clara. Clara is a much more sociable creature than Mister Puss; she enjoyed teasing him (he hated it) and often tried to play with him (occasionally he did play but he was more likely to swear at her or give her a clip round the ear). And while Mister Puss would be furious to think of any other cat on his patch, and so soon, we started this search very quickly. Quite apart from being able to offer an animal a new home sooner rather than later, we were conscious of there only being one week of school holidays left. Cat introductions are not always easy, it seems, and we thought it would be best if we were able to give everyone lots of attention. Also, to be honest, it distracted from missing Mister Puss and his ginger ways.
As luck would have it we discovered an animal rescue centre very near to where we live, and they had kittens! We made an appointment to visit. The centre re-homes all its kittens in pairs, so there would be two new friends for Clara instead of one. I was pleased about this, I think being a kitten and being removed from both your mother and your siblings must be tough. (Though perhaps I project too much.)
Once we’d explained what we were after, Sonja, the lady in charge, told us that they did not recommend introducing kittens to a household where there was already a cat. I was surprised! She explained that it’s hard to tell very much about a kitten’s character, especially as to whether it will be a sociable cat or not, and if it happened that one of the kittens turned out to be aggressive with other cats (it seems there is a genetic factor here, so one sibling may be friendly and another not) then there would be trouble down the line. Instead, she recommended a sociable cat closer in age to Clara.
Or, in fact, two, because we’d sort of forgotten that there was the option of just adopting one cat. Sonja introduced us to some pairs of cats of Good Character. I did have the wit to ask whether she thought bringing two adult cats home would freak Clara out more than one, but Sonja thought not. And of course we were charmed by these sweet-tempered, friendly cats. So Olaf and Nala came home with us.
Olaf is enormous and very curious. He has climbed up every cupboard in the house, not always with very pleasing results, and if you open a drawer or a door his black-and-white face appears at your elbow, having a good nose inside. Sometimes he sits beside me and presses a paw against my chest. I am not sure what this means. The first night someone managed to knock over the cake tin and gnaw on a fruit scone, and I think it was him.
Nala, a little tortoiseshell cat, is more nervous and shy. She loves being stroked and cuddled, and she’ll climb onto your lap but then go completely loopy and knead your legs frenetically and bounce on and off again many times before settling down.
The two of them have played all over the house and spent yesterday evening both sleeping in my lap while I tried to read. They seem pleased with their new home, as far as I can tell, and are settling in.
But what of Clara? Well, she is not exactly overjoyed to say the least, and it is painful to see her avoiding her own home. However, she has taken it much better than Mister Puss did when she arrived three years ago. She stays mainly outside but pops in and out to give the newbies Hard Stares and they stare back. Clara growls a bit at Nala but I think she’s intimidated by Olaf. That may not seem good but I am actually hopeful: I think that these situations are always difficult at first but get better. Still, if anyone has any tips on smoothing the path to kitty friendship, I should love to know them...
(The first three photographs are of Clara, the next of Olaf, the last of Nala)