Cat Update

We’re three months into the new three-cat regime at Grubb Street, and everyone seems to have settled in. The Lovely Bride and I have adapted to upgunning the household to multi-animal status, as well as adapting to the personality quirks of the various beasts (Emily, Harley, and Vic, for those coming in later).

First off, we’re still adjusting to larger amount of food and litter we have to pick up. Original cat Emily was eating a little dry food, a little wet, and we worried about her weight loss. Now, not only the two new cats are hoovering up everything in sight, but Emily’s appetite has rebounded. Indeed, she seems more alert now that she has two younger siblings to terrorize. Downside is that she wakes up at sunrise (6ish nowadays) in order to be fed.

Similarly, we're getting a lot more litter. The young kids are, shall we say, enthusaistic about their litter box duties, so that the gravel is frequently flung far from the box. We keep dustpans by all the litter boxes these days.

We’ve also become aware that we cannot leave things out on the counters anymore unless we want them to become cat toys. Of particular intereest to the new cats are tomatoes. Cats don’t eat tomatoes (Garfield aside, its bad for them), but the kids love to roll them around on he floor and bite them like they were little, red, oozy mice. So we have had a number of tomato-casualties, laying on the ground with little tooth marks puncturing their skin.

Both of the new cats are fascinated with the outside, particularly with the big backyard filled with birds, squirrels, and other cats. Harley is the one who wants to get out, which means that opening the outside doors always involves shoving her away to keep her from escaping. We have let the previous cats out, but they in general have had the sense to keep near the house and away from the road. I’m not sure that Harley is that smart.

Vic, on the other hand, is the cat-most-likely-to-be-accidentally-locked-in-a-closet. She moves around at the edges of rooms, very quietly, and often sneaks into any open space. We’ve taken to double-checking before we close doors to see if the ghost-cat has snuck in.

All three are lovable. Emily controls the bedroom and the bed, and stands on top of people who are (trying to be) asleep. Harley sprawls in the middle of the room. Vic remains standoffish, until she decides she wants attention, then she’s all over you.

All in all, its working out.

More later,