The 1st 24 Hours

The first twenty four hours was rough. Around 2120 hrs the evening Alexander arrived, Haimish was in a right state. He was seething hatred for both the new arrival and myself. I immediately let Haimish into the living room and took Alexander into the bedroom.

Haimish spent the rest of the evening growling and hissing. This I could hear over the furnace in the space opposite the bedroom and above Jack Benny playing in my ears. Needless about the only one who got sleep that night was Alexander. No doubt he has slept through the odd hissie cat or two.

I got up about 0600 hrs and went to sleep on the couch. Haimish kept wandering around swearing and growling, but at about 0800 hrs, he jumped up on the couch with me and then began to purr.

About 0900 hrs I took Alexander for a drive to let Haimish have the entire apartment. Alexander at this point didn't have a carrier to be in so he was loose in the cab of the flea. But he quickly grew to going for a drive as after we left the veterinary clinic getting the cat food for both Haimish & Alexander, and by the time we got to the North Hill Alexander was sitting on my shoulder looking at the world pass by.

We bought a carrier for Alexander and the rest of the trip to get the groceries went without a hitch. We got back to the apartment and this little trip with Alexander seemed to help Haimish. He still hissed and growled but as the day rolled on, he didn't' hiss at me that much, and coming on the end of the day, he didn't hiss at all when I came back from visiting with Alexander.

About 2100 hrs last night, there was a major meltdown with the internet and cable in parts of Calgary, so to put up with the wee convenience, at 2130 hrs I went to bed. I was firing on 3 cylinders yesterday so when I went to bed, it wasn't too long before I got to sleep.

Where the night before I didn't get that much sleep, I put off the visit to the lab to donate my "Quart" of blood. At least it seems like they remove a quart of blood. Last night, I fasted after 2000 hrs so waking up at 0000 hrs, I was hard pressed to get back to sleep from being hungry. I did manage to get back to sleep but was awake at 0600 hrs with Haimish crying to get into the bedroom.

I went back to the living room to stay with Haimish for a bit but knew sleep would be out of the question, as I was more hungry waking up at 0600 hrs than I was 6 hrs previous. At 0700 hrs I was up for the day and anxious to get out the door to give my blood sample. I waited almost 45 minutes from walking into the lab to being harpooned. By 0930 hrs I was famished but decided to get some groceries and cook my breakfast at home.

Before putting the groceries away, I brought Alexander out in his carrier and he watched me put the groceries away and cook breakfast. Haimish was wandering around the apartment and only hissed when he got close to the carrier. After breakfast was cooked, I took Alexander in carrier to the living room and all three of us shared my bacon, scrambled eggs, tater tots and cheese. This was about the only time Haimish didn't make a fuss over Alexander.

After this experiment seemed to pass, I will leave the greetings this way and then either put Alexander back in the bedroom and leave Haimish free to wander, or do as I am now and put Haimish in the bedroom and allow Alexander to wander free.

After breakfast, I checked and Alexander was ready for a claw trim. I figured he would put up with this about as much as I would put up with having the ends of my fingers chopped off. Well not only did Alexander let me trim his claws, but lied on his back and purred a song.

I think Alexander is here for the long term. I know it will take a couple of more days and quick visits for Haimish to get over it. Today was a testing ground and where Haimish shared his duty of letting Alexander share my breakfast, abet in a carrier, I know it will only be a few more days at the most until Haimish and Alexander can roam free in the apartment without supervision.

Have a cat or cats in your home and need some help.
Tally's Cat Behavior Links.

God Bless

"The Old Fart"

Remember - We Are All God's Creatures, Lets be Nice to Each Other.