I really wish I had pictures to prove the wonderful yet totally surprising tolerance Creepy has shown her new little brother, Tuck. Quite frankly, I'm astounded over how well she's doing with a freaky kitty intruder in her space. I was prepared for months of keeping them separated, being a watchdog mother hen, keeping both my babies as safe, calm and happy as possible considering the circumstances .... Creepy hates cats.
Creepy is also, well, a big girl. Her preference is to be called "fluffy". But y'all, she's just plain and simply fat. Okay. Under duress I'll admit it. She's a 15 pound orange butter ball with amazing speed and agility, sharp claws and frighteningly large teeth. I could easily imagine the damage she's capable of inflicting on the wee body of the speck of brown fluff that is Tuck. He's so little compared to her. Barely a tasty morsel. Oh the scary visions I had of Creepy getting hold of him! Makes me cringe to think of it. I am stunned to say it ain't happened. Been a close call or two, yes, but she's shown incredible restraint. I'm so proud of my girl. And you know she's getting extra treats because of it, too.
I haven't been brave enough to leave them alone together while I've been out of the house. I'm simply not ready to extend my trust of this seemingly good behavior Creepy is exhibiting. For all I know, it's my presence in the house that keeps the relative peace we've been having. What I have done is allow Tuck free range of the house while I'm home instead of keeping him stuffed, sadly alone, in the master bedroom while the Creeps and I hang out in the rest of the house. Yes, while he was in there I would go in every 30 minutes to an hour and spend time with him. We'd play with his toys, I'd give him love and he'd reciprocate. It was our safe way of bonding without Creepy launching an attack and scaring the beejeebees outta' the little fellow.
I started this letting him run the house thing last week while Creepy was outside. I figured there wasn't any way to get his scent in the house unless he actually ran around the house. I knew the quicker I could get his smell on the furniture and carpet the quicker Creepy would become accustomed to it. I'd tried the method of putting the blanket he'd been sleeping on in the living room. Creepy avoided it like the plague. I tried the tactic of sitting with him on the couch. No go. I'd tried having him in the pet carrier in the middle of the living room so Creepy could check him out and he'd still be safe from the Fangs of Death. While that trick seemed to be okay with Creepy (she glared and hissed for a minute and then walked away) I think it scared Tuck too much. When I took him back to the bedroom and got him out of the carrier he snuggled under my chin, shaking and cowed by her display of aggression. He was trapped in that carrier and, I'm sure, freaked out that he couldn't run and hide. I felt so bad I promised him I wouldn't ever do that to him again.
The one afternoon Creepy wanted back into the house and I didn't immediately see Tuck to grab him and stick him back in the bedroom. I thought, "Allrighty, let's just see what happens!" Creepy came inside and headed to the kitchen to get treats - traditional routine we have - just as Tuck came flying out of the bedroom. The doorway to the master bedroom is off the kitchen. Yeah, everybody freaked at once. Creepy headed for the highest spot she could find, the bar between the kitchen and living room. Tuck scrambled back under the bed like the Hounds of Hell were at his heels. Me? I was rooted to the floor in shock that Creepy didn't pounce on him like a duck on a Junebug. After a few minutes Tuck came beebopping back into the kitchen. Creepy eyed him like a vulture from the top of the bar. I decided to let the whole thing play out, but stayed on guard in case I had to intervene.
For nearly an hour Creepy watched, wide-eyed, as Tuck cavorted around the house. You know how kittens are, like the Energizer Bunny whacked out on amphetamines. She never made a sound unless he ventured too close - like the floor space under the bar - and then she'd growl and give a half-hearted hiss. I think she was just too amazed at this creature kah-zinging around all over the place. Tuck never paid her any attention unless she growled. Then he would stop dead in his tracks, flatten to the ground, and then beat a hasty retreat to the sanctuary of the space under the dining room table. For all of 2.2 seconds he would hide, then the bliss of the two dozen cat toys spread over the carpet would captivate him and he'd be obliviously kah-zinging again. Unfortunately, I guess the shenanigans on the floor got the better of Creepy and she launched a brief attack. Tuck was stuck back in the bedroom for awhile and had to spend another night alone in the bathroom.
The next day after I got home from work I tried it again. Only this time I made Creepy stay in the house for awhile instead of letting her go outside as I usually do. Progress was made. She still wouldn't let Tuck get more than a couple of feet near her without the show of fangs and a bit of growling. But overall, she really surprised me. She did seek the higher elevations for an hour or so but eventually relaxed enough to lay around on the floor. The biggest step came when she took her favorite spot on the back of the sofa for a siesta while I was kicked back watching a movie. Tuck meandered over and got on the pillow behind my head. For over an hour we laid together in peace. I messed it up by getting up to get the camera to take a picture for y'all to see them lying quietly, barely three feet of space between them. Creepy didn't budge but Tuck had to come investigate when he heard to little ring tone my digital camera has when it turns on. Lost the photo op.
With such a good evening I decided to really test the waters and let Tuck stay loose for the entire night. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. Cat fights weren't the issue, though I did wake a couple of times to some hissing. I guess Creepy wanted to come to bed with me (another tradition we have) but found the wee brown fur ball that is Tuck to be just too much of a hurdle to overcome. Tuck, on the other hand, thought the whole thing to be fabulous. My head was the favored perch for napping, bathing and midnight cavorting. My eyelids and nose were fascinating temptations and received much attention through the night. I'm sporting a few pin holes in my scalp from that vermin's tiny, needle sharp claws and the battle waged against my hair sometime around 3:00 am. From about 4:30 am until almost 6:30 am a serious game of "chase my own tail" ensued, the ball field was, of course, me.
Today was an even better day. Yep, had a close call once or twice. Must be ever vigilant for a bit longer. Seems that Creepy has a jealous streak regarding her scratching post. She still hisses at him if he gets near her but she watches with great interest if I let him near me, pick him up, or love on him. It's as if she just can't decide what she's supposed to do with him.
Then, around lunch time, an amazing thing happened ... Creepy let him get this close .......
Wow, people. I really mean Wow! No major hissy fit, no chasing him away, no running in the other direction to get away from him. An incredible display of tolerance. Of course, Creepy had just been getting her Zen bliss on with her "Cat Magnet", which she loves almost more than me. Gives herself a good scratchin' when I can't. And as you can see, I have a hard time keeping the cat hair cleaned out of it ... but that's neither here nor there in this story.All right, she did hiss once at him because he was doing the butt-wiggle with intent to pounce on the big orange fluffy thing. He decided not to push his luck and did a funny thing ... he went over to the sofa and got into Creepy's favorite place to nap. Brave little Buckaroo.
Namaste, y'all ...
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