GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Who’s that sneaking ’round the corner?

What with the Mistress of Sarcasm sojourning here while she prepares to relocate to Nashville, one of the concerns we had was how well her cat Neighbor would get along with the delicate-spirited Hakuna, who is only now learning to adapt to life as a Solo Cat.

Should we keep them separated? Give them time to get acquainted? Throw them together right away? Would they kill each other? Love each other? Or just ignore each other?

When Neighbor first arrived, we kept her closed up in the Mistress’s room, a large enough space to keep her from getting bored right away...but eventually, we had to let her go out and explore the house.

Hakuna was very obliging. She merely stayed out of sight, making occasional forays to the litterbox and her food dish, but otherwise remaining unengaged.

Over the next few days, Neighbor got more and more comfortable with her new surroundings. And finally, this morning, Hakuna decided to spend some Quality Time downstairs.

That’s when we noticed the subtle signs that the process of Mutual Accommodation was only in a very preliminary stage. For even though there was none of that low-pitched Ominous Yowling you hear when cats can’t stand each other, both were wary of each other, carefully stepping around whilst all fluffed out in full Big Tail mode...




...and as Hakuna slinked slowly and deliberately around the den, Neighbor stalked her, always keeping a discreet distance.




Finally, Neighbor decided she had had enough Fun and Games, and went to seek comfort from the Mistress.



“Mommy! That other cat scared me!”

Shyeah, right.

Update: The Ominous Yowling has begun. I guess “Plays Well With Others” does not apply to either of these ladies. Neighbor’s back behind closed doors for now.