It's not so tough, getting used to a cat. Mind you, there are a few idiosyncracies worth observing, doubtless familiar to any cat owner. Like being led on tours of the litter box and food dish, the mewing complaints that indicate the litter box is full, the dish is full of dry food, the water could be a bit cooler....
And there's the tribute. The other day, the front door open so the cat can let herself in and out, I step out of the office and discover a sparrow sitting quietly on the floor, without moving, the cat within a couple of feet, seemingly ignoring it while licking it's paws.
I'm a bit naive, I know that other cats bring their owners tributes of birds or mice, but I'd hoped mine would be a bit different. I sort of see it more as a partnership. So I speculate that the sparrow must have flown into the house of it's own accord and landed on the living room floor, the cat was merely taking the liberty of guarding it. I pick the sparrow up to return it to the great outdoors, cat watches me with some interest, there appears to be nothing wrong with the sparrow so I set it on a ledge, later it disappears.
Watching from the front porch I can see another sparrow bringing food to a little cleft behind a concrete block below the perch, the little sparrow comes out and allows herself to be fed, she's set up a ground level nest below my front porch.
I'm cautious about letting the cat out now. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't do anything so dastardly as hunt for her dinner, still it's better to be safe. But she slips out nonetheless, and alerted by a squawking din outside I find her slinking up the steps, the sparrow gingerly held in her mouth, and while I'd like to think she thinks it's hurt and is bringing it to me for repair there's a part of me that suspects her of ulterior motives.
I once again free the bird, who promptly flies off to find a new hiding spot, and sternly lecture the cat who pays attention with that indifferent nonchalance of which cats are the master.
Now I've had my cat, what, 2 weeks? So I'm a bit of an expert, and when my daughter goes to leave on her summer vacation with her mother I promise to look after her cat. I know her cat,"Pumpkin" it's aptly called, weighing in at slightly more than 20 lbs it's a giant, easygoing, loveable ball of fur that was neutered and declawed by it's previous owners. Very social, they're concerned that Pumpkin won't handle their absence so well, and so I take him in, and now have a pride of cats....
If that's what they're called.
Now Pumpkin is a special cat. By special I mean in the same way that some people are special. Not just because he's been neutered and declawed and he's clinically grotesquely obese, but there's something about him that suggests "simpleton". In perennially good humour, or perhaps I'm anthromorphizing, the way that we think that fat people must be jolly, but it seems Pumpkins main interests and pleasures in life are eating and being petted. He's a high maintenance cat. My cat, by which I really mean the cat that lives here, is pretty normal, only mewing when she wants me to look into things like the dry food/wet food situation. She will occasionally sit near me and allow herself to be petted, and attempt to trip me up if she thinks I've overlooked her feeding. But Pumpkin is another story, he'll mew, sprawl on the floor and roll with his legs splayed, lick you, head butt you, anything to get some attention. Pumpkin is a high maintenance cat.
And so Pumpkin and my cat (whom I call alternately "Cat" or "Bad Cat", depending on the situation. When the kids are around we call it
"Princess", but that's drab convention. She answers to cat, or as much as any cat answers to anybody...) have found themselves living together for the past few days, and are in a sort of "adjustment period". At first they hiss, spit and wail at one another, Pumpkin going into insane rages just looking at my cat, sitting there with eyes wide open and roaring. He looks insane. His short hair, perpetually matted in some places, like an orange oversized overcoat 6 sizes too big for him, small head, green eyes wide open, mouth gaping, hissing and screaming obscenities at my cat. This is a side of him I haven't seen before.
My cat, ears back, lying low, eyes narrowed, hisses and claws in return. My cat hasn't been declawed.
The first day they sit for hours watching one another, neither one of them moving, occasionally hissing, spitting, wailing....the can't seem to get closer than 10 feet. Pumpkin would have it that he's the master. If he pushes it he'll find he's in for a surprise.
It's been now 4 days. There are few signs they are getting on better together. The maximum distance they can tolerate one another is now about 4 feet. They've developed a few games they play with one another, Cat goes outside, Pumpkin guards the door so that Cat can't get back in. Cat guards food dish, Pumpkin has to wait until Cat goes outside. Pumpkin guards litter box, Cat doesn't care because she'd rather go outside. (Pumpkin, as you would imagine from his size, fills a litter box in a single squatting.) Pumpkin has staked the living room, but will explore the others when Cat is outside. Cat has staked the office and the kitchen. The kids room is so far unclaimed, my bedroom (at night) is claimed by Pumpkin (sneaking in, stealthily checking that Cat isn't around, before attempting to leap on the bed. Several attempts later he finally makes it up and tries, in true dog style, to cuddle up....).
By the time my daughter finishes her vacation they just might be getting along...