It’s been a long, hot week for all of us. The heat wave is slowly slinking away. The high today wasn’t quite so high, but since the low wasn’t any lower last night, we still started off with a fairly warm apartment this morning. In addition, we got a few little drizzles, pushing the humidity up.
The kitties have had an intense week. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday they had some vigorous play sessions as they learned to get along more. Pippin I think would be happy to be best buddies already, but Sylvia has needed a bit more time to see where this new kitty fits into her world. The playful ambushes and chases they engaged in were a great start.
But today, it was clear both were tired. There’d been a lot of running around despite the heat, and a lot of change to take in. So it was a day of extended napping. But, that’s not to say there wasn’t any further progress. First, Sylvia clearly feels more comfortable just settling down for a nap when she wants one, without casing out where the little buddle of chaos is and whether he’s safely asleep.
But, naps also got closer together over the day:
Sooo cute! (note, Pippins ears are cocked in the second photo because he’s listening to my husband move in the other room and not because he’s upset).
There have also been more and more little nose bumps, and Pippin will rub lightly along Sylvia as he walks by. Now, when he tried to hop into her carrier as she got ready for her walk, that got him a hiss. Don’t mess with Sylvia’s walks!
It’s also been really fun to better discover the nuances in Sylvia’s personality as we compare her to Pippin. We’ve always considered her a brave kitty cat. She was trooper on her train ride home. She wanted to be able to look out of the carrier and explore, to better understand what was going on. As she settled into the apartment, various things would scare her, but she’d study them, figure out what was actually a threat and expand what she would do and where she would go. The first night I cooked on the stove, the sizzling freaked her out. The next night? She’d decided she hadn’t been hurt, so it wasn’t actually a threat. Like I said – brave. A kitty who faces her fears. She’s also clearly a bit of a planner, as she watches, listens, observes… and then decides how she’ll proceed.
I don’t know yet to what degree it’s the age difference (Sylvia was 4.5 months to Pippin’s 3 when we brought her home), going to a home that already has a kitty, or just innate personality, but Pippin isn’t brave – he’s fearless. He jumps in with all feet. On the train, he was happy to pop out to get in our laps, and look out the window. But I don’t think he thought it was particularly scary (well, except brake screeches, but I hate those too). When he was bored or sleepy, he went back into the carrier and took a nap. Sylvia didn’t nap at all on her trip – she had to stay alert to what was going on the whole time. Now that he’s in the house – nothing was beyond his desire to explore from day one. So far, very little has phased him at all. He landed in a home without any of the family he knew, a large cat who wasn’t sure how she felt at first, and a larger, more open space than he’d had at the breeders, including an open air porch (she has one – but it’s for the adult kitties and her German Shepherd). And he wanted to see all of it as soon as he could.
Now I’m just hoping this chill Friday doesn’t mean the zoomiest of zoomies all night long tonight.