Maolcolm's New Home (and other updates)

(Pictures to be added upon finding my wayward camera.)

So, almost two weeks ago now, I loaded wee Malcolm into a cat carrier and took him to his new home. He cried the whole time we were in the car, and I tried to talk to him about his loving new family, but he would have none of it. Just, "Mew! Mew, mew, meeeeeewwww. Mew. Mew. Mew."

Thankfully, it's a short drive.

So we arrived. As with Zoe, we left Mal in his carrier for a while, to see if the resident cat, a wonderful boy named Fritz, was interested. He pretty much wasn't. Unlike Arwen and Zoe, Fritz didn't go up to the crate, just watched warily.

Eventually I let Mal out, and like Zoe, he didn't actually want out. He stayed in the carrier until I actually removed him. But once I did that, he was pretty happy to (carefully) explore. Weirdly, he just ignored Fritz mostly, he sniffed him, then kept going. He was scared, clearly, belly low to the ground, but interested.

After about 10 minutes of this, Fritz got annoyed and growled a bit.

Malcolm just kept exploring. He learned about stairs and was shown to the litterbox, and the bedroom, and all the space he didn't get to have when living in my bedroom.

When I left, Malcolm was still exploring and Fritz was still growling, but not too much.

Since then things have only gotten better over there. I've heard that Fritz isn't completely adjusted (he doesn't sleep on the bed any more, but the assumption is that he will again eventually.) The two cats play a little, although Fritz, a long time only cat, is a little confused by it.

Fritz's favorite thing is his tent-- his people use a blanket and some pillows to build him a fort on the couch, and Fritz will happily sit inside it for aaaaages. And now he lets Malcolm join him!!

So, the kitties are adjusting and happy. Malcolm continues to try to sleep on people's heads. And he continues to suck on people's fingers, and generally seems to be a happy boy. I got to see a couple of pictures of him on Saturday and he is, indeed, getting bigger-- his tail is sooper long and his legs are long.

As for Miss Zoe, she is also doing very well. She has her family's dog (a chow, lab, retriever mix) completely afraid of her, thinking she's a big fierce tiger. She follows the oldest daughter around, skittering after her when she calls, "C'mon Zo-Zo!" I think this is absolutely fabulously cute!!

Beatrice hates me. I saw her on Sunday, and previously last Saturday, and both times she spent the whole time growling and hissing at me, and even striking at me (with claws) if I came close enough. Yesterday I left her alone, but she actually stalked up to me and batted at me. The theory is that she smells other cats on me and she has become fiercely territorial, but I think it might be more than that. Oddly, her mother gave her a bath yesterday evening, after I left, and it made her completely calm, and afterwards she snuggled into a towel and her mom's arms.

It doesn't matter how many cats and kittens I meet, help raise or whatever, I will never understand them.

(My own spooky kitty, who generally doesn't like people and doesn't care to be touched, gave me kisses and let me pet her a bunch on Saturday. I figure that was her birthday present to me, as I turned 29. She hasn't let me pet her since, of course... heh.)