I love my new kitty very much. Somehow I knew he would be right for this family - I just knew.

Him and Zeeke are already getting along so well. Merlin’s preferential place to sleep during the day is in the middle of our king-sized bed - he aims big for such a small cat! - and it doesn’t matter that Zeeke is right there or not. He does what he wants to do, goes where he wants to go. And Zeeke is reacting to that attitude by shrugging. He still does follow the cat around, but his obsession level is already way down. He goes off and does his own thing while Merlin sleeps - I guess a sleeping cat, cute or not, is of no consequence. We are both very impressed with how very well it’s been going after only a week.

We’re developing a routine, Merlin and I - every evening I go lay propped up in bed with pillows and type on my laptop for a while. It’s a nice way for me to wind down at the end of the day. Well Merlin takes that cue to crawl up onto my chest and lay down and nuzzle my chin. He’s done this I think three days in a row now. He is so very sweet… he curls up right there on my chest and licks my chin and nose. His whiskers tickle. After five or ten minutes he moves off me onto his own spot on the bed to sleep.

A thing I’ve noticed about him is that his white hairs are longer than his black ones. It makes for a funny look, because his white patches seem to extend out into the black like a bunch of white whiskers. You can also feel that the longer white hairs are coarser too. It’s like Oreo with her black and white/merle fur (the grey hairs had a different consistency). Merlin’s fur was a little dry and his skin a little flakey when we first got him. It’s improved a lot. I gave him a light brushing a couple of days ago, and I think the change in food has helped too. His fur now feels much softer. Nothing like Jo’s, of course - Jo has soft rabbit-fur.

Merlin had a reputation for being a door-bolter at the sanctuary. He is indeed still curious about the front door, but he’s actually not as bad as Jo, at least so far. We’re already extremely cautious about the door thanks to Jo - and Zeeke isn’t an angel either. So Merlin is at least in a surrounding made for him!

I really do love my new little boy. My two kitties make me very happy. (Of course I tell Zoe that she’ll always be more special - but just not to mention it to the cats. )

Everything going smoothly still. The cats are still play-fighting several times a day. I still am not quite sure what to think about it. The only thing I am sure about is that Jo is not actually plotting to kill him in his spare time. It’s not at all like when he and Angel used to get into it. He does look vicious though - ears half-back, tail swishing madly, body turned sideways and slightly puffed up. But he does the same thing to Zoe when he’s beating her up, and in that case he is the sole aggressor and it is most definitely in play. I think he just looks mean when he’s in full out play mode. He always has been a slightly kooky cat.

Today for their dinner I gave Jo and Merlin each half a can of Wellness. Before I brought Merlin home they told me that he wasn’t a big fan of canned foods but he loved the dry. Well he’s loving every canned food I’ve pulled out. Today was Wellness Chicken and both cats gobbled it down (Jo slightly less than Merlin). Yesterday I fed them Felidae, they both loved that too.

One of Merlin’s very odd habits that has emerged: he tries to bury his food when he’s done eating. Unfortunately we have linolium flooring so that doesn’t work too well… but even so he’ll scratch at the floor for a good several minutes before giving up and walking away. And he’s not always unsuccessful - yesterday he managed to scratch some of the cardboard shavings off one of their scratching boards and onto the food saucer. Today the actual scratching board was somewhat on the saucer. It’s too funny to watch. That poor boy is very determined.

I think Jo is eating more than he was before, too. Though part of that might be that he eats what he does, leaves, and Merlin continues eating. Either way I can now use a full can of cat food and not have it going to waste. Though I’ll have to make sure Mr Piggy doesn’t eat too much and get fat.

Den also noted that Jo’s attitude towards us seems more aloof. We’re not sure if he’s feeling put-out because of the new bundle or what. Maybe he’s feeling less lonely, less “clingy” since he has a friend to play with now. Maybe it’s just our imagination.

The dogs sure were funny tonight though. I like to throw in a little surprize in their meals… sometimes a whole egg, sometimes some yogurt. Today I threw in a tablespoon of yogurt and some cut green beans, which Zoe loves. I know Zeeke hates green beans, so I just took one little piece and put it in his bowl to see if he’d eat it or not. I walked in later and Zoe’s bowl was empty, as usual. Zeeke’s had some kibble left… and a single solitary green bean right in the center. LOL! He hadn’t even eaten the kibble directly around the green bean, I guess it’s that distasteful to him. What a funny boy.

The pets all have me stunned today.

First the two cats. I decided I was going to step in more with their little wrestle matches when Jo appeared to be getting very annoyed. So today I did so. This morning they were getting rough so I put Merlin in time-out in his cage while we went out for breakfast. The rest of the day they spent sleeping around the house. This evening they both woke up and Merlin jumped Jojo again. The second time they started was in the living room and I shoo’d Merlin off and told him to cut it out. He walked off down the hall into Den’s office. Next thing I know Jo goes running down the hall after him. A few minutes later they both come flying out of Den’s office and down the hall, and Jo’s tail was most definitely in a crook. They ran around the living room a bit, climbing furniture, then sat down for a while. Then off they went again down the hall chasing one another. So apparently Jo is not nearly as upset about Merlin as I had feared. While I was reading a book tonight both cats snuck into the bathroom (which had the door cracked open) and proceeded to roll around in there for quite some time, thumping into walls and nearly shutting them both inside. After a while I saw the door get pulled open and Jo came sauntering out… a couple seconds later Merlin came out and walked in the opposite direction. It was the funniest thing! Unfortunately our bath mat is covered in a bunch of little black fur clumps. Whether or not they are getting “too” rough they are certainly not being gentle on each other. (Not that this should surprize me - our dogs beat the crap out of each other too.)

Merlin spent the entire day sleeping on the futon, then moving to the couch to sleep. He completely ignored Zeeke. After just two days he is walking around the house freely like he owns it - dog be damned. He does get a little ticked off with Zeeke nibbling on him, but he is definitely not the least bit scared. Zeeke has been acting much better than we expected - still not as good as we had hoped, but it is only day 2. Zeeke was basically ignoring Merlin the entire time he slept on the couches… just not paying any attention at all. This is a big improvement. However soon as Merlin moves Zeeke jumps to attention. We’re hoping that reaction will diminish over time. We hope. As it is, Zeeke is rather annoying when he starts the barking and panting and obsessive following and biting at the cat.

Zoe doesn’t even come into the equation. Merlin attempted to try playing with her - tapping her with a paw and sniffing her. But Zoe very carefully moved out of his reach. She’s still not quite sure yet. I’m sure she’ll warm up - she’s been sniffing him maniacally all day. She is feeling the effects of not as much attention as she’s used to, however. Whenever Den walks into the room she runs over to sit at his feet and start whining and barking insistently at him until he gives her some attention. I think she’s feeling a little ignored. I’ve tried giving her some personal time today. Gave her a little brushing, some cuddling, some playing. But she isn’t demanding with me, only Den.

Just now we’re all in the bedroom except Jo. The dogs were in here and when Den came in to go to bed Merlin came sauntering in and jumped on the bed. He currently has Zoe’s tail clamped in his arms and is chewing on it. Merlin is now biting her toes. It’s pretty damn funny. I’m not sure how Zoe feels… I think she’s a little disconcerned. LOL!

These cats are hysterical. This morning I put some different food down on plates to see who liked what. They happily ate out of the same dish, although Jo wasn’t 100% sure about it. They both seem to really like the canned Felidae, though they both at the carved flavor of Friskies I put out. As far as dry food, both dishes of the Dave’s specialty brand was gone this morning. I was wondering why Jo was in Merlin’s cage eating - later found out he was polishing off the Dave’s food in the cage as he’d already licked his own bowl clean. So I guess that one is a home run.

The rest of the day Merlin was sleeping on our couch in the living room. Didn’t matter if Zeeke was out here or not, he didn’t really want to leave. If I was on the computer he might come over to spend time on my desk (and on my keyboard - he is still learning the rules), but mostly he slept on the couch. He was very cuddly when we sat down beside him to watch TV. He is very unconcerned about Zeeke. He doesn’t like being hassled, but he’s not very frightened at all.

The whole cupboard debate continues. Jo was sleeping in the cupboard most of the day. So this evening when Merlin went into the kitchen he was a littled disgruntled by that. I heard some pawing at the cupboard. Next thing I see, Jo comes storming out of the cupboard in a huff. I guess Merlin decided to just go right on in, and Jo is not yet okay with that so he vacated.

This evening both had come out of the cupboard and were walking around the kitchen. I guess Merlin must have been hyper, because he walked over to Jo and lunged on top of him. THUNK onto the ground they went. It was very obviously a play move, not an aggressive one. Again and again they rolled around on the floor. I was a bad mommy - after laughing hysterically (and trying not to make too much noise and disturb them) I asked Den for the camera. I snapped photos as we both stifled laughter. They were way too funny.

Guess who was on top? I’ll give you clue - it wasn’t the older, larger cat who used to beat up other cats. Merlin was jumping all over Jojo and biting at him. Jojo responds in turn. I was a little concerned, but then when there was a break Jo was the one sticking out his paw and tapping Merlin to get it started again. After a while Jo started making little noises. Den and I kept cheering Jo on, but he wasn’t doing too well, just getting peeved. So finally I grabbed Merlin and put him in his cage for a little while to chill out. (That only worked momentarily - they’re at it again right now). My boss had said that Merlin was causing problems at the shelter because he kept doing this to all the older cats who had no patience for it. She said Merlin needs someone to put him in his place. We had hoped Jo would, but apparently Jo’s a big sissy pants. However no fight has broken out, they’re just playing rough. I’m willing to let them sort it out on their own for a while. Maybe Jo will get annoyed and tell Merlin to bugger off. Either way it’s getting some energy loose.

Okay I just went in and there was more fur on the floor than I’d like. I think they were starting to get a little rough. I’d have seperated them and tossed Merlin into time-out, but just then Den opened the door and Zeeke came running in, breaking up the party. I’m not sure what to think. They’re both initiating it. I’ll have to go ask some cat-people.

The cats have been vying for the good bed in the cupboard all evening. Merlin discovered it pretty early on, and Jo was a little perturbed by this - he sat on the other side of the kitchen meowing. I went in to see what was the matter and… no Merlin to be found! He was asleep curled up pretty as you please in Jo’s bed in the corner cupboard.

A little bit later Merlin was out being lovey to me. Jo snuck into the cupboard. When I went back to my computer Merlin was sitting outside the cupboard, staring in.

Next thing I know Jo is meowing, and I go in there to find him sitting on the far side of the kitchen, meowing, and Merlin sleeping in the cupboard! I don’t know why Jo gave it up.

So Jo is still stuck out here, and he seems a little sad. He’s spending time with me on my desk - but with Zeeke in a ramped-up state that is being difficult. (Zeeke keeps growling and pawing at Jo.) I’m not really sure what they’re going to do. I’m thinking that it’s likely they both end up sleeping in the cupboard together. They both seem very disinclined to fight over it - neither one has displayed any aggression towards the other, I’m actually quite impressed.

They both can be little shits so we shall see if any scuffles break out. I guess Jo just sees Merlin’s confident attitude, so different from freaked-out Angel who became an immediate target. Jo respects confidence. And Merlin, he’s just not a fighter, he’s a lover. I’ll bet he plays rough, though. Yes, it will definitely be interesting to see how this develops. By by all standards this is going far better than I had hoped. I had hoped the cats would get along this well after a week or two… I never thought they’d be fine after only an hour. Go figure.

Merlin is home! It went way better than we were expecting.

First thing we did was get the cage set-up and ready for him. So when I came home with him Den held Jo back while I quickly put Merlin in the cage and closed it. Then we let Jo go and watched. Merlin checked out the cage while Jo came over to sniff everything possible. Jo wasn’t being territorial at all, but he was a little nervous and not sure what the heck that thing was and why was it in his house? He’d lean forward to sniff, then jump backwards. Merlin, for the most part, was wholly unconcerned by everything, he just seemed to wish he could get out of the cage to explore more. He looked around his cage for a while, ate some food, drank some water, used the litterbox. Jo, surprizing us both, stayed close to the cage to check out the new dude.

“WTF?!”

Sniffing

Can I come out now?

Merlin right away was sticking his paw out of the cage to touch Jo, he seems to love other cats. A little while later, after watching Merlin for a while, Jo tried getting his attention by doing the same thing. It was so cute!

When we let the dogs into the living room it was a bit interesting. Merlin’s first reaction to Zeeke was to puff up like a porcupine and hiss. He did not seem impressed by the big barking thing. Not at all. Zeeke was immediately obsessed.

Zoe didn’t really seem to understand what was going on at all. She just wanted to greet me, who had just come home from work. Zeeke was barking and spazzing, Zoe was put off by all the energy zapping around the room. We let her in the kitchen to let her check out the new cat, and she seemed even more put off by that - she just didn’t want to be in the kitchen. She always gets yelled at for being in the kitchen, it’s scary. She did notice the cat and go up to the cage to sniff him, but when he so much as twitched she hid behind me. Because of this Merlin filed her under the “unimportant” label and totally ignored her, even when she was sniffing him. He just didn’t care.

So after a while Jo had layed down on the kitchen floor to take a nap and Merlin was eating after napping in his litterbox (don’t ask, I haven’t the foggiest). Den and I shrugged and opened Merlin’s cage to let him out. It should have been too soon, but honestly it was going so well. So Merlin came walking out. Jo got to his feet to check him out up-close.

And it continued going so well we couldn’t believe it. The cats sniffed each other. Merlin explored the kitchen while Jo alternated sniffing him and sniffing the cage where he had been. It was so low-key. Jo just followed him around, sniffing here and there. We let Zoe in the kitchen again, she sniffed Merlin again. Merlin again ignored her. It appears Zoe is just not going to be a problem at all. Jo had the exact same reaction to her - “A dog!! Wait. It’s afraid of me. Oh, okay then. Maybe I can beat it up…” Merlin’s not quite at the “picking on her” stage, but I bet he will be soon. Zoe is just such an easy target, she’s so docile. LOL

Hi dude.

Follow the leader…

Zoe doing the butt-sniffing thing

Pretty boy

There’s a cat in my sink

Still following

A little nervous, are we?

And then Merlin surprized us all. He went sauntering across the countertop to where Zeeke was sticking his head over the babygate. They sniffed noses. Merlin sat down… layed down… then stretched out and relaxed. With Zeeke’s head less than two feet away.

Yeah, okay, I see you there

Whatever

Yawn

He isn’t brave enough to venture out of the safety of the kitchen - Zeeke is pretty darn scary. Zeeke did lunge at the babygate twice with a mean-sounding bark, causing Merlin to puff up halfway. But honestly? It took a year for Jojo to approach Zeeke in a fairly relaxed manner and not take off running. I’m seriously impressed, and I think Merlin could very well become friends with Zeeke in time. I sure hope so.

Den spent time with the cats today too. He sat on the floor and Merlin did his usual - climbed all over him, headbutted, and purred. Den even looked slightly amused by this, it was cute. We’re sure to give Jo equal attention, too.

So it did go pretty much how we expected - Zoe is a non-issue, Jo is a little weirded out but okay, Zeeke is a barking monster, and Merlin doesn’t really give a shit except about Zeeke.

So Zoe, she’s been boundary trained by me from the beginning. She’s learned pretty well where our yard ends all the way around.

So last night I open the door to let Zoe go pee like I do every night, and she bolts straight towards the road, hackling and barking. I think the first thing out of my mouth was actually, “What the hell?” It was dark out, it took me a few seconds to see the neighbor walking her dog down the road in front of our house. (Which I think is pretty stupid - I couldn’t see her, I doubt a car would either. Anyways.) So Zoe goes bolting right for them. There was no car in sight, thank god. I yell her name.

And that little girl goes flying out to the edge of our front yard and SKIDDED to a halt where our front yard ends, where that “boundary” is (about 5-10 feet in from the actual road), and hopped sideways along that boundary, barking like all get-out. I was saying, I think, “What are you DOING? Get back here! Go potty!” She ran towards me, I told her to potty, she ran back out to the road boundary and barked and barked again. Then she turned around, trotted back towards me, peed, and came inside.

The neighbors must think we have an electric fence or something. She was seriously only 10 or 15 feet away from the neighbor and their dog. But she stayed right there to bark. Of course, this is a dog who, if you look at her crosswise, will run and hide. So I’m not really sure what she was thinking in the first place.

But it’s really nice to know that, even in tough, unforseen situations like that, her training holds up.

Once upon a time I used to be worried about my little Zoe-monster being hurt by the big mean Zeeke. He was so much bigger than her, and she was so shy and dainty! When they started playing I would watch carefully, hovering like the nervous mama that I was. I’d frequently tell Zeeke to cut it out.

Well Zoe isn’t much bigger, and she’s still a shy, dainty little girl. But she sure tells Zeeke where to go when he gets too rough. Usually if there’s the sound of a fight during a particularily rough play session, it’s her kicking his butt. She snarls and yips in a really high-pitched voice, jumps up and bites him on the cheek multiple times. Then there’s silence. Then the sound of Zeeke trying to pick on her again… then the sound of another bitch-fest coming from Zoe.

And of course, not 60 seconds later they are both happily playing together again, tails wagging. But I don’t bother worrying about my little girl anymore. She can hold her own!

So my work (the cat sanctuary) has loaned me a large cat cage for when we finally bring Merlin home - it will be good, I think, to allow him and Jo to size each other up and be in each others’ presence without fur flying or territory issues. Hopefully the cage will only be required for a week or two.

So in any case I brought this huge cage home, brand new in a box. I pulled it out and started assembling it - most of it is assembled, you just have to unfold it and snap it together (which, by the way, is not as easy as one would assume!). The base is a large plastic tray on wheels. So as I’m putting together the wire cage part, I turn around and Zeeke’s standing with his front paws on the plastic base, basically skateboarding around the living room. LOL! He’s such a dork.

Now the cage is set up in the corner in the kitchen but the large box is still laying in the living room. Jo checked out the box and hid in it for a little while, but it’s not really his style. Zeeke on the other hand thinks the box is a new dog bed just for him. He sleeps on it. It’s somewhat flattened now thanks to him, but the sides still stick up a bit creating a cradle for him. He is just so thrilled with it. I will feel bad when I throw it out, but I can’t just leave it laying around.

Merlin, by the way, probably won’t be coming home for another week or so. He still has a bit of a virus/cold and they can’t figure out what it is. He’s gotten better (his eye was all gunky before, now it’s clear), but he’s still congested. Whatever it is, we don’t want to give it to any of our three. My boss has Merlin on antibiotics, and will be trying a different type in hopes that we can kick it out. Soon as he’s better we’ll bring him home.

This morning the dogs wake me up by barking crazily. “BARK BARK BARK BARK!!” I sigh, get up and get dressed, and we all leave the bedroom to start our day.

And immediately both dogs jump on the couch and fall asleep. Thanks, guys!