kitteh!

We got another cat. He’s six months old and he’s about the happiest, most playful kitten ever. I mean, all kittens are playful, but this guy just won’t stop for anything. And that’s good, because the reason we got him is that we were looking for a playmate for Scooter, who tries to play with Boo but Boo is so cranky and solitary that she just spits at him and swats him away. If all goes according to plan, Scooter and the new guy will be best buddies and Boo will get some peace. Or, they might mess with our plan, team up and attack Boo every day, all day long. I pointed that out when My Darling B suggested getting a playmate for Scooter, but she still thought it was a good idea anyway.

B brought the new guy home on Thursday and shut him in an extra room right away, in compliance with the widely-accepted wisdom that you’re supposed to keep new cats separate from your permanent, full-time cats for a couple days, then gradually introduce them to one another. When we brought Scooter home, we did the same thing. Boo sat outside his door and growled at him, which to this day is the typical response she has whenever Scooter comes within eyeshot of her. I guess that should’ve been a red flag to us. We hoped maybe she would eventually warm up to him, but no. I think Boo’s her own cat and isn’t going to warm up to other cats ever.

Scooter, on the other had, has been camped out by the closed door of the room where the kitten’s locked up, reaching under the door to play footsie with him. The kitten has enthusiastically joined in by leaping at the crack under the door whenever Scooter’s toes appear and shoving his legs under it as far as they’ll go. Then Scooter jumps back, the kitten scrambles around, trying to grab him, backs off to wait, and pounces again when Scooter comes back. I hope that’s a good sign.