let the butt-sniffing ensue
I know, bad title. However, that’s what we’ll have going on around here for the next few days, weeks, years…. I’m doing my best to keep my cool while Lily and Sadie get to know each other because I know that Lily has a hard time with social situations. When we brought Harvey home as a kitten years ago we tried to force the love between Harvey and Lily. Lily got so freaked out that we didn’t see her for what seemed like months, and it took even longer before Lily finally warmed up to Harvey. Even then the “adoration” between Lily and Harvey was mostly one-sided coming from Harvey’s end. Adoration in the form of belly-flopping from the top of a bookshelf onto an unsuspecting Lily who was sprawled out on her back on the floor. Or adoration in the form of a 2:00 a.m. wake-up call under our bed that caused a raucous that sounded like to 2 cats were being tortured. Or adoration in the form of little scabs all over Lily’s skin seemingly from either Harvey’s claws or teeth.
So now we’ve got a sweeter and female kitten who just wants Lily’s love in any form. It was very evident last night when Sadie perched a couple of feet away from Lily and kind of cowered to her with a few, soft mews escaping her lips. (The use of the term lips for cats is debatable because I actually don’t believe cats have lips. Mike differs in opinion. What do you think?) Lily responded with “hiss, growl, hiss, hiss, growl, hiss, long growl (lasting a minute or 2), and one final hiss”, but I think there was actual progress. Mike can’t seem to understand why Lily doesn’t just say to herself, “Oh, look! A baby kitten that’s so cute and cuddly. I’m going to love her and snuggle with her right now.” I had to explain to him about cat dynamics, and that Lily looks at Sadie as an evil foe who is impeding on her territory no matter how cute and small Sadie is. Lily also needs to establish herself as the alpha cat (if that’s possible with females). Plus, Lily isn’t like any normal cat. She’s very shy and nervous even after living with us for over 11 years.
Have a look at the progress for yourself. Sorry for the poor quality as these pictures were taken with my phone.
