On the fifth day of living in her new home, Mable went to the vet for her first appointment.
Per the vet (and I'm paraphrasing what Daisy told me, as I was not there -- I was asleep) she appears to be healthy. She is 2.12 pounds -- still very tiny -- and our vet does not think she will be a large cat once she's fully grown. That could always change, of course. For example, Sadie was very small most of her life, then got big and fat for a few years, and has now shrunken back down to barely seven pounds in her old age.
The parents have a very small orange-and-white tabby (who could be Hank's sister by the way her patterning looks) that is at least seven or eight years old now and never got much larger than she was when she was a baby. She's smaller than Sadie. So small, fully-grown cats do exist. It's just weird for me to wrap my head around that concept since all of my cats have always been giant. Maggie was, as the kids say, a heckin' chonker, Pete has always been huge, Hank may now be bigger than Pete as he is built like a brick shithouse, and Empress is catching up to the big boys as her Maine Coon genes kick in.
I'll remind you all that Hank, Empress, and Pete all have a sizable chunk of Maine Coon DNA in them, with Empress (of course) possessing the largest chunk of that.
Anyway. Mable appears to be fine. And, surprisingly, in the last 24 hours has started to find her place within the house society.
Daisy worked from home today, as she does two days a week. I was asleep in my chair in my office, where I have slept since Mable came home -- I am terrified of rolling over onto the little child in my sleep and suffocating her, because sometimes I sleep very hard and Daisy says she likes to cuddle up right against you. I also value my sleep because I have to stay up all night every night for work, and if Mable keeps me up all day biting me or getting into shit because I'm not playing with her I might lose what little sanity I have left.
So, when I awoke this afternoon, Daisy was nowhere to be found, the bedroom door was wide open, and none of the cats were in sight.
"[Daisy]," I said, "...where's the cat?"
"Cuddling down here on my chest," Daisy said from downstairs in the living room. "She's had basically free run of the house all day."
"And Hank and Emmy haven't murdered her?"
I've mentioned here before that I want to get Mable used to the house, and the other cats used to her, as quickly (but gently) as possible, as I want everyone to mesh well and I want her to be able to be comfortable and know where everything is (food, water, litter pans, etc) long, long before we prepare to return to Nova Scotia in a few months. The more comfortable she and the other cats are together, the more comfortable she is with the navigation of the house, the more comfortable I will be when we up and leave for two weeks and have Dad and a friend or two stop by to take care of them on multiple occasions.
Pete, as mentioned, does not seem to mind the little girl at all, and actually seems somewhat fond of her. Pete though is used to new cats just randomly appearing in the house at this point, I'm sure -- she is, after all, the third new cat in less than a year. Mable curled up with him and flopped down against him for the first time today, and he seemed to have a vague realization that there was a tribble laying against his ass but had no real problems with it. He likes to watch her and observe her from afar most of the time though, like a dad. He does protect her though, as he did when he stepped between her and Hank when Hank was being a butthole and growling/hissing at her. Mable is his Mini Me -- she just looks and acts like a much smaller version of Pete.
Something has changed, however, in the house dynamic within the past 24 hours.
Daisy said this morning, Hank and Emmy were still sort of growly with her, and then...it stopped. Emmy now has no real problems with her. Hank has approached her multiple times this afternoon to smell her and interact with her with no growling or hissing. When I fed them all about an hour ago, Mable bounded down off the couch and ate with all of them at the same time -- which is what made Sadie accept Empress, for example instead of being somewhat scared by her in the beginning days.
Eating together is a very big step. It shows that there's not a competition, that she is not excluded, that they can share food as part of the same household without anyone being territorial or greedy over it. Sadie, Emmy, Pete, and Mable all ate from the same bowls at the same time, and I am sure all of them were aware of the new little furball eating there with them.
Hank does not care for the wet foods about 95% of the time and spent this time in the bay window in the dining room, lounging and watching the outside happenings.
Sadie still does not seem to give a single shit. She is well aware of Mable and well aware that the others did not like her for the first few days she was here in the house, but it's Sadie. Sadie is old and crotchety and mostly keeps to herself or is with us humans for companionship, much as she always has.
So I guess we're officially a five-cat integrated household now. It will be interesting to see, once she's out of the bedroom full time and has 24/7 run of the household, if Emmy and Hank play with her or cuddle up with her, or let her play with them -- or if Mable will remain a "humans" cat and show no interest in being a social-with-other-cats cat. I'm also looking forward to her being out of the bedroom at night so that she can sit on my lap, chest, or shoulder while I work at my desk downstairs. She really likes to be held or to lay on you, not just with you, which I adore.
The fact that she's beautiful really helps that too. She really is a Mini Me of Pete.
Any anger or frustration I had about Daisy bringing home another cat has long melted away. She is such a funny, sweet little thing. And the old farts won't be around forever. Soon enough -- probably sooner than we might think -- the previous generation of cats will all have moved on to the other side and our house will have nothing but the three new, younger cats to continue the status quo. It's not something I want to really think about, but it's interesting how the parallels of life work.
For the past sixteen years, almost seventeen, I have had these three cats:
Maggie -- a giant white and gray chonker girl with distinctive face markings, purrs that could be heard across the room and a propensity to be very vocal, with giant eyes. Short front legs, very long back legs. Attention whore. Heavy drinker. Voracious eater. Couch potato. Former queen of the household. Now deceased.
Pete -- The long-reigning king of the household, large black shorthair with hidden Maine Coon/exotic genes, with an attitude. Was a demon as a child. Has anxiety/territorial issues as an adult, but is ironically the most laid-back and loving/relaxed cat of all. The teddy bear. The cuddler. The lover. For the kittens, a social butterfly with Big Dad Energy™.
Sadie -- a small Russian Blue gray tabby who keeps to herself and likes us far more than other cats. Was second banana to Maggie, the other female in the household, during most of her reign. The cat personification of don't start nothin', won't be nothin'. Intelligent and sweet, but crotchety and will throw down in a fight if she feels she's been wronged.
Now...look at how similar the new set is:
Hank -- a giant orange and white chonker boy with distinctive face markings, the king-in-waiting of the household, also with beautiful eyes and a propensity to be very vocal. Our pumpkin spice child. Four short little legs. Is not food motivated, but is heavily motivated by love and attention. Couch potato, but has amazing orange cat energy when he wants it. Goblin. Scared of everyone and everything but us. May be an actual potato with fur.
Empress -- A mostly Maine Coon brown tabby with giant, gorgeous eyes. The queen-in-waiting of the household. Will likely be a longhair and will possibly grow quite large. Tail as long as her body, with long legs. May actually be part raccoon. Also intelligent and sweet but will cut a bitch. Attack gremlin. Thinks she's the dominant one instead of Hank. May actually be the dominant one. Loves everyone and tries forcing love on the less receptive.
Mable -- The new black cat of the household. Second banana to the other female cat of the household. Prefers people to other cats. Voracious eater. Tiny and tribble-like with small eyes and understated facial features. May outlive all the others of her generation to become the next queen.
Aside from these parallels, look at the other broader ones -- three cats, two females and one male. One giant cat, one normal sized cat, and a tiny one. One black cat, a tabby, and a two-color cat with a lot of white being one of those colors. All of the cats roughly the same age. One cat far more vocal than the others (Mable). One cat who wanders the house and cries (Hank; Pete does this too). One female with an attitude (Empress).
None of this was intentional. It's just sort of how it happened. Random chance.
I'll keep you all updated, of course, on how life progresses with these little children, as well as with the remaining old ones. But for now, you've likely heard enough about my cats.
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