We're past the first week.

It is so much fun watching cats settle in to a new house and making it their own.

It is also a lot of fun getting to know their feline personalities.

This is the first time for me having two felines in the family. I grew up with one cat in the house and Cato was on his own as well. It is interesting to watch the dynamics between the two and the subtleties in communication.

Charlie is a real boy. He wants to be part of everything and when Tina has something, he wants it. The other day I was playing with Tina when Charlie, who had heard her running around chasing the toy, came in. Tina, who was chewing on the toy, got up, moved away from the toy and sat there patiently while Charlie had a sniff of it. When he saw it was no big deal and not all that interesting for him, he went back to the kitchen and Tina gave me a look as if to say: “ok, the boy is gone. Can we continue now?”

Every now and then they claw and/or hiss at each other when a boundary is crossed.

Tina gave Charlie a few slaps on the nose when he try to take her toy the other day and Charlie started a little fight when she came to close on the couch when he was lying down there. Five seconds of snapping and clawing without any sound and Tina decided she’d go and sit somewhere else. Orla told me that during the day, when I’m at work and she is doing her translation work, the two are often chasing each other in play so at least they get on pretty well.

Charlie is very affectionate and likes some personal cuddle time every now and then. He slept on my lap for a while last night. He often sits on my lap and even crept under the Aran sweater I was wearing, while I was sitting at the computer. Every time my hands moved on the keyboard he tried to catch them, which left me with some nice nail marks on my hands. Then he fell asleep on my lap under the sweater and slept until he heard Orla in the kitchen. He forgot he was under the sweater and wanted to jump up and then couldn’t find the way out. He started moving around and all of a sudden his head appeared in front of me as he poked it out of the neck of my sweater.  It looked really funny.

Tina was very nervous at first and would run and hide a lot but that is slowly changing. She is now ok with being picked up to be moved but won’t sit on your arm. When I put her on my lap she sometimes stays for a bit and allows me to pet her. Orla had Tina on her lap the night before last. She didn’t lie down but stayed standing on her lap for a few minutes to be stroked and really enjoyed it. She also enjoys a good brushing session, but won’t lie down for it.

Tina is a smart girl. She knows exactly how to deal with Charlie’s clumsy macho behaviour. She likes to do her own thing but also really enjoys one-on-one playtime and attention. So every day, we make some time and have Charlie in the kitchen and Tina in the sitting room or the other way around and we close the doors and give them both a bit of personal time.

They are both used to regular meal times now. Just after 7 am: breakfast, 12.30 pm: lunch, 5.30 pm: dinner and after 10pm: their night feed. The wet food isn’t a problem at all anymore. Toilet visits are regular and what comes out looks healthy. We’re still getting to know each other, which takes time but I think we’ve already achieved quite a lot in a good week-and-a-half.

The two of them are only about a year old and I’m really looking forward to seeing them develop. I so hope they will have a long and healthy life with us and not end up like poor Cato who we still miss every day.

 When can we go outside?