Friends?

My cats have never been overly friendly to each other. They tolerate one another, to be honest. They will lie near each other on the bed, and on the couch; they will pass each other without exchanging harsh sounds, most of the time. Tucker and Josie, when the former isn’t hissing at the latter, will chase each other, especially through the nylon tunnel. Tungsten will, when feeling playful, lunge at my Chubs, without claws, and drive her away. They get along, for the most part, but I can’t say they’ve been anything more than friendly acquaintances at the best of times.

Tungsten and Renn have been the closest to being friends. They will groom each other for five, maybe six seconds at a time. None of the other cats gives or receives such attention. But these two usually ignore each other except for sniffing noses to a greater extent than with others. But one day during my holidays, I came into the sitting room to see this.

You may think that this isn’t remarkable. The truth is that when Tungsten sits on the couch, it is against the nearer arm, not the far arm. When Renn lies on the couch, it is right in the corner, not at the front of the seat. One of these cats had to be the first to sit there, and the other had to take an unaccustomed position to accommodate the cat already there - furthermore, the second had to choose to sit next to the first. Just as unusually, the first cat then had to remain where he or she was, and not move away when the second sat there.

I’ve seen the orange one and my big boy lie next to each other on the bath-mat. The tiny terror has even buried her head in Renn’s fur. But this is the only time that I’ve seen them make such a conscious decision. I don’t expect it to happen all the time, but this is the closest they’ve been. They seem to like each other. Maybe this means that one day, long in the future, if nothing bad happens and we all have enough patience, two of my cats will actually become friends. Maybe.