Everyone Survived

Everyone survived their first full day together. There was a single puff of white fur on the floor; it could have come from any one of several cats, and may have come just from grooming. If there was a fight, it hadn’t been serious.

Raleigh was hiding behind the couch in the library when I came home. I hope he hadn’t been there all day, though he runs to hide when he hears the door open; we had a visitor who cleaned out his ears, and he fears a repeat, I think. He may have been out for much of the day. I left a litter-box in the library, in case anyone felt threatened going to those in the store-room. But no one used this extra box.

Raleigh is progressing in most things. On the subject of litter-box, he soon learned to use a hooded box, which cut down on mess, and he now resorts to the ‘general’ boxes in the store-room; previously, I had been leaving one in the bathroom (where he had been spending his nights), in case he felt more comfortable going there, but I needn’t do that any more. My Peachy doesn’t go often, and usually not at all during the day. Evenings and mornings are his times.

He is very bold when it comes to eating, and I’ve had to keep him away from sticking his nose into others’ meals. He trots over whenever he realises there is food in the offing. On the other hand, he runs and hides if I approach him directly or openly. One of the things I cannot fathom in his thinking is that he runs from me much of the time, but if I sit down and pat my lap, more  frequently than not, he will come over and jump up to lie on me.

And now he is playing. He watched the others play, especially with a string-toy, and has begun to use his big saucers to bat at the string himself.

I am pleased that all the cats can be out without my supervision, but the food situation still needs revising. Parker’s health is very good now, but its balance would be thrown off if he were able to free-feed on a bowl placed at everyone’s convenience, as had been the case when he was incarcerated. Furthermore, I am hoping to keep Cammie away from Orijen, and on Z/D exclusively, as I think the former contributes to her vomitory episodes. She doesn’t eat much of it, but she will nibble at it if the opportunity is there and she is hungry. At the moment, there is no food out when everyone is free. The beasts will hunger toward the end of the afternoon, but they won’t starve, and will hopefully be more receptive to their dinners. But availability of food at other times, when I am present, needs to be addressed, simply because no one but Parker and Raleigh eats enough soft-food to keep himself going.

But so far, so good. There was no combat and no injuries. Let’s see if they can do that two days in a row…