Renn the Friendly

I hope everyone’s Christmas is going well. In our era, the Season doesn’t last long, so many of us are returning to work, returning to routines. I’m afraid that that includes this blog.

So, just to remind readers that my collection of cats includes more than Raleigh and the sugar twins, I thought I would present Renn.

Renn is a significant part of a new cat’s integration. That’s because I can always count on my big boy to be friendly to a newcomer. He doesn’t go out of his way, making a ‘welcome’ banner to hang on the wall or inflating balloons. But he will be the first - sometimes the only - cat to sniff at the stranger’s nose (and the other end), and will not fuss if the new boy or girl, unaware of the cosy apartment’s ways, transgresses a little.

Renn is not flawless, of course. He does hiss or growl at times. He likes to have the sitting room couch to himself and will whap at someone who jumps up to join him - but he does that with long-established roommates, too. And new boy Raleigh does raise the big boy’s ire by intruding into his food-bowl now and then.

By and large, however, Renn is an inviting sort who takes things as they come, and that includes new arrivals. I view his easy-going attitude as essential in smoothing the transition of strangers when they come to stay with us. He’s the cat who makes a newcomer feel that the changes he’s experiencing may not be bad after all. And that’s a cat all of us could use.