Lost Provinces

As I have written previously, cat dynamics are always interesting to watch. The introduction of a new feline always brings changes, of course, but they may not be apparent right away.

Most of the beasts here either ignore Raleigh or give him a whap or two, just to show him who is boss (or who is not). His integration has been quite smooth. Cammie, however, is reacting as she does with every newcomer: with loathing and anger - at least toward the newcomer. I have no doubt that that will change over time; she no longer behaves toward Parker as she once did.

One interesting result of Raleigh’s arrival is that the princess has restricted her appearances in the sitting room. It is there that Raleigh spends most of his time, and so Cammie is much more likely to have a physical encounter with Peachy there than anywhere else. She used to inhabit the top of the taller cat-tree, but hardly ever visits it now; nor does she frequent the heated cat-beds in the sitting room. It is not that Raleigh has taken over those spots, but he may be met with if Cammie goes to them. So Cammie voluntarily exiles herself from that space.

Yet she has compensations. For a long time, she shunned the library. It used to be where Parker was sequestered at night and when I was absent from the apartment. This was the case for a year and a half or so; the library probably came to be associated in Cammie’s mind with the sturdy-boy. It takes a long while for cats to get over such affiliations. And yet now, the princess has reclaimed part of her realm.

Cammie is spending a great deal of time in the library now, sleeping on the towel I place on the couch for such a purpose, and even eating there. Last Saturday, she was so comfortable - and so in possession - that she did not move even when that night’s movie began. Renn, who usually takes the spot beside me to snooze while I watch the film, had to content himself with a place on the ottoman - and I don’t think ‘content’ was an accurate word. But there was no thought in his brain of dislodging Cammie.

Our little kingdom is never static; territory is ceded and occupied, explored and re-annexed. Thus is history made.