Old and New - Changes, Too

Hector continues his explorations of the Cosy Apartment and its residents. He has almost entirely ceased hiding in corners of the library, behind bookcases, and taken to lying under the bed when he wants to get away from everyone. I don’t know if that’s an improvement or not, but it does place him in a room which other cats inhabit.

I am not worried, though. Our little black guest is coming out amid the others all the time. He likes looking out the glass doors to the concrete ditch, and he must pass other felines to get there, and that’s good. But a new favourite spot is the cylinder-house cat-tree.

Hector walked by it Monday evening, stared up at it, then hopped up into the cylinder. I think, like other cats who have lazed in its curving confines, he finds that it affords privacy and isolation, without exiling him from events. He can see what is going on below, watch the other cats, yet remain aloof. For a new cat, especially, this is a beneficial location.

Something else happened that I found very pleasing. For the first time since Hec arrived, Portia came into the library and lie on my lap. Hector was elsewhere - as he tends to be when given the opportunity of an open library door - and I, seeing Po sitting near by, walked to the library’s doorway. I called to her and then sat on the couch inside. Portia trotted in and jumped up on the ottoman. She was a little hesitant about lying down - relaxing - in what has been the newcomer’s room, but she did. We had a satisfying ten minutes of brushing and purring. Hector walked by the open door, looked in, and continued into the bedroom. Portia remained on my lap for a few more minutes.

I am quite glad at this development, as it demonstrates to Po that she can still use the library when she wants; it is not the perquisite of the newest cat. It also showed Hector that, though he is welcome in the library, others must have access to it, too. And now that he prefers being under the bed or in the cylinder-house cat-tree, that is not much of a problem.

Nothing remains static in a world of cats, though it may seem like it. Positions change, relationships develop, interests mature. The only thing that stays the same is that not one of the lazy bums has a job.