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New cats in the house

Sometimes you just need to take action. P1010520_medium

We have two new cats in the house. More than four months after our last cat died at a respectable age of almost 19 years, the family decided that the house was too empty and cats had to be part of our life.
Our options were: getting two kittens from the animal shelter; or obtaining older cats from people who could no longer keep theirs.
P1010524_mediumEventually, we found two half-brothers, Holy Birmans just like the two we have had for such a long time.

What a difference between our slender girls of old, and these two massive males!

They will have to socialize for a couple of weeks, getting used to their new home after having lived with their original owners for 8 years. One of the two (Levi) has made the mental switch already. He purrs, eats and drinks, and comes to us for attention. The other one (the dominant male, Shinzo) is still hiding beneath the couch or behind the curtains, refuses to eat and drink (at least as far as we can observe… at night he does probably eat). Or else he hides on a window sill where he is meowing at the chickens outside, and all the birds visiting our bird-food station. But I fear that we will never see him back if he escapes to the garden. It will take time to let him get used to the new house and the new humans. He is a shrewd cat though… my son left the livingroom door to the rest of the house open for only a short while and the cat took that opportunity to disappear into the house. It took us nearly an hour to locate him and draw him out of hiding… in the attic below a pile of furniture parts.

They are adorable though, and sweet. All will be fine in the end.

 

5 Comments

  1. Jen

    Congrats on the new kitties! Ozzie was the first kitten I’ve ever had. And…he was a handful. Hell, at 3, he can still be a bit crazy.

  2. Niki Kovacs

    C(ongr)ats! BTW, when cats move to a new house, it’s a good idea to keep them inside at least for a week or so. This helps them getting acquainted with the various sounds inside and outside. The day they take off a bit, they will find their way back home with their ears.

  3. Roy

    > We have two new cats in the house

    About time, kudos!

    > the family decided that the house was too empty and cats had to
    > be part of our life

    Bingo—good decision.

    > Shinzo

    Cats are EXTREMELY territorial, if he is the dominant one you may
    understand his new situation. Soon enough, he is going to
    discover that he has remained the only one boss in town still,
    don’t worry; also, he shouldn’t dare to run away too far as a f(t)
    for the same reason (but don’t let him go yet nonetheless at this
    stage); it’s unlikely that he will flee like a *gazelle*. BTW,
    cats (felis catus) are those felines among all others who share
    their DNA with tigers mostly—see e.g. Your Cat is 95% Tiger
    http://science.time.com/2013/09/19/your-cat-is-95-tiger/ 🙂

  4. Roy

    Madagascar (the movie), quotes:

    Melman the Giraffe: San Diego.
    Gloria the Hippo: San Diego?
    Melman the Giraffe: White, sandy beaches; cleverly simulated
    natural environment; wide-open enclosures. I’m telling you, this
    could be the San Diego Zoo. Complete with fake rocks.
    [Taps on a rock]
    Melman the Giraffe: Wow, that looks real.

    ALEX THE LION: Oh, great! San Diego. That means I have to compete
    with Shamu and his smug little grin. I can’t top that! Can’t top
    it!

    (Not too far off.)

  5. Drakeo

    MMM Do you have a out doors cat on the inside.
    growing up raising Siamese chocolate and seal point.
    I found that the males growing up with 75 percent time outside had a hard time when we relocated. Extreme hard time. Well I wish you luck.

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