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Knowing how lonely Cole is when we leave him alone, I decided it was time to get another cat. After putting a lot of thought into it, I picked one I’d met through my experiences volunteering at the local rescue.
He’s around Cole’s age and gets along with other cats. He’s a love bug; when faced with the possibility of affection he goes for it with gusto, emitting a loud rusty chain purr and mashing himself within the arms of whomever’s holding him. He’s perfect, both for Cole and for the whole family.
He’s called Chrestomanci, after a character in a series by my favorite author, Diana Wynne Jones. The character’s full name is Eric Chant and his nickname is Cat, given because he’s a nine-lived enchanter. We call the cat Chresti or Cat most of the time.
Chresti transitioned to our house very well. He established immediate boundaries with the dog: if she rushed at him he didn’t like it and would hiss in warning. If she approached him with caution then he accepted the overture and began rubbing against her in a gesture of friendship. Unlike Cole Chresti’s not interested in playing with her, and her one awkward attempt at initiating playtime ended with the first and only swat on the nose he doled out.
Chresti and Cole took a little bit more time to figure each other out. Cole took some time to warm to Chresti. During that period he’d hiss or growl at the other cat whenever he came near, even if that contact was initiated by Cole, which it usually was.
Cole would walk up to Chresti, sniff or touch noses with him, and then growl. I suppose this was his way of letting Chresti know who had seniority around these parts. Within 48 hours the aggression, however light, ceased.
The two cats might not be grooming or cuddling each other like I want them to quite yet, but they’re getting along well. They began sharing a litter box all on their own, though their particular choice vexed me. I’d temporarily put the new box in the office for Chresti until I was sure they could share litter box space without problems, but Cole started exclusively using the new box as well by Tuesday. I’ve since put both boxes back in the laundry room and they’re successfully using them both.
Now their favorite interaction with each other is playtime. Their play is bizarre but endearing. They like to stalk each other around the house, Chresti usually doing the skulking and Cole the stalking. Then one or the other makes a mad dash, with the other leaping into frenzied pursuit.
Chihiro’s baffled by this play. She wants to join in, but her added presence kills the game. Both cats wander off in opposite directions when the dog appears. Perhaps soon they’ll invent a game for the three of them to play.
Chresti still needs some more time to adjust. He adores attention but if a human walks upright towards him he tends to run. He gives affection if caught, but still doesn’t like to be what he perceives as chased.
I also am still figuring out how to feed them both. Chresti took a few days to eat very much, and he’s overweight so I need to feed him less than Cole. Cole is a glutton that I’m concerned will eat more than his share. Stay tuned because once I’ll figure it out, I’ll post on how to handle feeding time in a multiple cat household.
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