If you’ve been following the Tabby/Mr. Meow saga, you’re well aware that they’re not big fans of each other. Worse, Tabby’s been running roughshod over him, making sure he stays confined to his leather chair and isn’t free to roam anywhere else in the house.
Murphy’s never been a problem. When we adopted him six years ago, I worried how he and Mr. Meow would get along. Murph proved to be sweet-tempered and uber gentle right from the get go. And Mr. Meow was delighted to have a new companion. So much so he’d break Murph out of the kitchen where we kept him at night the first couple of weeks. (Or tried to. I don’t even know if we made it two full weeks because Mr. Meow didn’t like Murph being separated like that.)
Then when we brought Tabby home three months ago, she took to Murphy immediately too. I’ll never forget that moment. Murph was bound and determined to see what I was keeping behind the bathroom door, so he barged his way in with me when I went to feed her that first morning. She took one look at him and instead of hissing like I expected, she ran straight for him with big eyes and plowed into him with a nuzzle-head butt. I don’t know who was caught by surprise more –me or Murph.
Mr. Meow tried to make friends with Tabby early on. She never liked him sniffing her face, but she would tolerate him in the same room. But then something changed. She got vicious towards him. We suspected she was pregnant, and later found out she really was. Since then we’ve been trying techniques, like positive reinforcement, to encourage a harmonious household.
Well, something’s shifting, working, or otherwise falling into place because the past few days I’ve seen glimmers of the Mr. Meow I once knew. The ornery, playful, crazy cat who didn’t let anyone boss him around. He’s been coming into the kitchen to keep me company while I cook or wash dishes. I even caught him napping on the afghan we have covering the back of the other couch. (That used to be among his favorite places to lounge until Tabby came along and took it over.)
The white afghan, pictured here with Murph enjoying it.
Most importantly, he’s not only standing up to Tabby when she tries to boss him, but provoking and playing with her on occasion too. So it looks like Christmas is coming early for me this year, as I’ve received the one gift that I’ve most been wanting: the prospect of kids that aren’t constantly at odds.
It just cracks me up that the relationships I most feared being the toughest to gel –Murphy with the cats—were the ones that came most naturally. I never thought I’d have to discipline the cats to get along with each other!