- Joined
- Dec 7, 2023
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My soulmate kitty Lou passed away a little over six months ago, leaving behind me and his five-year-old "brother" Rory. Rory had never been a solo cat before and struggled terribly with it. I tried to find him a new friend but failed twice. The first time, the rescue accidentally adopted me a kitten from a bonded pair; he was inconsolable and the rescue immediately asked for him back once they realized their mistake. The second time, a different rescue gave me the complete wrong information about the cat I took home; I'd wanted a mellow, cat-friendly adult cat, and they gave me a sweet but extremely overly stimulated, territorially aggressive, undersocialized cat with an age on his microchip much younger than stated in his paperwork. I came here in the middle of that saga, as he was starting to hurt Rory in his drive to claim every area of the apartment as his--and had learned how to escape his basecamp even with the door shut and fortified with a six foot baby gate. I ultimately asked the rescue to find him a more appropriate home, which they did.
This experience really shook my confidence in getting another cat, so I took a few months to lick my wounds, raise Rory's confidence up, and see how he fared as a solo cat in the long-term. The short answer to the latter was "not great." He's always had mild OCD, but it started escalating without another feline friend around. We had a lot of fun together and became much closer, but his separation anxiety also intensified to the point where I couldn't go shopping without worrying about him potentially hurting himself.
Last month, I saw a video of a cat from my local SPCA on Facebook. She sounded like The One, and I had an odd feeling in my chest urging me to go there as soon as possible. When I got there, the cat was in the same room as another kitty. The cat I'd gone to meet was very sweet but seemed very easily overstimulated and a bit reactive; nothing I couldn't handle, but not a good match for Rory.
To give her time to cool down, I decided to go say hi to the other cat in the room. She was called Darcy, and was a pretty blue cat. She was very mellow but bumped her head against my hand when I offered it. I asked the shelter worker if she thought she would be a good match, and she thought she might. I took her home that day.
It's been a little over a month now. Darcy is now named Maisie. While the SPCA estimated her to be four, my vet thinks she is likely double that. I don't care. She's missing her incisors and she is a bit cow-hocked in her back legs. I don't care. She has been the perfect addition to our household.
She likes me in a very stoic, hands-off sort of way. Unlike Rory, who loves to be picked up and who is constantly crawling into my lap, she only lets me touch her for very brief periods of time, and only if she is in the mood. That's fine by me. She follows me from room to room and makes cute bird-like noises when she wants me to come play with her. Despite being older than we thought, she has an incredible play drive. She loves to chase wand toys and springs and balls, and she brings me her toys back, chirping cutely, so I can toss them across the apartment again for her to fetch.
But her relationship with Rory is special. She loves Rory. I was nervous about adopting a female cat, as Rory has some behaviors that I thought might offend or upset a lady cat. Most particularly, when he is triggered by very specific things (namely me talking to someone he can't see, like during a meeting or when someone is over and we're in another room), he will pounce on and scruff the other cat. Lou didn't like this at all, obviously, and I assumed Maisie would hate it. But she can immediately tell when he is about to pounce and turns the tables on him, flipping over and instigating a play session instead, I also thought Rory's love of professional wrestling would be offensive to a dignified adult lady, but no--she is desperate to throw down and initiates play fighting more often than he does.
She just adores him. She wants to play with him all the time. She wants to be near him. She cuddles with him. And while he was a bit slow to accept her advances at first, he's already beginning to reciprocate. It's only been a month, but they act like they've known each other for years.
She's special. She moves like Lou did. She has so many of the same small habits and mannerisms that he did. When they play, it's like watching a ghost--she takes the exact same stance he did, does the exact same gambits, reacts in the exact same ways. She isn't Lou, and she's not even that much like him, really--but she is familiar, and her presence is comforting, and while I hope we become closer and closer and she one day will let me love on her more openly, I am still happy to have her in my home regardless.
Here are some pictures of the two of them together. I'm so glad I decided to take another chance. Hooray for Mae!
This experience really shook my confidence in getting another cat, so I took a few months to lick my wounds, raise Rory's confidence up, and see how he fared as a solo cat in the long-term. The short answer to the latter was "not great." He's always had mild OCD, but it started escalating without another feline friend around. We had a lot of fun together and became much closer, but his separation anxiety also intensified to the point where I couldn't go shopping without worrying about him potentially hurting himself.
Last month, I saw a video of a cat from my local SPCA on Facebook. She sounded like The One, and I had an odd feeling in my chest urging me to go there as soon as possible. When I got there, the cat was in the same room as another kitty. The cat I'd gone to meet was very sweet but seemed very easily overstimulated and a bit reactive; nothing I couldn't handle, but not a good match for Rory.
To give her time to cool down, I decided to go say hi to the other cat in the room. She was called Darcy, and was a pretty blue cat. She was very mellow but bumped her head against my hand when I offered it. I asked the shelter worker if she thought she would be a good match, and she thought she might. I took her home that day.
It's been a little over a month now. Darcy is now named Maisie. While the SPCA estimated her to be four, my vet thinks she is likely double that. I don't care. She's missing her incisors and she is a bit cow-hocked in her back legs. I don't care. She has been the perfect addition to our household.
She likes me in a very stoic, hands-off sort of way. Unlike Rory, who loves to be picked up and who is constantly crawling into my lap, she only lets me touch her for very brief periods of time, and only if she is in the mood. That's fine by me. She follows me from room to room and makes cute bird-like noises when she wants me to come play with her. Despite being older than we thought, she has an incredible play drive. She loves to chase wand toys and springs and balls, and she brings me her toys back, chirping cutely, so I can toss them across the apartment again for her to fetch.
But her relationship with Rory is special. She loves Rory. I was nervous about adopting a female cat, as Rory has some behaviors that I thought might offend or upset a lady cat. Most particularly, when he is triggered by very specific things (namely me talking to someone he can't see, like during a meeting or when someone is over and we're in another room), he will pounce on and scruff the other cat. Lou didn't like this at all, obviously, and I assumed Maisie would hate it. But she can immediately tell when he is about to pounce and turns the tables on him, flipping over and instigating a play session instead, I also thought Rory's love of professional wrestling would be offensive to a dignified adult lady, but no--she is desperate to throw down and initiates play fighting more often than he does.
She just adores him. She wants to play with him all the time. She wants to be near him. She cuddles with him. And while he was a bit slow to accept her advances at first, he's already beginning to reciprocate. It's only been a month, but they act like they've known each other for years.
She's special. She moves like Lou did. She has so many of the same small habits and mannerisms that he did. When they play, it's like watching a ghost--she takes the exact same stance he did, does the exact same gambits, reacts in the exact same ways. She isn't Lou, and she's not even that much like him, really--but she is familiar, and her presence is comforting, and while I hope we become closer and closer and she one day will let me love on her more openly, I am still happy to have her in my home regardless.
Here are some pictures of the two of them together. I'm so glad I decided to take another chance. Hooray for Mae!
it's great when a cat just fits. Enjoy.
