Otto Was Offended...

Early on Saturday morning, I went into the basement to retrieve one of the pet carriers. Later in the morning, I would be taking Daisy to the vet for her annual check up. I wanted to see how the kitties would react. As expected, they were not pleased. Toto hid in a corner, Daisy ran away and Otto looked at the carrier from a distance with suspicion. I left the carrier sitting in the living room and after a few tension-filled minutes, the kitties began to approach the carrier -- quietly stalking the carrier, so as not to arouse its anger. Daisy and Otto walked all around the carrier and took turns standing on top of it and after a while they began to settle down. Eventually, the time came to put Daisy in the carrier and while Daisy was complaining about being put in the carrier, Otto ran for his life.

I took Daisy to the vet. She lost a little weight since her last visit. Probably due to all of the running around since the guys came to the house. Daisy was feeling a bit abused and mistreated, but, was happy to return home. The surprising turn of events came when I noticed that Otto had been deeply offended by the whole experience. He wouldn't speak to me or even look at me for most of the rest of the day. Eventually, late in the day, Otto found it in his little black and white heart, to forgive me. Daisy didn't forgive me until the next day.

It's been more than two months since the guys, Otto and Toto, arrived. So, I thought I might give you a status report. The guys have settled in very nicely and taken control of nearly everything that was once Daisy's. They allow Daisy to use the sofa, but, the front window privileges belong mostly to the guys, although, the guys do allow Daisy to use the front window every once in a while.

The guys' main stronghold, however, is the back window. They have allowed Daisy to visit from time to time (usually when they're not looking), but, Daisy has been told, in no uncertain terms, to keep her paws off. Their back window comes complete with a table to sit on and two kitty condos. Although, the guys don't really use the smaller of the two kitty condos, I don't really have a better place to put them.

Otto uses Charlie's former extra-large kitty condo to scratch on. Daisy also uses Charlie's former residence to scratch on, but, rather than scratch on the outside like Otto, Daisy scratches on the inside.

Toto is still very shy around people. His favorite spots to hide include the second floor of their four-level kitty condo by the back window and the underside of my end table near the sofa and the front window.

The guys do like to play a lot, so, we've had to make sure that they have plenty of toys to play with. They have several fish, a couple of squirrels, several rattle balls and a couple of plastic eggs. By the way, their favorite toys, by far, are the plastic eggs.

Daisy has warmed up to the guys surprisingly well. Her maternal instincts have kicked in and she frequently tries to clean her boys. The guys, for their part, generally don't like it when Daisy makes a fuss over them, but, most of the time they tolerate Daisy.

The guys are very food motivated. Even though the SPCA doesn't give them people food, the guys knew and loved all the important animals (pig, cow, chicken and fish) as soon as they got here. Even though Toto is supposed to be the shy and timid member of the group, he's surprisingly single-minded when it comes to food. Toto has been known to push his brother, Otto, out of the way when it comes to food. All three kitties have their own bowls, but, because of Toto's intense focus on food, when I serve the kitties their food in the morning, Toto has to be first.

Toto's right eye has been a concern for us, and, so far, it appears to have healed quite well. It's been very difficult getting Toto to pose for the camera. He almost always, shuts his eyes or turns away when I show up with the camera. So, the best photo of Toto is with his eyes shut. Toto and Otto are almost identical except that Toto has slightly more white in his markings than Otto and Toto has a black spot on his nose.

All things considered, I think the guys have adjusted very well to living with us. Although, it remains to be seen how they'll respond to air conditioning, family gatherings and the inevitable fake Christmas tree.