A Month With Chris...

After a month, Chris and Toto went to the vet. Chris is a bit of a drama-queen when travelling in her carrier. When I brought the carriers up from the basement, Chris decided to play in one of the carriers while I was busy with the other carrier. And, of course, when I get close, Chris jumps out of the carrier. So, it was a game of catch the kitties on two fronts as Toto also decided to play hard to get. But, in the end, the two kitties were packed up and ready for their trip to the vet.

Chris is 8.5 pounds and passed her exam with flying colors. She was a bit of a handful in the exam room and tried to escape twice. Toto, on the other hand, was reserved and well behaved with the vet. He's been through this process a number times and knows what to expect. Toto has a slight eye infection for which he'll be getting eye drops for the next ten days. Toto weighed in at just under 13 pounds.

While I was in the basement, I brought up the box containing the fall decorations. I made a spot in the living room for the box by moving the toys to a different location. In the process, we discovered that Chris was indeed hoarding the toys. Chris was napping in the kitty condo in the dining room when I happened to pick up one of the banana toys and toss it toward Daisy. Chris immediately sprang up from her spot and rushed over to take the toy from Daisy. With the toys on one side of the living room and Chris' stairs leading to the upstairs hallway on the other side of the living room, Chris was torn between defending her toys and defending her stairs. In the end, Chris decided to give up the toys.

Chris tried to claim the box with our fall decorations as part of her territory, but, Toto and Daisy were not having any part of the attempted annexation. So, Chris was forced to back off on that front. Later, things got more interesting as Daisy, using the decoration box as strategic high ground, invaded the upstairs. Chris decided to shadow Daisy from the upstairs railing as Daisy walked in the hallway. Chris was not a happy camper. But, even though they do dislike one another, the tensions between the two seem to be easing as they can actually sit near one another without hissing at each other and grumbling.

This time around, there's a nice picture of Chris sitting in the toy box, another picture of Chris guarding the toy box, Chris guarding the decoration box, Toto on the decoration box, pictures of Chris and Toto and Chris and Daisy. Finally, there's a picture of Chris on the railing, shadowing Daisy in the upstairs hallway.

At long last, Chris and Daisy seemed to have settled down enough to tolerate being in the same room together. Recently, I even saw Chris and Daisy sitting on the same sofa together. Of course, when I went to take a picture of this awesome moment, Chris decided to walk away, then, to add insult to injury, Daisy decided to stir the pot and the two ended up in a mutual hissing session.

Even though Chris and Daisy haven't yet come to a decision on whose head to bury the proverbial hatchet, the two have spent much less of their time butting heads and more time just doing their own things. Chris seems to have abandoned her nest in the bathroom. It might have something to do with Toto suddenly taking an interest in hanging out in the bathroom.

We saw Chris running through the house for no apparent reason just like a certain someone did not too long ago. But, unlike Daisy, Chris can turn on a dime and avoid crashing into walls.

After three weeks, Chris is starting to get a lot more comfortable with us and the other kitties. Chris has claimed the upstairs hallway and the window in the dining room as her own territory and jealously defends her spots against Daisy. Chris has figured out how to climb to the highest spot in the house --  the shelves in the bathroom that serve as our linen closet. Otto once ventured up to that lofty height, but, Toto and Daisy don't feel comfortable  climbing up that high.

Daisy and Chris still butt heads from time to time. They're not violent, but, they are noisy. We endeavor to break up arguments before anything serious happens. Both kitties are strong willed and don't feel a need to concede to the other. Although Daisy and Chris still have disagreements, they have learned to live in the same house and can even pass each other without much fuss.

Chris enjoys sitting in the dining room window and looking out at the back yard. Presumably, there might be birds and the occasional squirrel to look at. Chris doesn't seem to be as much of a sun worshiper as Daisy, so, the back window is ideal as it doesn't receive much direct sunlight -- except in the late afternoon. Toto has been seen playing tag with Chris. The two frequently run up and down the stairs together. Toto definitely seems to be in better spirits now that he has someone to play with. We have noticed that the kitties are not playing with their toys as much as they used to. I'm not sure if Chris is hording the toys or if Chris has claimed the toy box as part of her territory. Or, perhaps, it's just the excitement of having a new kitty that has drawn the kitties away from playing with their toys.

The latest round of Chris pictures show Chris and Daisy standing near one another. There's a nice picture of Chris sitting on the towels in the bathroom. Don't worry, the shelves are secured to the wall with anchors that can support up to 100 pounds. There's a decent picture of Chris in her window in the dining room looking out the back window. And, there's a picture of Chris and Toto together. Sadly, the picture came out a bit dark even with the flash for some unknown reason. I had to adjust the picture to reveal Chris.

While I was away, Mom had a new Chris story to tell. Toto was sitting on the sofa in the front window and Chris had settled into the kitty condo near the back window in the dining room for a mid-afternoon nap. Daisy, unaware that Chris was napping in the dining room, jumped up on the dining room table and immediately realized her mistake.

Chris got up from her nap and grumbled at Daisy. Daisy decided to jump down and move to the middle of the living room. Chris jumped from the dining room to the living room to confront Daisy. A mutual hissing session ensued. Then, Toto came down from the window and stood between the two kitties. He gave Chris a stern look, Chris lowered her head and moved away from Daisy.

Once Toto was satisfied that there wouldn't be any trouble, he went upstairs to his usual spot in the bathroom window. Daisy moved to a kitty condo in the living room next to the TV. Chris wasn't really done with Daisy. Chris stalked her as Daisy settled into her mid-afternoon nap mode. Daisy grumbled a bit and Toto came back downstairs to confront Chris. After this, Chris decided to back away and return to her original spot in the kitty condo in the dining room. Toto went back upstairs.

Mom was watching the whole scene play out and was absolutely fascinated by the communication between and amongst the kitties. Don't let them fool you into thinking that they don't know what they're doing.

After two weeks, Chris has settled in very nicely. Daisy and Chris still don't see eye-to-eye about the upstairs hallway, but, I expect that Daisy will have to concede the upstairs to Chris at some point. We knew going into this, that Daisy would be a bit stubborn. But, while Daisy might want Chris to believe that she is a big aggressive kitty, Daisy is actually a big fuzzy marshmallow with a yellow streak running down her back -- Daisy is actually afraid of mice. Daisy and Chris ignore each other most of the day, but, in the morning and in the evening, when the food gets changed, they're both a bit more agitated than usual.

Our main concern was for Toto. We picked up Toto from the SPCA and were advised that he had been abused. The SPCA didn't give us the gruesome details, but, Toto seems to fear women more than men, so, we suspect that Toto had been abused by a woman. After two weeks, Chris and Toto seem to be getting along just fine. They can pass each other on the stairs or in the kitchen without so much as a hiss or even a dirty look.

Mom informed me that during the day, while I'm at work, Toto and Chris have been spotted hanging out together. Toto is even said to be helping to keep the peace between Daisy and Chris by standing near Chris and keeping Daisy from being overly aggressive with Chris. Mom has also noticed that Toto seems to be quite pleased to have a kitty companion. My latest picture of Chris was taken as Chris blocked access to the upstairs hallway by sitting on the stairs.

As the number of days into the Invasion of Chris has dragged on into double digits, there are some interesting developments to report. Toto is still top of the heap in the kitty kingdom. Chris and Daisy had some meetings to discuss who should be second, but, have not come to an agreement on who will be second in line.

Chris likes to be up high, so, we've found Chris napping on the railing of the upstairs hallway. Chris is also fond of taking food off the table, so, we cannot leave food on the table. We're looking to try to correct that behavior, but, for the time being, we'll have to keep a close eye on Chris.

Chris likes the small cat bed in the living room and since no one is using the large cat bed, we've moved the toys to the large cat bed. Chris is fond of the banana toys. She had all three bananas out yesterday. Chris is not really into the string toy.

Chris is still a bit skittish in the kitchen with the other kitties. But, as long as I keep the kitties apart during feeding, there aren't really any major issues. Chris has a quirk where she feels a need to move the water bowls during the day. Since Chris has been spilling water, I've had to bring out the mop as part of the morning routine. I discovered today that Chris doesn't like the mop at all. When Chris first came to us, she didn't know that the vacuum cleaner was evil, so, I'm guessing that her previous owners did not have carpet.

Chris is only half the size of Toto and Daisy, but, she's no push over. So far, Chris seems to be adapting very well to the house, us and her kitty companions.

On day four, after the earlier incident where Toto came along and inspected Chris' nest, Chris decided to claim the toy box as her very own bed. After doing without his favorite spot in the bathroom window, Toto decided to completely ignore Chris and reclaim his spot in the bathroom window. Daisy, for her part, tried to ignore Chris as well, but, found, much to her dismay that she couldn't pull it off as successfully as Toto. Chris walked up to Daisy for good girl on girl sniff. Daisy reacted with a big hiss and decided to make an immediate tactical withdrawal.

Early on, while Chris was still settling in, there were some interesting developments. Toto decided that he had to investigate Chris. Toto walked upstairs and inspected Chris' bed, food bowl and most importantly her cat box. Chris was not happy with this impromptu inspection, but, when a kitty twice your size shows up, what is a dainty little kitty to do. Then, Daisy showed up to stir the pot by walking over to Chris' food bowl and helping herself to Chris' food. Toto can be quite rude when he wants to be, but, he's not mean spirited. An amazing moment happened following Toto's inspection. Toto and Chris touched noses. Of course, they immediately followed that up with a mutual hissing session.