One of our beloved cats died a couple of years ago, and since then his brother has been rather lonely whenever we leave the house. We have cat sitters and house sitters who hang out with him every day when we're on vacation or overnight trips, but he still certainly seems to miss snuggling up with his dear old brother. So we decided that we would get another cat to keep him company when we're not home.

Yesterday we adopted a 6-year-old kitty, an indoor big guy from the county animal shelter, and brought him home. He's one of the most mellow cats I've ever met. At the shelter, other cats would hiss, and he would just walk on by as if they weren't even there. He immediately sat on our laps and began to snuggle with us. And he didn't even hesitate to come out of his pet carrier and march around our bedroom as if he owned the place. This guy seems very comfortable in the face of change (I'm sure I could learn something from him).

The problem, though, is that our new kitty is quite eager to march around the rest of the house, too. He can't, of course, because our resident kitty is not interested in sharing his house yet (it can take weeks or even months for cats to accept each other and get friendly, argh). So last night, he sat meowing at the bedroom door, begging to get out. This lasted pretty much the entire night. I barely had any sleep, and when I did manage to drift off into dreamland, I kept having nightmares about fighting cats.

I hate fighting. Anger and aggression are two things I prefer to avoid at all costs, even when it comes to cats. So I'm now exhausted and stressed out by OCD thoughts of my cats fighting with each other, and I'm quickly recognizing that I'm subconsciously searching for a compulsion to turn off the intrusive thoughts. (I'm really getting tired of OCD.)

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that our feline companions will learn to like each other. I know it will take time, but I'm so impatient. At least I can rest a bit easier knowing that we've helped save another pet from homelessness.

(Go find your own pet to save at http://www.petfinder.com)

Labels: My Life