Yes the cat definitely adopted me. It would want my attention and sit on my desk on my keyboard so I had to stroke it for ten minutes or so. It would head butt me and lick me and then I would put it on a cushion on a chair next to me and it would sleep there quite happily for hours. Though when the owner called I would have to wake the cat and try and sneak the cat out quietly. Every day the cat would visit and spend hours with me.

We have 3 cats who are all 2 years old that we have raised from kittens so they've all grown up together. Mac is the first and oldest (2 months older than the other two) and then we got him two kittens, the twins Stella and Elmer.

A year ago we adotped an older cat, Boss (he's 11 years old now) when a friend's partner was posted to Dubai and she moved back in with her mum while he was away (her mum is very allergic.) Boss had quite a colourful past, he's very suspicious, easily jumpy and we're pretty sure he's been abused at some point in the past because he's very uneasy about having his head and neck touched. I am am also wondering if he's starting to go deaf, because he quite often doesn't hear you walking around him or talking to him so he's startled when he becomes aware of you.

He has mostly integrated quite well with the other 3. There was quite a lot of inquisitive sniffing for a while, then Stella developed a crush on Boss and would follow him around, now she mostly just ignores him but they do sleep together on our bed quite regularly. Mac was the most suspicious at the start, our eldest boy at the time who was in charge, but he asserted his dominance in terms of being my favourite and now he mostly ignores Boss too, they have an uneasy sort of relationship, sometimes Mac wants to play but Boss isn't entirely sure about Mac's method of playing so it becomes a bit of a chase mock-battle.

Elmer is the most surprising one, the youngest boy he was the least bothered by Boss when he arrived, but as time has gone on something has happened between the two of them and now El turns into a hissing, spitting and growling monster whenever he comes face-to-face with Boss (except at dinner time when El has other things on his mind) Boss seems to enjoy provoking Elmer, he will deliberately sit in the door of the bathroom when El goes in to use the cat box, effectively trapping Elmer in the bathroom. He also lies down right inside the door of the dining room when we're in there so Elmer has to walk around him to get to his Daddy (Red) which isn't a popular move.

It's been a year now and I think they'll eventually all settle down a bit, particularly as the kittens get older, but to be honest it's really only a problem in the winter because during the summer the kittens go outside all day while Boss snoozes inside, then he goes out when we get home from work and stays out until bedtime. When the weather is bad and all 4 cats are inside it's like having a houseful of squabbling children.

The house we rented had a cat flap.
I forgot to lock it one evening and woke up at 2am with a cat curled up on top of me.
I've no idea what his/her name was, so we called it Stripes.

Cats can be suspicious but once you have earned their trust they seem fine. I never seem to have problems with animals, especially dogs. Maybe I do not have aggressive tendencies that they might sense.

For those who asked, here's a photo of her.



She's properly tabby - no white markings. I think she's getting happier about her circumstances. Must be nicer here than living rough in Brentwood.

She's very affectionate, but is still timid. We are getting her used to the wider world by keeping the door to the room she's in open when the other cats are out. She wants to go through, but hasn't plucked up the courage to yet. I think in a day or so, she'll start exploring.

Image isn't displaying here mate.

She's nice
( I saw it via a browser)

It's because Dropbox is redirecting the URL to a gallery page. If you right click - view image (or whatever equivalent) you'll see.

Yeah, did that earlier when I realised (should have persisted with this crappy browser initially, long story)!

I wish DropBox would just let me link directly to the image, instead of this faff. I’ve fixed it, BTW. I expect it was because I was using the iPad app last night.

Well the cat is looking happy. How is the settling in going?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk.

Slowly, but she’s a little more sure of herself now. She’s scoffing food like there’s no tomorrow, and she’s started making other cat noises - little chirrups and small meows. She’s still not keen on the door to the room she’s in being open, but I’m leaving it like that during the day so that she gets used to it. Yesterday, she started looking at it more and seems less bothered by it than she was. I expect she was largely ignored before, and wasn’t given the kind of attention she’d like.

I have learned that she’s never been vaccinated. Apparently her previous owner was keen on using homeopathy instead, so a trip to the vet will be necessary (this was going to happen anyway) before she starts exploring the great outdoors.

I wish you and your cat a very happy relationship and may she not be as stupid as Edd's really stupid cat.

Well good luck with that. I hope she does not hate you after the vet visit.



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They all do but usually quickly forgive you



Why's the cat stupid?