Category: The Great Kitty Trial Run of 2004

Song of My Anecdotal Self, Volume 1

– Last night, I took part in what has become sort of a family tradition: I hung out at my parents’ house waiting for trick-or-treaters to stop by, ate more candy than we passed out, and smiled uncontrollably at the sight of two of my nieces dressed up in their costumes. This year, Niece #1 was Belle and Niece #2 was Little Red Riding Hood. Niece #3 was in her home near Albany, celebrating the holiday dressed up as Blue. And, proving yet again the theory that small children will never ever understand sarcasm, I jokingly told Niece #2 that I had eaten her candy and watched in horror as she started bawling her eyes out. I’m going to hell.

– I went for my semi-daily walk with CP today. Typically, we walk up a very steep hill on a road near our company, and then turn around and come back. Today, while walking up the hill, we heard rustling in the woods to our right. CP immediately put me between her and the woods and we looked up to see a pair of eyes staring at us. After a few seconds, we realized we were staring at not one, but two deer who were probably as scared as we had been a moments earlier. After staring us down for a few seconds, they hopped away and disappeared into the woods.

– The Great Kitty Trial Run of October 2004 has officially ended! After a few kitty disputes coming nowhere near “Cat Fight” status, after Othello showed signs that he had settled into the apartment enough so that he wouldn’t be afraid to come out of my room, and after it was decided by The Virgin Mary and I that while the cats may never like each other, they most certainly will be able to coexist, I decided to officially adopt Othello. So let it be known that on Halloween of 2004, I adopted Othello, an all black cat born on Friday the 13th (4/13/01). Congratulations may be sent to my attention in the form of check or money order.

– Tomorrow, as I’m sure all of you know, is Election Day and I don’t think it’s an overstatement when I say that it will be the most important day of our lives thus far. Tomorrow is our opportunity to unite as one voice and declare to our country and to the world that we do not stand for narrow-mindedness, or hatred, or bigotry, or unjust wars in a society where the rich get richer and the poor die on the front lines. Tomorrow is our opportunity to sound our barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world and slowly, morally, and peacefully heal the wounds on which our current president has continued to gnaw. Please exercise your right tomorrow and please think before you do. When we ultimately pass this world on to our nieces and nephews and sons and daughters, I want to be proud of the world we’re giving them.

The Great Kitty Trial Run of 2004

Not since Ringo Starr’s 3-minute meeting with Ann B. Davis in a unisex bathroom of a small Omaha, Nebraska nightclub in 1972 has there been such a meeting of minds as there was yesterday afternoon in my apartment when Montana Girl’s cat Othello and I joined forces to take on the world and single-handedly put an end to cancer, starvation, crime, and subsequently, prostitution. Yes, that’s right, Othello moved into my apartment for a week at the end of which we should know for sure whether or not he gets along well enough with The Virgin Mary’s (TVM) cats Sherbert and Shu-Shu. So far so good. Here are some highlights:

1. Sherbert seems remarkably calm with the transition. After learning of the presence of a third cat in the apartment, and upon determining the food supply to be satisfactorily stable, Sherbert was business as usual. He slept on the couch, and didn’t flinch an inch when Othello greeted him with a hiss and kitty growl.

2. Shu-Shu, though remaining in TVM’s bedroom for the duration of the first day, did make a few appearances out from under TVM’s bed and was seen this morning staring through the bedroom glass door at Othello as he roamed around the dining room. Although greeting Othello with hisses and kitty growls on Day 1, she seemed somewhat peaceful this morning and able to stand her ground (behind the bedroom door) as Othello hissed in her direction.

3. Othello, as should be expected considering he’s been uprooted from his home and mother, has been acting nervous and excited rolled up in a big ball of curious reservations. With the help of his kitty tower, kitty litter, water, food, and “Catnip Box,” he’s made a home for himself in my bedroom. He’s fond of the square-box-shaped crawl space behind my clothes rack and so I’ve officially dubbed that area of my room “Othello’s Fort.” I think he realized early on that my room was really his room and should there be a kitty brawl, he has a safe haven to which he can run.

4. TVM and I have decided to divvy up apartment time between the three cats. Othello had most of yesterday evening to roam around the apartment while Sherbert and Shu-Shu were stuck in TVM’s room; then Sherbert and Shu-Shu had all night to roam the apartment while Othello was in my room. This morning, there was a brief “communal time” where all cats roamed around freely. Today, Othello has the apartment until 1, then Sherbert and Shu-Shu have the afternoon, and then Othello has the evening for an hour or so.

5. While stuck in my room last night, Othello seemed more than content to snuggle with me on my bed. This quiet time lasted until about 2 a.m. at which point he felt the need to explore the various nooks and crannies, and then mark his territory in the kitty litter box not once, but three times. It was also discovered by me that Othello is quite possibly the loudest eater in the history of cats. At approximately 6 a.m., there was a kitty confrontation through the crack at the bottom of my door between Othello and an undetermined kitty. Both cats expressed their disgust with the other with the traditional hissing. At approximately 6:30 a.m., Othello began crying to be let out of the room. TVM opened the door to feed him and thus began the aforementioned “communal time.”

In summary, after 24 hours, Othello seems to be as well-adjusted as can be expected; Sherbert couldn’t give any less of a crap about Othello; Shu-Shu has been less social than her normal self, which, I might add, is far less social than the normal cat. More updates to come.