Good afternoon, campers! I hope your Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate, was warm, fun and festive. My wish for you, in 2006, is that you’ll learn to break free of the bad habits which are preventing you from being successful. I wish you a very successful and very prosperous New Year.
Now, onto the subject of this post. As you’re aware, I refer to Shakey the cat as my non-electric alarm clock. She likes to wake me up each morning by putting her nose on mine. It’s so damned cute … words cannot begin to describe!
I have a question for my readers who are cat owners, but first, a preface to the question. Hubster Joe rescued Shakey in February 2005. He was returning from a friend’s birthday party in Pennsylvania. It was about 2:00a, a very cold New York morning, and Joe sees Shakey, approximately 3.5 weeks young, literally shaking to death on our doorstep. He scoops her up, brings her upstairs, rings the doorbell and tells me after I open the door, “Keep it warm … I’m going to the store for some food.” I vividly remember bundling Shakey in the largest and fluffiest bath towel I could find, and placing her incredibly cold body next to my heart. I remember sitting on my leather office chair, rocking back and forth, stroking her and talking to her. I also remember thinking there’s no way this tiny creature would survive the night … she was shaking uncontrollably, and I thought she wouldn’t make it through the night. Well, it’s obvious that all these months later, Shakey is doing very well. She’s happy and healthy and funny and constantly makes me giggle.
Now, to my question. Shakey, while a wonderful cat around Joe and myself, tends to become well, how shall I say this, very evil when she’s exposed to new people. She hisses a lot, and she bats the new person on the foot, ankle or calf with her right paw. Usually her claws are retracted when she does this, but on occasion she makes a painful swipe on the other person. Also, we tried to introduce a new cat, Cagny, into the fold about three weeks ago, and in a word Shakey terrorized poor Cagny. She would stand in front of his food bowls and his litter box, and then, in a stealth mode the likes of which I’ve never witnessed, she would follow him around the house. (Note: Cagny is no longer upstate with me and Shakey. He’s in The Bronx apartment with Joe). So, here are the questions: How can we help Shakey learn to get along with a new cat? Or, is that even possible? Also, how do we acclimate her to new people?
If you’ve got any suggestions, or resources to share, please e-mail me at lori (at) davisva.com.
