Kitty Compatibility?

June 7, 2008

In an interesting turn of events last night, the two kitties both slept on my bed. That never would have happened with Madison and Martin - especially on their third night together.

I was sitting on the bed playing with New Kitty (she was sitting to my left) when suddenly Baby jumped up on the bed (on my right), and hissed in surprise at the presence of the other cat on her bed. Baby held her ground in the very spot where she'd landed on the bed as New Kitty stayed perfectly still and growled back at her. But Baby remained calm, laid down exactly where she was, and New Kitty did the same. Within moments, both had closed their eyes to snooze.

I think they were both on and off the bed all night. There was one quick hissing scuffle on the floor by my nightstand at some point in the morning.

They still hiss and growl at each other but things are definitely improving. I just wish they would both eat more. Baby's intake is half what it was before New Kitty arrived, and I'm only able to get New Kitty to eat once a day. It's better than nothing. No doubt it's all stress-related and will improve in time. If not, I'll have to take New Kitty to the vet sooner than I thought.

Today it was 92 degrees and humid here in New York! I mean incredibly humid. I put on my tank top and shorts and began my weekend trek to Manhattan at about 11:30 this morning. I was sweating buckets off my forehead before I was even halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was cramped with tourists as usual. I walked north through Soho and then west past Washington Square Park, and over to the Village. It's a great area - lots of neat little shops and beautiful architecture. I want to spend more time exploring that area.

I walked north and then east to Union Square where I was so hot and soaking that I went straight down into the subway to the R platform (I hate the R, so I'm not exactly sure why I went to it instead of the 4/5 - the pathetic R is always such a long wait). But there, hanging on the ceiling above the platform bench was a big round fan.

Never seen one of those in the sweltering subway before. It was heaven. As soon as the Q came, freeing up space on the bench, I sat on that bench and suddenly no longer cared how long the stupid R took to arrive because I was finally cooling off. It was a long but cool-ish wait.

The sophisticated lady sitting next to me on the train had traveled with her husband all the way from New Zealand to see their new grandbaby in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I love that about New York - every day there is an opportunity to meet someone from another place with their own story to tell.