the new kid

We have, in our house, two cats we affectionately call "big puss" and "wee puss." They have other names, but we call them by their convenient, Scottish nicknames (since they came from Scotland). Besides, it's my blog, I'll call them what I want. K?

Big Puss came from the Dog and Cat Home, in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a pure black "moggie" (as they call them in the UK) - which means she is a mutt. She has the thickest coat of any cat I've ever met. She started out life as a stray, and that's about all I know about her (they were suspicious of giving a cat to an American, but whatever). When she endeared herself to me by headbutting me and purring and kneading the floor at the Dog and Cat Home, I knew we would get along just fine. She went on to win over Beloved in a similar fashion (who'd never had a pet in his life), and we had a happy single-cat home for about a year.

I worried that Big Puss was bored all alone in the flat by herself. And I have a thing for Siamese cats. So I searched out a local breeder. This breeder was an hour away in Stirling, and when we came to visit, I fell in love with the Dam and Sire. Giant bruisers they were - lovely cats with enormous bat ears and long faces and sweet personalities. It was love at first sight, I tell you.

And so we came home with Wee Puss, a chocolate tortie point Siamese.

Wee Puss is a highly strung pedigreed Siamese. As a registered pedigreed animal, I know that she comes from a long line of highly strung Siamese. True to the breed, she is both a delight and a handful. She talks loudly, and she follows me everywhere. She is mama's cat. She sleeps on me, and only me. She will cuss me out from the other side of the house. She vomits often (as female Siamese are prone to do). Beloved can make her complain just by looking at her in the right way. She is bred to be what we call the "furry snake" type Siamese, she is long and skinny with a very narrow face. Because she's bulimic, long legged, unfeasibly skinny, highly stressed, etc., we have been known to refer to her as La Supermodel.

After a long adjustment period, and a move overseas, our two cat family was eventually happy.

Then we had human babies. The furry babies didn't think much of the human babies, but they got over it. Cats are adaptable, but they hate change. Everyone was happy.

Why is she writing about cats? I thought this chick was all about triathlon?

Meet "New Puss." No, he's not a triathlete. He doesn't even come from a triathlon home, though his story is very interesting.

Vegan Run Amok, my bestest best friend from childhood, is involved with an animal rescue group in El Paso. When she called last Monday with a story and a favour to ask (can you keep a cat for a few days?) I didn't know what I was in for. But I'm always willing to help a friend.

She must have known from our early days that I am a sucker.

New Puss was apparently adopted to someone in El Paso over a year ago, but turned up in Albuquerque last week with no real explanation. He was found wandering around a building in town, his tags still on his collar. The Finders phoned the animal rescue group (whose phone number was on the tags), and she phoned me - since I'm here and all.

The Finders were desperate to offload him as soon as they could. This worked out fine for me, since it was a day off training.

(You're lucky, Jen, if I'd had a swim that night, he'd be homeless!)

I asked the Finders why they couldn't keep him. Though I would only be keeping him for a few days, I needed to know - were there behaviour problems that I needed to deal with? Was he an un-neutered male? Did he have health issues?

Well, they said, he's needy. Yes, he's needy. And he kneads all the time. And he needs constant attention. And he winds between your legs.

Gosh, that sounds like a really tough cat.

So they brought him over and I set him up with a temporary home in our bathroom. The finders were happy to see that this was a cat-friendly household, with other cats and kids. I wasn't too concerned, he's only staying for a few days, right?

So I let him out of the box into the bathroom, and immediately discover that he's an extremely mellow creature (well they did warn me that he was a real handful). I pick him up and put him on my lap. He stays, he purrs. Some cats, especially strays, want nothing to do with you, but not this one. He is a lover. He loves attention. And he's clearly a Siamese, I would call him a smoke-point or blue-point. I'd say he's the applehead or traditional variety Siamese - rounder head, british shorthair type body.

We left him in the bathroom to get some quiet time, and went on our evening way. Occasionally I stepped into the bathroom to say hello. I brought the girls in to meet him.

They gave him a name.

Oh stop, he's only staying for a few days. Besides, he's a stray. We don't know what diseases he has.

Beloved goes in to meet him later. His exact words: "this is the mellowest cat ever."

Not you too!

So I ask Vegan if maybe we can take this New Puss on an extended test drive, to see if, you know, he's OK and all (Of course, she says. Take all the time you need).

I take New Puss to the vet and get him tested for FeLV and HIV, expecting the worst. After all, he's been AWOL for over a year, who knows what he's picked up.

Of course, he's fine. He has missing teeth, says the vet. I'm not surprised by this, he had a checkered history with questionable nutrition.

Over the weekend we started allowing the introductions to the Existing Pusses. It's been a fairly low-stress affair, overall. Big Puss and New Puss are two sides of the same coin - possibly their shared history as strays gives them similar personalities (they can be about a foot away from each other now without hissing).

Wee puss is not having any of it (but she is like this anyway; she mostly hides at the best of times, little stressbag that she is).

New puss comes with one problem - and it's a big one: he's a Very Messy Eater. Something about him (the broken teeth? life as a former stray?) makes him a frantic eater - he dives into his dish with his paws, spreading catfood everywhere. I noticed it when we first met - that he digs into his food enthusiastically. And he eats like he is making up for lost time.

In an attempt to help him out, I've taken to giving the cats a separate mealtime in a room with a closed door. And plenty of time to eat what they want.

Tonight I sat with him while he ate and worked on this Food Scattering habit. With the door closed, he was much calmer. He seems to sense that we are benevolent. I gently chided him when he would dig with his paws, and praised him when he ate with his face.

We still have some work to do, but he is already doing much better.

Anybody else out there have a messy cat? It seems we are keeping this guy, but I'd like to not have to clean up cat food every hour. I tried the rubber mat with a lip thing. Left to his own devices, he scatters beyond that.

This is going to take some time.

Sigh.

But he is lovely, isn't he?