It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way….”
These are the famous opening lines of Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, a story which compares and contrasts London and Paris during the French revolution. As the passage shows, it was an time of radical opposites—hope and despair. Joy and upheaval. Heaven and…that other place.
Much like the Klassen household at present. 🙂
Here, we are experiencing A Tale of Two Kitties. Mojo, the king of the castle, whom we all love and who has us wrapped around his little white paw. And Socks, the boisterous revolutionary.
Mojo and Socks
A few months ago, just before the polar vortex hit here in Minnesota, my husband rescued a young stray who’d been living in a relative’s unheated garage. Hubby is a big softy, and felt sorry for the adolescent kitty, plus he has always had a weakness for orange tabbies. So, he put the cat in his car and brought him home.
We had introduced a second cat into our household before, so we tried to do all the right things. We took him to the vet first to make sure he was healthy, had him neutered, treated him for a mild infection—the works. Our son named him Socks and offered to keep him in his room at first to give the cats separate spaces and eating areas. We decided to keep them apart after the surgery until Socks recovered and the testosterone left his system, and then to introduce them slowly. My husband built this ingenious (or so we thought) door with a “grill” portion at the bottom so the cats could see each other and become accustomed to one other in safety. But after a few days, Socks figured out how to leap over the inset door, or push it out to escape.
Houdini
Unfortunately, at first opportunity, Socks chased Mojo, jumped on him, and the two rolled across the floor like one ball, Mojo howling and hissing in a fur-flying wrestling match. It sounded like Mojo was being torn limb from limb! I pulled them apart and was so relieved to find that Mojo was physically fine, though shaken and wearing a little less fur.
Back into his room Socks went. Of course we don’t want to keep him locked up all the time, so we started rotating the cats, putting Mojo in our room for a few hours everyday so Socks could be with the family, and then rotating again.
We bought pheromone collars and pheromone diffusers, and a dog crate (we don’t have a dog) so we could keep the cats in the same room together without harm. Socks cannot stand being in the crate, but Mojo actually likes it. In fact, sometimes he goes inside of his own volition.
The two have gotten more relaxed around each other, with Mojo hissing a little less, so we tried again—but again Socks escaped our grasp and ran after Mojo and tackled him. Poor Mojo hid under the bed the rest of the day. 🙁
I bought a cat harness, so I could restrain Socks when he tried to go after Mojo, but Houdini figured out how to pull himself out of that as well. Socks isn’t mean—he doesn’t growl or hiss at Mojo, but he’s like a big overgrown kitten (vet estimated 12-15 months) who wants to play, but also big and aggressive. (Life as an all-male, scrappy stray will do that.)
But with people? Socks is the sweetest, most affectionate cat. He purrs almost constantly, sits on my lap or curls at my feet when I write, and naps beside hubby whenever he can. Both husband and son really like him, and so do I, but… I don’t like seeing Mojo so fearful. He’s interested in Socks and I think he would like a friend, but not one who pounces on him and roughs him up.
Sigh. 
So the battle continues. I confess hope is waning and we’re beginning to despair of them ever getting along. I am not sure if our Tale of Two Kitties will have a happy ending or not. But either way, I am proud of my husband for rescuing this sweet orphan. Now if only peace would reign! If not, I suppose we will have to make the bittersweet decision to find a new (pet free) home for Socks.
How about you–been through a similar struggle? Need a snuggly cat in your life? 🙂
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Oh my word Julie, this had me giggling this morning as I get ready to teach school. I loved the opening as I love Dickens. The kitties will eventually coexist, it took my two about 2 months, but now they are fine. I had a similar situation and a softy husband as well. Happy pouncing! 🙂 Mary
Been there. Except for me, I introduced a six week old kitten to my papillon, Poppet. And for the next year, Poppet tried to kill the kitten about every other week. Hurt her a couple of times, although the kitten, Pinky, managed to scratch Poppet’s eye twice (vet bill: $500). I kept saying I would have to find Pinky a new home. But before I did, she grew and got faster and smarter. She now is bigger than the dog and the two came to a truce. Poppet will still give chase on occasion but Pinky can tell when Poppet’s attitude is I’m-showing-our-humans-that-I’m-the-boss or that it’s my-canine-instinct-just-kicked-in-and-I-remembered-you’re-a-feline-and-I-should-KILL. Pinky is now six and a half.
We went through the same thing several years ago. We adopted an orange tabby (Candy Corn) at the Humane Society and he was so sweet that we all decided that we would never be able to go out of town and leave him by himself, so we had to adopt another cat from the humane society. The second cat (Emmy) was a younger tortoiseshell who was much smaller than Candy Corn. We kept them separated and switched rooms. Every time we put them together, Candy Corn attacked Emmy. We asked the Humane Society for advice and they said to put them together in a supervised setting and let them wrestle. They said as long as neither went for blood, they would be okay. So, that’s what we did and they have been fine ever since…except when a neighborhood cat comes around and gets them riled up. We had to get a pheromone diffuser last summer because of that nasty neighborhood cat.
We rescued a cat that the vet estimated to be 12 months old. Rascal (our name) had been hanging around our front door and our daughter decided to feed him. As it was late September and evenings were quite cool, we put a cardboard box filled with an old corduroy robe out for him. When it became clear no one was going to claim him, we did the same thing you did (vet treatment, neutering, etc.) and brought him inside. The only thing is we already had a small dog (chihuahua/beagle) that was 10 years old. As Robin said, they eventually got along, but there were some crazy times. Good luck!
Oh my! We went through the same thing a couple of years ago. We brought in a very friendly, sweet male Maine coon and introduced him to our female spotted tabby. We did everything wrong (because we didn’t know any better) but now they get along quite well – grooming each other etc. – so don’t give up hope. It may just take a little more time.
I currently have three cats in a two room apartment. My Blacky does not like the newest one. he hisses, growls,and sometimes screams at him. Travie tries to stay away, but often confronts him by jumping on him. What fun!
Loved this post! We are experiencing the same thing with our second dog, Edie, a high-energy puppy, and our usually-relaxed lab mix, Andy. We continue to introduce them to each other in limited doses, in hopes that they will connect, but haven’t had great results so far. Here’s hoping that both our homes will eventually settle down!
Oh, kitty tails! Or tales. 🙂 We adopted two nearly identical sisters, together since birth. Both fixed, nearing 3 years old, and they still chase each other like crazy and beat each other up, fur flying, growling, hissing. But then they settle down and sleep in the same box or on the bed. A friend has adopted 3 different cats, and the drama is the same. But when the food comes down, they are all best buds – as long as no one eats someone else’s meal. Hope your kitties settle soon.
Thanks for my morning laugh, Julie! My daughter rescued a very aggressive street cat and at first he and her docile Siamese didn’t get along at all. She almost gave away the stray, too–except that no one wanted him. As everyone else has been telling you, the two cats eventually made peace and they now snuggle up together all the time. Tell Mojo to hang in there. My daughter’s stray cat became less energetic and aggressive after a few months.
Our now-deceased kitty Cujo did not like my daughter’s tiny dog, Sassy. Cujo would hiss and swat at Sassy, causing the little Chihuahua to shiver and shake and run and hide. Sassy is in doggie heaven now and I hope Cujo isn’t up there pouncing on her. They managed to co-exist when our daughter would come to visit. They learned to keep their distance but never trusted each other. We used to stay nearby to avoid any injuries or flying fur. Quite a show!
oh, gee. This is all too familiar. We also have two kitties. Thankfully – introducing them was pretty easy. Our older cat, Manwe, is an odd cat. When we brought kitty 2 (Figaro) home, he got all interested and began stalking the new cat. Not. . .in a mean way. There was no growling. No hissing. Just. . .he wanted to see this newcomer. We made him stay away for a couple of days until Figgy had settled in a bit more, then let Figgy out. . .and Manwe stalked him. All over the house. No growling – or hissing – on his part. Fig did quite a bit, but Manwe stayed back at least 3 feet – just kept him in sight at all times. Its like he said “New friend! Come be my friend. You are GOING to be my friend. I shall stalk you to the ends of the earth. You MUST be my friend!!” lol It was all very odd to watch. After a week or so, Figaro gave in – and they had a few wrestling matches (the fur flew – but no one was hurt) and became very good friends. Even now 6 years later. . .they have rather rowdy wrestling matches up and down the house and we’ll wake up to find the hall floor covered with enough hair to build another cat. But neither of them ever is actually HURT – so we leave them.
Now – however. . .God sent me a puppy. (After years of praying! He dumped a lab/terrier puppy into my lap. Oh my gosh. . .what did I wish for?? lol) She is. . .a SERIOUS handful, let me tell you. The interesting thing is. . .Figaro is UNinterested. . . completely. He is NOT interested in being friends with this dog. At all. Fair enough. Manwe would LOVE to be friends with this dog. But – this dog is a puppy-sized tornado and does not know how to play gently with the kitties. . .especially now that she is taller and heavier than them ( she was smaller, but that didn’t seem to last long. :P) . If we let her, she’ll be all over Manwe and we’ll find bits of hair all over the place and he starts looking rather beat up – though not physically hurt. So we’ve had to start keeping the puppy on a short leash – even in the house, to keep her from mauling the poor cat. (Figaro might actually put the puppy in her place if given the chance, but he prefers to retreat and we’re not forcing a confrontation) Manwe is being a total pushover and yeah, dealing with an overly-enthusiastic puppy whirlwind. . .is exhausting. We can only hope that if we continue to work with her, she’ll settle down and leave the poor cats alone.
I guess there’s not much you can do to explain to furry ‘children’ that their elders do NOT want to play rough. 😛
Good luck with your new kitty. He’s adorable. I love having more than one kitty in the house. It’s great if they get along. More loves to go around!
This made me smile … and miss our kitty, Melvin, who went to kitty heaven in December. I thought we’d decided not to get another cat right now, but wow, believe it or not, this really made me want not one, but two! 🙂
Have two snuggly cats but sometimes they still fight after 10 years of being together. Both are lap cats!