Here in catland, the kitties are settling into a routine…maybe. Junior has happily moved into his castle. He has a cat tube (cat owners know what this is–for you dog owners, it’s a pet bed, only it’s a tube because cats like to crawl into spaces like that when it is cold.)

Mom Scamp practically disappeared for a week. She showed up for scant minutes once a day to eat, usually after dark–until Thursday when she showed up at 5. She hung around for a while, which is much more normal for cats. Their normal eating pattern is to eat a rather large portion, sit for a while and then top off the tank two or more times before being done eating. She stayed for an hour. During this hour, she hissed at and chased Junior when he got too close to her. She didn’t try to harm him, a huge relief for us. You’d think Junior would be greatly upset by this, but he mimicked a human teenager. “Oh, mom’s got some issue and she’s on my case *all* the time. I just stay out of her way and if things get too annoying, I go in my room.” Yes, like a teen, he went asking for trouble a couple of times, but both parties seemed to accept this as normal.

Once or twice, Mom Scamp chased him up a tree and then waited at the bottom, guarding it. She didn’t actually *do* anything when he came down. These exercises appear to be half game, half training. She wants him independent, but she tolerates him much better.

BMHusband actually was able to pet Junior Friday morning. Junior turned around to see what it was all about, backed away and then went back to eating. He doesn’t get petting, but he didn’t get particularly upset about it either. He’s starting to talk to us too–meow when we come out with food, complain to us when mom takes off–I think he’s beginning to believe we might just be cats despite our odd appearance! Tall ones with little fur, but almost acceptable as some mangy companion types.

As they settle, I should be able to get some better pictures of them (ones where they aren’t in motion, ducking into the castle, or too far away.)