At the 3 Week Mark
Mercedes’ routine is pretty much defined by spending hours each day by the coal stove downstairs, where she can insure that Orlando doesn’t come at her from the back or sides. She abhors it when he finds her undefended and can get her to run. She acts like a hapless calf in a rodeo, kept from escaping by a skilled horse and rider. Orlando has forced her into a cowering position in the middle of the room several times by his superior speed and size. He doesn’t want to fight her or hurt her. He is simply playing. She, of course, is not.
But speaking of play, we gave Orlando as brown paper grocery bag the other day and he amused himself for at least an hour.
Orlando the grocery store item
We set out a second bag for Mercedes, but she only sniffed at it. She much preferred to sit on a lap and watch Orlando. Maybe some day she will join in the fun.
Mercedes the spectator
It seems that when Orlando gets bored, he goes after Mercedes. For a short while the other day, we had them both in the same room and got them both to play with a string. They watched each other with interest.
Mercedes continues to hiss and growl, sometimes loudly, when Orlando gets too near. She has raised the volume because he is less deterred than he used to be. He will get nose-to-nose with her, and that is much too close for her sensibilities.
But Mercedes does not seem traumatized. When we put him away, she quickly reappears in the open to eat or whatever. She seems to sense when he is in the bedroom and not a threat. We don’t want her to have to put up with him 24 hours a day yet. Not sure we’ll ever actually get to that. But they are both handling the time together for now. Mercedes would consider it a victory if he would simply ignore her. Victory for him is to make her his friend. He has already succeeded in this with us, his new owners.
"I don't like this one bit!"
......This morning, while Mercedes was in another bedroom, we let Orlando out for a 30-minute window of opportunity to further explore the house. During this time, we strengthened the gate and devised a better way of securing it with bungee cords.
Orlando behind bars
......After Orlando was returned to his room, we let Mercedes out. She eventually made her way upstairs when we weren’t looking and obviously cast a glance toward Orlando’s door, undoubtedly saw him there, and went and hunkered down under an end table. For the last half hour she has been at our feet, showing no desire to explore Orlando’s presence.
......Mercedes can be playful, even by herself. At the moment, however, she is solemn and seems confused. Another cat is in her house and she betrays no signs of joy over it. Just the opposite, in fact.
......We are not surprised that Mercedes is keeping her distance from Orlando’s gate. Her territory has been invaded and we — her beloved owners — are complicit. She clearly does not like this.
......We wonder if anything could be gained by us reversing the situation and placing Mercedes in the room and allowing Orlando to roam free. Does anyone have any thoughts about that?
"Get Me Outta Here!"
......This morning it took no small effort to get into the room without him getting out. It required an even greater effort to get out of the room without him following. Twice, we put him on the bed, threw the covers over him, and bolted for the door. Twice, he streaked out from under the covers a nano-second behind us. We weren’t fast enough.
So, we picked Orlando up, walked to the door, opened it slightly, tossed him to the far side of the bed and, while he was still in midair, opened the door and got out.
......And there stood Mercedes. She had to have some sense of what was going on. We feel sure she has heard Orlando meow and that she may have seen him during those times when the door was briefly open. She does not run away. She does not appear spooked. But she must know that something involving another cat is going on.
......We were both away most of the day, so it wasn’t until early evening that we made one more attempt to sequester Mercedes while Orlando received another opportunity to familiarize himself with the rest of the house. It went well.
Some time after this, we decided it was now time to let Mercedes and Orlando have a visual sighting of each other. We turned one of those closet shelves you can get at Lowes on end and clamped it to the door to Orlando’s room and then fastened the shelf to the door jam. This created a jail-like barrier in the open doorway. The width is about one foot.
Orlando, of course, stood in the doorway, peering out at Mercedes, who was maybe 10 feet away. Mercedes crouched low and stared intently at Orlando. After a few minute she crept closer, but still stayed about six feet away from the door. The two cats stared at each other for about five minutes.
......Noise from one of us walking around startled Mercedes and she ran away. She periodically returned to a spot offering her a line-of-sight to the doorway and watched for a few minutes at a time. When startled by noise from one of us, she would walk quickly away and crouch behind a piece of furniture before eventually returning to a spot from which she could see Orlando.
......But Orlando was often nowhere to be seen. He tired rather quickly of the game and jumped up on the bed to lounge. A few times over the course of three hours he appeared in the doorway, meowing once or twice, and then disappearing from sight.
......Our goal was to allow safe visual contact between the two cats. It is much too early to let Orlando out. Mercedes will surely freak out. We want them to get used to each other before there is the chance of physical contact.
Our goal accomplished, we left the door open before we retired for bed.
Taking Turns Being In Charge
......In response to his meowing at around eight this morning, we went to the room and he was standing right at the door. One of us went in, pushing him back, while the other coaxed Mercedes into another room. Once secured there, we let Orlando out for about an hour. He roamed freely throughout the house while we did other things. When it was time to put him away, he finally appeared out of nowhere and was easily coaxed into his bedroom with a snack.
......Mercedes, being freed from her confinement, showed no awareness that anything was wrong. She went to the kitchen to make sure her food was there, then kinda walked around with no apparent purpose. Later we found her in the loft asleep on the bed there.
......We repeated the scenario later in the afternoon, confining Mercedes and giving Orlando free rein of the house. When Mercedes re-emerged, she acted like nothing was wrong. If she is aware of another cat in the house, she is showing no signs of it to us.
......This all seems to be going well. Orlando’s boldness to explore the house increases each day. We think we are now only a day or two away from allowing them an opportunity to see each other from a safe distance. Probably not tomorrow — we will be much too busy. But maybe on Saturday.
"Something funny is going on"
......Mercedes, meanwhile, had also been fed and, as usual, showed no affection. Poor thing; she simply doesn’t have in it her. If the day comes, and Mercedes and Orlando become best buddies, will she learn from him how to receive physical attention? We are eager to see.
......Twice more before the morning was over, we visited Orlando. Once he was under the bed; the other time under the covers. He responded to us warmly.
......Orlando’s earlier indication that he might be ready to explore beyond his room prompted us to see if it was so. We put Mercedes in the downstairs bathroom and gave her something to eat.
......Opening the door to Orlando’s room, we called him from the hallway. Within seconds, he appeared from under the bed and walked through the door. For the next 20 minutes, Orlando explored the upstairs bathroom, the stairs to the lower level, and the living room. He sniffed and examined everything. He was cautious but did not seem intimidated except when we approached him to take a photo. Eventually he returned to his room, where we’d left the door open, and walked back in. Concluding he’d had enough for one day, we shut the door.
Orlando explores the living room
Orlando checks out the deck
......Our theory is that Orlando needs to feel reasonably secure in the new home before he has to address the insecurity of meeting Mercedes. Likewise, we believe that Mercedes needs to continue to feel secure in her station as the only cat in the house, but while also beginning to pick up hints — odors, our strange behavior and, eventually, hearing Orlando meow — that another cat is very close.
......Returning to the downstairs bathroom, we opened the door and Mercedes walked quickly out, casting a scornful glance our way. Almost immediately she began to act spooky, as if to say, “Something funny is going on.” If only she knew.