Archive for September 22nd, 2010
My close friend Claire does publicity for nonprofit organizations, and she’s often called to cities around the country on short notice. A few months ago, she had to go to San Diego in preparation for a cancer walk-a-thon, so I volunteered to look after her cat Mitzy. My own feline, Frank, was less than pleased by this prospect. Introducing cats can be a bit of a crapshoot, especially when they’ve never had to share territory before.
I looked up some cat behavior facts online just before the introduction so that I’d know what to do in case of trouble. As it turned out, neither cat was especially territorial. Frank started hissing when Mitzy invaded his personal space, but eventually they were sniffing each other and getting along fine. I’ve set up separate food dishes and purchased discrete cat bed for each of them so that they don’t infringe on each other’s turf, and we’re making it work.