Congratulations, It's a Girl!

On a rare afternoon off, I decided to make a quick stop at the duck pond. Braced against a tree, I picked up my trusty Nikon and focused on a white bird picking his stork-like way through the water - I was just about to press the shutter when I felt the slightest pressure on my left shoulder and when I turned my head I discovered a half grown, black and white cat, sitting calmly in the Y of the tree and, I swear, grinning at me. Oh, no, I said aloud, Don't even think about it. But of course, it was already too late - the moment that small white paw had touched my shoulder, fate or destiny or karma or the gods of soft touches had begun celebrating.

On the drive to the vet, the kitten lay quietly in my lap, purring. Congratulations, it's a girl! Doc laughed after pronouncing her fit, worm and flea free, and about 5 months old. She had purred her way through the entire exam. The scene at home was predictably less serene with the existing cats scattering anxiously at the first unfamiliar meow, the black dog -sensing new prey - immediately moved to insatiable and frantic curiosity, and the small brown dog overjoyed at the prospect of a new friend. Chaos ensued and I cursed the gods of soft touches.

The following morning things were slightly more calm. The new arrival, having spent the night in the bathroom contentedly asleep on a towel in the sink and with her own private litter box, yawned and stretched and climbed into my arms. Hunger, being a great motivator, the other cats ate cautiously while the dogs circled and whined. Nobody got hurt and I deemed the first communal gathering a moderate success. Kenneling the dogs, I left for work with all five cats peacefully sleeping, albeit lightly and in different rooms. What I would come home to was less sure but cats are civilized creatures and I felt confident that they work out new territories and coping skills without my help.

By the second day, she had made friends and allies of both dogs and was on her way toward peaceful coexistence with her new siblings. There were still brief and random flashes of hostility - made up of far more posturing than actual menace - all to be expected in the process of introducing and integrating a new face.

So much for attrition, I think to myself as a new scuffle breaks out and then resolves itself as quickly as it had started. Tolerance and acceptance come far less quickly in the human world.