Day Two

Well, seeing as I now have my own blog, I suppose it would be prudent of me to attempt to post something every now and then. Here I am, day number two of my blog.

Today's crisis involves a cat. We have a cat (Tobi - torti coloured) and a dog (Para - pure Border Collie) , both of which we've had since 1995. Our other cat, Nala, died a year ago August 12 (we got her the same time Tobi arrived) and my husband and I have been trying to decide whether or not to get another cat. We wanted to wait some time to see how Tobi did with the loss of her 'sister'. Although both cats were/are female and contrary to what I've learned in the past 24 hours about female cats, our cats were like yin and yang. They curled up together, cleaned each other, played together, never ever fought and were best friends (the picture above explains their relationship exactly - Nala is the orange calico, Tobi is the black torti behind). As you can imagine, Nala getting sick and passing away (stomach tumour - horrible experience) was difficult for all of us, especially Tobi. With that kind of friendship, we didn't want to traumatize Tobi with a new housemate that she may or may not get along with.

Now, after spending all yesterday evening going to Ottawa Humane Society locations and falling in love with at least one cat, we've decided that we aren't going to get another one just yet. Tobi has come more out of her shell since Nala died. She is a very skittish cat and easily scared, thanks to whoever had her before we got her from the Stephenville SPCA (nasty buggers). However, since Nala's death, she has really come into her own, goes out of her way to demand attention and seems content. She does seem happier when Para the dog is home with her all day and, certainly, when one or both humans are home too.

All this to say, if anyone has any advice about introducing a new cat to a household with an already established cat, I would appreciate it. Although a new cat isn't in the near future (at least until May 2007 when I get out of school again for the year), I do want a second cat soon.