For example, we have been enjoying the New, Improved, Puffy. Now With More Social Ability!
more cat pictures
Getting a kitten is having a paradoxical effect on Puffy, which shouldn’t surprise me. Puffy has the ability to get around normal laws of time and space. Though, naturally, not in any way we can harness for the good of humankind.
Puffy’s been known to make his way from one room to another without being detected. He can materialize from nowhere when he hears the click of his dish being set on the counter. When he’s on my lap, he can tell when I’m thinking about getting up, and he jumps off even though I’m willing to sit a little longer, just for him.
He’s sleeping on the bed with the two other cats, and he’s on the arm of my chair as I type this. He is more visible many times of the day. We are always glad to see him.
What is responsible for this transformation? I can only guess; Puffy’s mental pathways are shady and obscure. But it seems the respect RJ shows him has piqued Puffy’s curiosity. Now that RJ is more grown up, Puffy can come out and study this interesting creature without worrying he is going to be pounced on and ritually disembowled.
This confidence has slopped over into other areas. Eating with the other cats twice a day is a happy time that helps him feel more social. The kitten is getting in less trouble, which lets him come out and play without feeling he’s going to get scolded. (Not that Puffy ever needs scolding. But he’s so sensitive our scolding the kitten gets him upset.) The kitten has gotten us to bring in lots of new toys and some of them appeal to Puffy after RJ demonstrates them.
This points up the importance of mirroring. Cats, like us, are highly dependent on what trained scientists call “monkey see, monkey do.” We are far more likely to perform a behavior we have seen someone else do. Puffy has been seeing RJ playing with toys and interacting with us. He is now more likely to do so.
Puffy did not pick up on Mr. Bond’s more sophisticated behaviors, perhaps because of a sense of futility in successfully pulling them off. There’s also the factor that Mr. Bond is disparaging towards Puffy, and has despaired of making any kind of cat companion out of him. But RJ’s simpler approach has sparked Puffy’s interest.
It’s common to speak of getting a kitten to “bring out the kitten in your cat.” And it’s certainly possible.
If the kitten and the cat get along, as I’m glad to say our three do, it’s happiness, cubed.
Got here from a Link or Search?
There’s more about multiple cats in The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See more posts on the MULTIPLE CAT ADVANTAGE.
