Legend has it that tortoiseshell cats have that mixture of boldness, confidence, and attitude known as “tortitude.” Torties know what they want, and they know how to go after it.

It’s a sweet attitude, though, and that makes all the difference. Olwyn is rarely alone; she loves being with someone else, cat or human.

When she does appear, she touches noses until the humans make delighted noises. Now they are putty in her paws, and willing to do something for her.

Most of the time, that’s some cuddling and sweet words. Works for both of us.

It seems that every week that goes by, her fur gets longer and fluffier, and her markings develop more gradations and new distinctions. She’s beginning to develop a “M” on her forehead, which is her tabby heritage showing through.

The best part is seeing her influence on RJ. They love to play now, and RJ has learned to moderate his far greater mass and strength.

But that’s not all RJ has learned.

RJ has become much better about asking for, and getting, what he wants. His mental advancement is far faster than just three months of growing up in his second year.

By having Olwyn model her own ways of doing things, in ways that are simpler and more accessible than the subtleties of Mr. Bond, RJ has made leaps in understanding. He will nestle into bed with his head on our pillows for some cuddling. He always had that, because we would go and get him. Now, he plops down there himself, on his own initiative, far more often.

He seems to pick up more of what we say to him, and figure out situations as they arise. Just the other day, he jumped onto the television, something he knows he’s not supposed to do. That’s one of his ways of asking for alone time with the Kitty Tease, only it’s the worst way. I gestured to a chair, as I always do, and told him if he would get down and sit on the chair like a good boy, he’d get his Tease Time. This time… he did it.

It’s as though Olwyn, through her own kittenhood, has opened a door to the kittenhood RJ missed. The play he couldn’t get at that age is now available to him. The “cause and effect” he wasn’t able to see he now watches happen, because Olwyn makes it happen.

It’s not that the humans in his life haven’t tried to convey these important concepts. But no matter how well we speak Cat, we have an accent. Olwyn, modeling cat things as only a cat can, provides a learning experience RJ picks up without knowing he’s doing it.

It has turned out that our three cats have formed a happy family. They plan together, learn from each other, and are openly affectionate among themselves.

Part of this is good fortune; cat chemistry works in ways we don’t always understand. But we can take credit for some of it.

We chose carefully, we nurtured, and enforced, respect for each other, and we make sure each cat has moments of feeling special to us.

The fewer cats we can have, the more important it is for each one to fit together, since there are that many fewer corners for each cat. This is why I regard Three as a magic number, since it means every cat has double the chances of finding compatible companionship.

In our case, it means Mr. Bond can play when and where he wants, because RJ is there to pick up any kitten slack. Olwyn has two models for growing up; as she gets older, I’m sure she will pick up more of Mr. Bond’s sophistication.

And RJ got perhaps the best deal of all.

This post was about how our new kitten is fitting into a family of two humans, and two Beta boys of widely varying age. See all my Olwyn posts.

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