Cat

We have adopted a cat. I realize that this has nothing to do with fiber arts, except perhaps that cats like to play with yarn. You can see Wurlitzer playing with yarn here on the right. The tabby is her housemate Tabitha who has not come to lve with us. Yet.

How we came by this cat is a long story. She used to belong to one of John's colleagues and she needed a new home. Her name is Wurlitzer. She is smallish, black, about ten years old and very affectionate.

We had wanted a cat for a while but were worried that Sophie would chase a new kitten and if she caught it, she would probably scare it to death. But we felt sure that Wurlitzer could stand up for herself. She has claws and she knows how to use them. She has nice fangs that show when she hisses menacingly. She can move fast and jump high.

Wurlitzer came to live with us on Friday. We set her bowls and litterbox in the basement where she could shelter safely beyond the cat door, free from canine interference. And indeed she spent most of the first evening hiding among the boxes in dark cupboard, barely visible. When Wurlitzer was in John's arms, Sophie hid behind my chair, observing her from a safe distance.

But by the second day, Wurlitzer came out to explore. We are feeling as if we are living in the midst of a Wild Kingdom documentary. She and Sophie get closer and closer and closer to each other and then Wurlitzer arches her back, makes her hair stand on end and, if necessary, hisses and Sophie goes away. We studied the ways they held their ears and tails for a sense of what they were communicating to each other. They stare at each other for hours on end. Or Wurlitzer will stroll through the house and Sophie will follow, her ears up, her tail wagging, hoping that Wurlitzer will want to play. But Wurlitzer is not even slightly interested in playing. Wurlitzer is interested in drinking out of Sophie's water dish and sampling her dog food and Sophie just looks on from a distance, hoping that NOW Wurlitzer will be so grateful that she'll want a frolic or at least won't look so hostile. Above is a pic of Sophie in motion (as she often is) with her "see how cute I am, you know you want to frolic with me" look.

I think there have been some skirmishes which I have not witnessed. For instance, yesterday a.m. when I was coming downstairs, Wurlitzer was dashing upstairs with Sophie in hot pursuit. A nap under the bed followed for Wurlitzer. Both yesterday and today, I have come home to find that Wurlitzer has completely disappeared. Yesterday I looked everywhere (including in the dark closet) for her, worried that I might have shut her inside a cupboard or someplace worse (the dryer, the dishwasher) or failed to see her slipping out the door when I went to the office. But eventually she sauntered back into view. Dogs rush up to greet you when you come home. Sophie skids on the front hall carpet, every single time and then dashes, nails clicking on the floor boards, for the back door. Wurlitzer cooly strides through sometime in the course of the evening, when she has a moment.

When she is not in hiding, she is usually sitting on my lap or on the convenient shelf created by my breasts and shouler, kneading gently, purring loudly, occasionally turning around so I can inspect her tail. It is a little hard to type or to read or to knit with a cat glued to you but it is very nice.

Now we have to decide if we want to adopt her former housemate Tabitha...