New Arrivals -- Part 1

Karen Jo:  I have a confession to make.  One of the reasons that I didn't want to blog about what happened to Oja is that I felt horribly guilty and ashamed about what happened to her.  The other reason is that this is what greets me whenever I start to upload pictures from my camera.  This is Oja in her prime, Alpha cat and mighty boss of the house.  Now that I have told you all about it, I feel much better.  Now let's get on to the new cats.  There are four of them, but they came in pairs, sort of.  I got 2 cats fairly close together, then a long time passed and I got another 2 close together, so I am going to introduce them 2 at a time.

Gandalf:  Hi, I'm Gandalf.  I arrived without a name, so Mom gave me one.  I was found wandering around the rail yard in Santa Fe and was obviously a pet, so I was taken straight to the shelter and efforts were made to find my parents, but no one came forward.  Since I was so friendly and adoptable, they tested me and found that I am FeLV+.  The shelter contacted Felines and Friends and they contacted Mom and I came here.  I arrived late last February,  just before Spyro and Horus left.  When they went away, that left a power vacuum.

Karen Jo:  Spyro immediately took over as Alpha when Oja disappeared.  He knew that she wasn't coming back before I did.  Horus was next in line, but he was gone, too.

Gandalf:  Oh, the photos.  The top one is my arrival photo in the safe room.  I stayed in there one night and then joined the rest of the kitties.  The bottom one is how I look today.  Anyway, somecat had to take over as Alpha.  I was the tallest and longest, so I thought that I should be Alpha.  Rocio had been here the longest, so he thought that he should.  Bambino was Spyro's lieutenant, so he thought that he should.  Anyway, the three of us were fairly amicably try to sort things out when Clancy showed up and changed everything.  I split.

Karen Jo:  Gandalf got out the door.  I had gotten careless with no escape cats in the house.  I saw his tail disappear around the corner of the house and went to get him, but he had completely disappeared.  I hunted and hunted for him and did all the usual things but there was no sign of him for three whole weeks.  Then one day, I was approaching the screen door and saw a familiar tail go by.  I rushed out and Gandalf was in the back yard, but he ran and jumped over the fence and I lost him again.  I put up another lost cat notice on the town news about town website and got an immediate reply that one of my neighbors had put up a found cat notice saying that he had been hanging around her house, eating dog food for a week.  I got him back the next evening.  He wouldn't let the neighbor lady near him the first day. I have no idea where he was the first two weeks, but he came home too skinny.

Gandalf:  By the time I got back, Clancy had established himself as the new Alpha, so I made buddies with him.  I was the first cat to make friends with him.  Things started to settle down a bit after that.  Things are pretty calm now and I haven't gone near an open door since I got home again.

Clancy: I'm Clancy.  I'm a rough, tough street cat with an attitude.  I was caught in a Trap, Neuter and Release program when I was one year old.  I was trapped, neutered, had my ear tipped and tested.  When I came out FeLV+ I was put on death row because of my attitude, but a nice foster lady rescued me.  She fostered all kinds of cats, so I was put in a small bedroom by myself.  I could hear and smell all the rest of the cats having the run of the house and it made me mad.  Finally my attitude got so bad that she said that she couldn't take care of me anymore and she contacted F&F, who contacted Mom and I came here.

Karen Jo:  Clancy was most likely born a street cat and had to fight for scraps until he was caught.  Then he spent two years in a small bedroom by himself, so he never got socialized with other cats.  He was a real handful when he arrived, as he wasn't overly fond of people, either.

Clancy:  When I arrived, the first thing Karen Jo did was put me in another small bedroom and shut the door on me.  I loudly announced my displeasure with that arrangement, so she let me out.  Wow, a whole big house to roam around in and 6 other cats.  I didn't know what to do with them, so I hissed and growled at all of them.  Then one of them disappeared.  I quickly sized up the situation.  There was no Alpha cat here.  I am a big, tough mancat, so I took over.

Karen Jo:  Clancy weighs in at 16 pounds and the vet assures me that he is not overweight.  That means that he's even longer and taller than Herman was.  He is also very strong.

Clancy:  All the other cats quickly learned who was the new boss, even though none of them liked me.

Karen Jo:  You were too rough with them.  Their last two Alphas ruled by the occasional smack on the head.  You rule by fear.

Clancy:  So?  Anyway, the gray and white cat came back and he made friends with me, but even he screamed.

Karen Jo:  You were still too rough.  Yes, Gandalf wanted to play with you, but you chased him like you wanted to tear him apart and you used your claws when he tried to kitty wrestle with you.

Clancy:  I have learned a lot in the meantime.  Now most of the other kitties either like me or tolerate me.  Bambino still hates me, though.

Karen Jo:  Bambino had convinced Gandalf and had almost persuaded Rocio that he should be the new Alpha when you showed up.

Clancy:  How did he manage that?  He's just a little squirt.

Karen Jo:  The same way that Oja and Spyro did.  By displaying leadership qualities and a willingness to keep the other kitties in line with the occasional smack on the head.

Clancy:  I like my way better.  I am much more gentle now.  Gandalf and I play together with no screaming.  The new kitten loves me.

Karen Jo:  She will get her chance to talk next time.