I speak of our new kitty, Garfield. There is no level he hasn’t jumped to. No closet or cupboard he doesn’t try to explore. I have a flea trap under a piece of furniture and thought I had blocked it so that he couldn’t reach it. I was wrong. He touched it with his paw, freaked out when he couldn’t get rid of it, ran all over the house with me chasing him so I could help him. At some point it came free. I picked it up and tossed it. I then wiped both front paws with alcohol. I have no guarantee that he will remember not to do that again, so I won’t be using this trap anymore. There is a hectagonal window in the spare bathroom, with a ledge in front of it and I have placed a vase on it that matches the shape of the window. Garfield sits on the small table in front of it and crouches and I say No and he backs off. I am worried the vase will come crashing down if he jumps on to that ledge.

He eats everything he can get to, including people food if it is left too long on the table after we finish. Max-the-Manx doesn’t eat his wet food right away, but gets to it eventually. I have to cover it over or Garfield will get it.

He is a major food/water/poop kitty so I am cleaning the litter 3 times a day. It’s all worth it, of course, because he is an incredibly charming person and we love having him. And he seems happy to be here.

I’m not a fan of his name and am trying to think of something more appropriate. It's not like he'd know the difference. Most cats don’t respond to their names anyway. Sniff, our dear tuxedo cat, a daddy cat, was a remarkable exception. He came when called. And he learned everything I taught him, like not scratching the furniture. When I came home at the end of my day, he’d run to the scratch post, scratching and looking at me over his shoulder, with an expression that said, “See what a good kitty I am? Don’t leave me.” I miss all of my gone kitties and still cry when I think of them.

And I am pleased that Max has stopped hissing at Garfield and they can be around each other. They play fight a bit, which is okay.

xx, Teal