Jungle Fever

So it appears that the age old Mother's warning of "if he chases you, he likes you," is true. Just take a look at the seriously uncomfortable napping positions we found the ladies in just this week. It seems their previous fists of fury have turned into paws of passion. Ladies, ladies, get a log cabin and keep it private, maybe knit a few sweaters.

Like Kids in the School Yard

Maude's signature move: ball up an use your back legs to rip the face off of your sister.

Stella's infamous Bear Hug of Doom

The battle for king of the cat tree.

Remember when you were little and your Mom told you that if a boy pinched you, made fun of you, or chased you they really liked you? Well if we're holding true to this little proverb, Maude and Stella are madly, awkardly, and innapropriately in love.

I left last week on a work trip for 4 days. By the time I got back I noticed two things: Maude might be bigger than me now, and she and Stella have developed an afinity for ripping each other's heads off. How sweet. More on Maude's freakish growth spurt in a later post.

When we got Miles and had our first two cat experience we did a lot of reading on how to tell if they were getting along. Apparently as long as they don't hiss or have their ears back, they are play fighting. Well these ladies have brought it to a whole new level. It's a rare day that I don't come home from work, exhausted, opening the door the scene of my larger black cat trying to tear the head off my smaller kitten -- but when I break them up the kitten goes bounding after the big cat like "let's do this pansie."

Until I find blood on the carpet or more than 2-3 white hairballs in Stella's mouth (oh we've found one already) I'm going to let them be and just buy them tiny Nacho Libre masks.

Strings, Chords and Safety

It takes a little while for the personality of a new cat to start to shine through. In fact, we've found it takes about a year for all their quirks and likes/dislikes to fully come to the surface. We've just finished Week 2 of the Maude Experience and like Miles before her, she likes strings, power chords and shoe laces. In fact, this is the only thing holding us back from giving her full run of the house while we are at work during the day.

For some reason, kittens seem to like Apple. Like Miles before her, the MacBook power chords, Apple USB cable and chargers for our iPhones/iPods seem to be her favorite over any other cable. Maybe as kittens, they appreciate Steve Jobs emphasis on mechanical design and product aesthetics. Or maybe kittens racially profile their chew-cable of choice by opting for the pure white Apple chords over a more common black/grey. I wish I knew....

Single White Maude

coming to a theater near you...

OK, so we've started integrating Maude into the rest of the house. She now has full access whenever we're home and kept in the guest bedroom while we're away (at least until we know we can trust her with furniture, power chords, etc..). Maude and Stella have been getting along just about as well as you can ask. Stella has established her boundaries and Maude has been surprisingly quick to respect them.

There's only one problem. Maude sort of likes Stella. "Likes" might not be the right word, probably closer to "Love." Too easy, let’s go with “Obsessed.” Even calling her a “Stalker” isn't taking it to the properly level. Maude is so consumed with everything Stella that’s she’s reaching “Single White Female” levels.

Wherever Stella naps, she wants to nap. Whatever room Stella is in, Maude needs to be in it. Even down to the level of whenever we pet Stella, Maude wants to be pet as well. She’s attached at her hip, whether Stella wants her there or not. Let's just say, if Maude has opposable thumbs, we're pretty sure she'd have a creepy photo collage of Stella in a secret closet.

And it doesn't stop at habits either. Most of you know that Stella has an inappropriate man-crush on Steve. A love that will never be thanks to the state laws of Virginia. But now we see Maude, normally aloof, making eyes at Steve, requesting belly rubs from only him, and cleaning herself in full view (I'm guessing this is to make Meg jealous).

There's one thing for sure, Maude is a creepster. If we come home one day and she's dyed her fur black, I'm calling the cops.

It's Like A Hairy Baby With A Death Wish

Oh god PLEASE let me be near you...

Discovering things to mess with that will wake us up in the morning...

Places she's supposed to be...

Explaining to us that we are no where near ready for children.

And that she has a death wish.

We decided it was time for Maude to explore the house and for Stella to take a chill pill, so this weekend marked the "unleashing" of Maude. We kept the guest room doors open all day on Sunday, but Stella's diva attitude kept Maude in the guest room the entire day, too nervous to step outside the safety of the door. Thanks to the long holiday, Maude had another shot on Monday, and girl took it for all it was worth...

What we discovered is that Maude, like her late brother Miles, has a death wish, requiring us to basically cover the condo in bubble wrap. The other thing we discovered is Maude, like her late brother, is head over heals IN LOVE with Stella. Most of the day was spent following Stella around as close as she was allowed, mimicking her movements, and trying so hard to "just be near you..."

Love at First Sight

Here's the video of they're first meeting. Clearly they're in love:

First Meeting = Fail

Meg and I had high hopes for last night. There was enough cordial pawing and face time through a sliding glass door that we thought things could go "ok". Unfortunately, things took a turn.

We opened the door to the guest room and rather quickly Maude saw Stella (see above) while Stella stared down Maude from about 10 feet away. No hissing but both cats frozen in time for about a minute. It wasn't encouraging but at the same time, we thought they had a chance. Then Stella pounced like a lighting bolt right at Maude. Hissing from both sides and Maude ran under the bed to hide. No swating but definitely a very aggressive manuver from Stella. We closed the door and Meg comforted Maude while I hung out with Stella.

I think our mistake was that we tried to introduce them right after they ate dinner. In retrospect, this is also generally when they have the most energy. Meeting two will need to take place when they are both tired out. Stay tuned...

The Thing on the other side of the door...

So after a few days of adjusting to her new surroundings, we figured it was time for Maude and Stella to start acknowledging each other's presence. The thing about Stella is that she doesn't exactly start out new relationships with other cats that well. Those in attendance for the fateful meeting of Stella and Noodles know this quite well. Stella likes to hiss and act anti-social, she doesn't exactly throw open her arms and welcome new arrivals. She greeted Miles the same way, he was just too dumb to fall for the show. Needless to say, we're hoping that Maude and Stella start off on a good 'paw'. We've had a towel shoved under the door to block any early contact. Last night we removed it to see how they'd interact.

Stella standing guard

Check out Stella's eye and paw under the door

Stella does appreciate when Maude tries to get in on the fun

The results were actually encouraging. They pawed at each other and behaved themselves. It was time for Step 2: seeing each other for the first time.

Love at first sign...err not really

Stella hissed, Maude ran and hid. But then Maude got more comfortable and Stella started to get over herself. We were encouraged enough that we decided they should properly meet tonight for the first time. Keep your fingers crossed....