The New Cat

After I got home from Zürich, I felt really guilty about my lonely 13-year-old, black-and-white cat. Until January of this year, she lived with another cat, and even though they weren't best friends, they kept each other company. That cat (who was 17) died in January of a tumor. And the other one has been living alone with me ever since.

The problem is, she hates being alone. She shadows me in the apartment and hates for me to leave. I thought she liked other cats, too -- at least, she used to -- and so today I went to the SPCA to look for a roommate for her.

I found this totally cool black cat whom I liked immediately. He was a gentle giant of a cat who purrs all the time and doesn't seem to be burdened with the typical cat neuroses. He was reaching his paw at me through the window of his SPCA cubicle, which he shared with two other cats. Clearly, he could live with other cats, and clearly, he responded to me. I thought my cat might like him.

I talked with the cat psychologist (or whatever you call them) and I got cleared for takeoff. The New Cat came home with me. I played by the rules: they told me to keep the cats in separate rooms for a couple of days. I'm an urban apartment dweller, so I don't really have extra rooms. The New Cat got set up in the bathroom.

Everything was OK for awhile until it turns out that my bathroom door never really locks shut. He figured that out in about 2 hours. Out he strutted, which set off my older cat into a fit of exploding hisses and snorting. Wow! I'd never seen her do that before...and....oh, no....

The New Cat is now barricaded into the bathroom, but he wants nothing more than to move into his new apartment. The Old Cat wants to do nothing more than to murder him. What have I done???