Feline Truce

After my husband and I worked from home full-time this past year, we’ve seen our pets grow and become happier! In my last post, I featured Hannah, and today I want to shift species and talk about Nami and Gracie.

Nami always spent her time with one of our children. As our nest emptied, she moved from child to child. Eventually, my husband and I were the only ones left, and she finally started hanging out with us after our older cat, Russell Sprout, passed away. I guess Sprout had staked his claim on us, and he prevented her from cozying up to us until after he was gone. In the three or so years since then, Nami began spending time with me sometimes in the evening at my computer.

She made it quite clear that she demanded we take her camping with us rather than being left with the pet sitter. Pet sitters are for sissies, and in her mind, she is Nami- adventure cat! On the camping trips, her focus has been on the window and what she saw; we were just her accessories. Occasionally, she’d sit in my husband’s lap in the truck, showing that she was starting to soften up to us a little. We’d seen some changes after her 5-week walk-about when she’d been lost three years ago. At 16 now, she is starting to slow down a bit, but not much!

Nami’s arthritis has progressed a bit and medicating her is still difficult. She has a heating pad on the unused end of our large kitchen table, a heated bed beside my husband’s desk chair, and a heating pad on my desk, to the left of my monitors. She rotates between my husband’s desk and mine during the workday, saving the kitchen heating pad for the evenings when we are there eating, talking, or playing games.

Then we brought Gracie home a year and a half ago. Nami was outraged, to say the least. Gracie was shy and didn’t want to rock the boat; Nami was confrontational and hostile. If she was napping and woke to notice Gracie in the room; she would narrow her eyes and spring her attack on Gracie. For the longest time, Gracie wouldn’t fight back.

While my husband and I worked from home this past year, we saw this relationship mellow considerably. Nami sometimes sits on my lap while I work and enjoys meowing into the phone when I have a business call. One day, I was shocked to realize she was purring on my lap! It was a bit rough at first, but now she’s a pro again. Purring is progress for her, and we couldn’t be happier. I’m so pleased that she feels inspired to purr.

Gracie finally stood up for herself a bit, and we have seen the two more at ease in each other’s presence – a truce. Nami has stopped lunging at Gracie when she enters my office area. They have downgraded hostilities over the last year.  Now, Gracie is often in my office on the bookcase to my right while Nami lays on the desk to my left, and everything is fine. Sometimes, Gracie gets a little lap-time while Nami is on her heating pad on the left. They may even sleep near each other without violence. It is still a delicate peace, but I will take it as the gift that it is. Progress!