The Sniff(le) Update
Well, introducing my kitties is going to have to wait. Tilney has, as I suspected, an upper respiratory infection. It's not a bad one, and not very transmissible to adults, but I've still got to keep the guys separated for several days. I got little Tilney into the vet first thing Monday. He's all current now with his boosters, and has his antibiotic.
The wrinkle in this plan is that Tilney has 3 times now escaped from the room. The first two times Knightley was downstairs, so no problem. Tilney is not hard to catch, but he can dash by when my hands are full. This morning he did that trick again, and Knightley was upstairs, lying next to our "chase the stick" toy (I'd been trying to cheer him up). He watched this little guy run practically past him and then go into the closet to explore. I closed the closet doors. Knightley crept up, keenly interested. I opened the door a crack. Little white face. Knightley is poised, tense, about 3 feet away. Cat standoff (if you can have a one-sided standoff; Tilney was just having fun and purring as usual). Petting and reassurance for Knightley.
As soon as Knightley was distracted, I opened the door and returned Tilney to his room. Knightley is now standing guard over the closet; he knows there was a cat in there, whereas the cat in my office has never been seen. I'm sad that he was tense. I think a nice brush is in order (he's not a foodie so cat treats won't go very far). I think poor Knightley is a little out of sorts; he's not sleeping in his regular place, but where he can watch the door. I wish I didn't have to keep them separated. I think the waiting period is almost harder. But it might be just what they need. We'll see.
Tilney continues to be adorable. Today we played toss the mouse, and he fetched it back to me between throws! He also likes to catch the string and carry it around in his mouth. He's very sweet. My office is getting a lot cleaner, too, since I have nothing to do in there but file. What a good boy.
The wrinkle in this plan is that Tilney has 3 times now escaped from the room. The first two times Knightley was downstairs, so no problem. Tilney is not hard to catch, but he can dash by when my hands are full. This morning he did that trick again, and Knightley was upstairs, lying next to our "chase the stick" toy (I'd been trying to cheer him up). He watched this little guy run practically past him and then go into the closet to explore. I closed the closet doors. Knightley crept up, keenly interested. I opened the door a crack. Little white face. Knightley is poised, tense, about 3 feet away. Cat standoff (if you can have a one-sided standoff; Tilney was just having fun and purring as usual). Petting and reassurance for Knightley.
As soon as Knightley was distracted, I opened the door and returned Tilney to his room. Knightley is now standing guard over the closet; he knows there was a cat in there, whereas the cat in my office has never been seen. I'm sad that he was tense. I think a nice brush is in order (he's not a foodie so cat treats won't go very far). I think poor Knightley is a little out of sorts; he's not sleeping in his regular place, but where he can watch the door. I wish I didn't have to keep them separated. I think the waiting period is almost harder. But it might be just what they need. We'll see.
Tilney continues to be adorable. Today we played toss the mouse, and he fetched it back to me between throws! He also likes to catch the string and carry it around in his mouth. He's very sweet. My office is getting a lot cleaner, too, since I have nothing to do in there but file. What a good boy.