Our Furry Dependents

Dante, while still quite skinny, has stretched out to the point that he is on track to be the length of a semi by the end of the summer. We had no illusions that he was a “pretty” cat when he came home with us, but his mangy coat has sleeked out with time, so he’s less homely than when we adopted him.

Now for his misbehaviors. He is teething, which means he will chew anything. He will wake me in the night (and get kicked out of the bedroom) for nibbling on my hair. Or Eric's nose. He will chew on mail or the covers of Eric’s books. He will crunch on wooden doorways or imperfections on our walls. He will gnaw on metal cabinet knobs, watering cans, wrought-iron furniture, and bases of rotary fans.

And he will crawl into small spaces – into baskets on shelves with little clearance, inside our recliners, underneath the nonexistent space below end tables, and in desk crannies.

While on my desk, he will cut across my laptop, or take a rest mid-keyboard, and his chance keystrokes have pulled up search boxes with the following terms: ‘apsodf’poi09888888888888asdffffffffffff.’ That file wasn’t found on my computer, much to his chagrin. I’m waiting for him to send an unintelligible email or delete my hard drive.

Our cats are still getting along as before. Dante acts as the stereotypical little brother, wanting to tag along and follow Augustine everywhere. When they come in from the screened-in porch, I still haven’t gotten over the fact that Dante will match his pace to hers as they trot down the stairs, only to pounce on her as they reach the bottom.

Augustine takes his play fighting in stride, but periodically we will hear a hiss from her when she’s had her fill or he’s being too aggressive. She won’t choose to sleep next to him, and she often takes his arrival as a sign that it’s time for her to leave – you can practically hear her sigh of disgust – but sometimes he’s caught snuggling up to her as she interrupts her nap to groom him.

And at least she hasn’t abandoned all of our rituals. For the first few weeks, she wouldn’t even cuddle with me if he was in the same room, but that has since resolved.

Dante is also acting as the bully, which doesn’t bode well since he’s already nearly her size. He will shove her away when treats enter the scene, and he’ll do his best to sabotage Augustine’s window lounging. But Augustine is deferential to him, whether out of her maternal nature or general exasperation.