Diary #556

When Annie first arrived, it took her a while to fit in; Trip would crowd her away from the food, and since there were no cats at Winnie’s she wasn’t quite sure what to make of them.  And cats being cats, they took advantage of her uncertainty.  Not Aeryn, of course; she’ll be 19 in a few weeks so she is unimpressed by anything or anybody (including strangers and vacuum cleaners) and everyone knows better than to fuck with her despite her tiny size (note they give her the choice spot where the heating pad is).  But Spec wanted nothing to do with her, and neither did Chekhov’s cat Coco or the barn cat, Rocky; for a few weeks after she arrived, they’d hiss at her every time they saw her, and she started barking in reply.  But that soon stopped, and Spec slowly warmed up to her (they don’t cuddle yet, but I’ve seen them closer together than they are in this photo).  Coco now lives in Chekhov’s cottage, and even though Rocky still swats at her whenever she passes him, it seems a bit perfunctory now, as though he were merely doing it on principle.  As for the humans (including me), we’ve really become quite fond of her; at first I was just taking her as a favor to Winnie, but I quickly learned what an intelligent, affectionate animal she is.  She’s also an exceptional communicator; her tail displays her feelings perfectly, and she’s also good at responding to commands and attracting my attention when she wants something.  And in the evening, she likes to curl up next to me when I watch TV (in the spot occupied by Aeryn in this shot) while stoned.