stephbg | Enter Number Four: Giles

We appear to have four cats now. Yes, it was three for a long time (Cally, Princess, Pumpkin), then it sadly became two (Cally, Princess), just recently and joyously became three again (Cally, Princess, Buffy), and today according to plan but somewhat nervously it has become four (Cally, Princess, Buffy, Giles).

Giles (permanency of name pending further personality assessments) was born on 9 September 2012, so at five and a half months he’s not quite the age mate to Buffy’s 10 1/2 weeks that we’d planned, but that’s the way the kitty litter crumbled. He was brought in to the Cat Haven as a stray kitten. Not sure of exact dates right now, but when he was much smaller so he’s been there a while which bodes well for him being clear of nasty infections.

Giles is a black glossy domestic short hair (DSH) with long limbs and big ears. He’s *very* shy and still quite nervous, so this is the best I could do for a first photo, taken from around the corner:

Note Buffy on the left, watching him closely from a low shelf.

This was taken after he’d been here a few hours in the bathroom. Buffy is happy sleeping in there on a big cushion, but for Giles we added a “cat cave” in the form of a soft foam chicken-shaped igloo. He appreciated this and went inside at once. We did have Buffy in the room with him at first, but soon took her out to give him as much peace as possible. She was happily occupied playing by herself and didn’t seem to notice the newcomer in the shower recess, but he didn’t seem keen to come over to her side.

Just now I decided to take advantage of the fact that Cally and Princess were asleep on the bed, having joined me for an epic nap. I shut them in there and released Giles and Buffy into the centre part of the house for his first explorations. I did have to scrape him out of the cat cave to get him to move, so he has drawn first blood. I think he’s likely to draw a fair bit more out of nervousness for a while yet. Fingers crossed we won’t need to give him medication or any close attention for a bit.

In sharp contrast to the super-confident Buffy he’s very wary and as I write is exploring his new space extremely cautiously, frequently retreating to the first hidey-hole he discovered under a desk. But he is coming along – he’s eaten, had a drink, and used the tray in this sector. (To accommodate the needs of various introductions and separations we currently have three separate litter stations – I’m more than looking forward to consolidating that back to one big one.) A few minutes ago I caught him having a bit of a face wash, which is an excellent sign. He’s started making quiet scratchy miaow sounds as he explores. (Since writing that he’s become more vocal, and seems to have quite the vocabulary of interesting little vocalisations – he sounds a bit like a hamster.)

Buffy thinks all her Christmases have come at once. Her “little brother” cat toy is *fascinating* and although at more than twice her height and length he’s clearly her big brother, she is clearly playing the role of the adoring/annoying little sister to the hilt. She follows Giles everywhere and keeps trying to approach; he’s not quite ready to commit, but I’ve only heard one hiss (and that with ears up) and seen a bit of paw waving. At the Cat Haven they said (and I saw) that he was very good with other, more extroverted cats. I’m sure those two will get along fine and that he will gain confidence through hers.

If he sees me he still slinks under the nearest bit of furniture, but not for long, and I’m confident that he’ll come to me in time. The Cat Haven volunteers said that he was very shy at first but became very friendly once he got to know you. He had been there for quite some time because he really didn’t make a good first impression(he’s most definitely not a hugger at this point) and was in danger of not being adopted. I’m kind of glad that even though we wanted a kitten and weren’t in a position to rescue an adult cat we were able to take one that was at high risk of being put to sleep.

Ooh, our eyes just met and he didn’t run away, and he’s exploring my part of the room. Excellent. My goodness he is all legs and is going to be a seriously athletic kitty.

So that’s about it for introductions. He’s vaccinated, wormed, flea treated (I take that with a grain of salt), desexed already and has the glossiest of glossy black coats. He’s quite lean but I suspect that’s more because he’s in the middle of a growth spurt. He’s my first cat to not have white paws!

Thus far Giles appears to be working as a name – he’s a Watcher, not a Slayer, and although he’s theoretically Buffy’s senior, it’s obvious who the boss is in this relationship. That said, I think there’s still a bit of Ripper under there and I’m sure he will be able to take care of himself in this evolving household.