Pussies Galore!

Last evening the hubby and I took the kids to a friend's house for a few hours of socialising. Nothing special, just a few drinks in the backyard and a little tarot reading from yours truly. The kids had a whale of a time because our friends have a dog, two lizards, two cats and last, but by no means least, four little kitties. The dog had great fun attempting to hump my daughter *shifty* (we told her that he wanted to cuddle her), the kids enjoyed handling the lizards, and everyone, whether they were cat lovers or not, thoroughly enjoyed watching the kittens frolicking on the grass.

Of course, I am a BIG cat lover, having grown up with them and almost always having one for a pet. Hubby is not the biggest fan of cats (he generally loathes them actually), but even he can't ignore the cuteness of kittens. Anyway, despite the fact that we already have a cat - and one that the hubby is actually quite fond of - I was floored when just before we left to come home, I was informed that one of the kitties was coming home with us. *faints* Hubby had arranged it weeks ago and kept it quiet, bless him. The most shocking thing of all is that my eight year old knew of the surprise, and had kept her lips sealed for the past three weeks! *faints* Now, my daughter is not known for keeping her mouth shut, so the fact that she kept it from both me AND her brother was a huge surprise, almost as big a shock as being told I was taking a kitty home with me.

We smuggled the kitty (who has been named 'Angel' by the daughter) into a taxi and arrived home faced with the task of introducing the new baby to the old baby. Now, the old baby is called Belle, and isn't really 'old' as such, but she's almost three now and is used to being the baby of the family. Much hissing and fur-on-ending happened, and Belle gave a good impression of the Puss-in-Boots eyes thing  from Shrek (at one point her pupils were so large it looked like she had completely black eyes). Kitty was relegated to the bathroom for the night and Belle was fussed over - well, about as fussed over that is possible when she was hissing and scratching at me - before we settled for the night.

So today we are progressing a little. Belle is swinging between the glaring and ignoring strategies, while Angel is happily making herself at home by avoiding her own food and stealing Belle's, ignoring her bed and taking over the sofa, and growling at Belle (well, squeaking more than growling really) when she catches her glaring at her. It's all fun.