Shadowing

Kenta loves to do exactly what Alias is doing.
 

The Food Lady Was Great But…

Norma has been extra cuddly since my return from my business trip. I think she actually missed me some.
 

Rumble

Alias has a fairly deep wound next to his eye. I’m not sure which of his siblings is responsible but I’m guessing Norma since I’ve never seen Alias wrestle Kenta. Kenta has a wound on his ear, just a little cut. I guess Norma is showing the boys who’s the best brawler in the house.
 

Evaluation

Here’s what Emily, my Rover.com cat sitter wrote about my housemates:

Kenta: Very food motivated!

Norma: Norma was super shy, but warmed up after a couple of days!

Alias: He took a minute to warm up but was so sweet.

I don’t disagree with any of her observations…
 

Welcome Mat

Kenta sleeping under his favorite mat. I think he has learned napping with either Alias or Norma has been at this point, a short term endeavor. This is the next best thing. 
 

Trip

Spent most of the week (Tuesday afternoon through Saturday night) in Washington DC at a conference. Hired a new food lady from Rover.com, the previous one moved out of state. Extremely thankful all three of my housemates accepted this new visitor (Norma on Norma time and terms). Really really glad to be back home. I missed the three, our routine, and our continuing connection. 
 

Help

Kenta is trying to escape the jaws of the new cat bed.
 

Siblings

Two of a kind. Truly.
 

Wrestling Mat

One of Kenta’s favorite things to do is to wrestle with this mat. It’s his wrestling mat. It’s usually located at the top of the stairs covering a hole in the carpet that Theo started and Norma finished. After Kenta is done I find the mat on the stairs or at the bottom of the stairs. It finally dawned on me why he likes to wrestle the mat- because his siblings are on it but he is not. So we remedied that.

 

Oddly

Alias has never noticed how strange his foot looks.
 

History

Kenta’s first visit to the Thelonious Dribble memorial laundry basket. It was a great, sacred moment. 
 

Snuggles

The one thing Norma and Kenta agree on is that Alias is a great brother.
 

Dancer

Had a great weekend with Kenta. We took a five hour nap together Saturday (i didn’t want to get up as he was napping on my lap) and then he got plenty of great playtime in. 
 

Snoozin’

Norma’s best couch potato pose. 
 

Pillow Partnership

I think Kenta is quite aware there are two other cat beds in the area. But he wants to connect with (or at least lay on) his siblings. 
 

Brotherly Smothering

I couldn’t believe how long Norma tolerated this… It did end up in some rather pointed hissing.
 

Da Boyz (and Gal) Too/Two

During the darkest days of my life, I somehow once again have found myself living with three great cats. 
 

The Great Alias

Alias is a great cat. From day one of his life, he bonded with Norma. From day one with Theo, he wanted to meet his older brother, no fear. From day one with his younger brother, Kenta, he wanted to welcome another brother into our home. He’s not an alpha cat, he’s a curious soul accepting whatever or whoever is next. 
 

Fetch Time

This is Alias’ “I want to play fetch please” look. It almost always works.
 

Natural Heat

It’s been frigid cold outside and a bit drafty inside. I’ve been huddling by a space heater. All three of my housemates enjoy the space heater’s heat as well, but these two ultimately prefer sharing their own heat.
 

Don’t Go

Kenta has learned that when I’m putting on my shoes, I’m leaving the house. He does his best to prevent this by sitting on my feet (Thompson used to do something similar, biting at my shoelaces). I’ve never met a more cuddly playful cat. Kenta’s betraying his species’ reputation of nonchalance.

 

Playtime

The siblings that play together, stay together. 
 

Learning Process

Unnatural brothers becoming natural brothers. 
 

Flashback

When the sitter came over to get my keys, I was holding Kenta in my arms. He began wiggling to be let go. I wondered if it reminded him when I picked him up in his foster home. His foster mom called him and he took off hiding when he saw me. Now, with this stranger in his new home, I wondered if he worried he was off to yet another location. He was extra cuddly when I got back home from my one day trip.
 

Over Night

I had an over night business trip. I had the Rover.com sitter, Emily,  I hired last fall for a week long trip, feed Alias, Kenta, and Norma. She does a great job- Norma usually hides from strangers but came out immediately. This was Kenta’s first visitor. He too trusted Emily. Unfortunately, she’s moving out of state next month so I’ll have to find another sitter.
 

Unique Skillset

Kenta was showing off his carrot swatting skills to Norma.
 

Kenta’s Friend

I’ve never known a cat who loves to play with toys as much as Kenta. 30 year old toys that have mostly been ignored are now making strange appearances throughout the house. His favorite toy is this porcupine. I place it on the upstairs bedroom cat tree and inevitably find it somewhere downstairs. Kenta loves to carry it all around. Diego-San, Thompson, Theo, Alias and Norma have never played with it. 

At first I thought it was a possum but upon further research I now think it’s porcupine. Glad Kenta has a friend.
 

Truth

 

Figuring Things Out

Of course they have…
 

Fitting In

He’s trying his best… 
 

Happy New Year

I bought this bed for Kenta thinking he should have a place to call his own. He has yet to check it out. Meanwhile…
 

House Chores

I told Norma it’s time we start divvying up chores in the house. She thought that was hilarious.
 

Happy Holidays

 

Comfortable Kenta

Norma is still leery of her younger brother. The feeling isn’t mutual.
 

Strength in Numbers

Waiting for the next meal which is hours away.
 

Theo Memorial

I haven’t put away Theo’s favorite bed. Alias and Norma have never tried napping in it. Years ago, a former work colleague gave me a toy cat that breathes and purrs. I’ve kept it in my office(s) since. Visitors often ask, “Is that a real cat?” Last week we moved office locations and I brought the toy cat home. He now formalizes our Theo memorial. Although every time I walk up stairs, particularly in the dark, I have to look twice not to think Theo is sleeping in his bed again.
 

Alias’ Smile

He’s got the cutest lil overbite.
 

Finding Comfort

Kenta definitely is finding his place in our house. He’s playing more and more with the bevy of toys we’ve accumulated over the years. He loves to chase after Norma and Alias when they get in their full speed races up and downstairs. I came home this week to see this sight- Kenta and Alias snuggling together really for the first time. I had some doubts bringing in another cat for a number of reasons. I have no doubt now I did the absolute right thing. 
 

Bah Humbug

Alias has heard other homes in the area have real trees inside during this time of year. He’s wondering why we don’t have a real tree he can sit on top of. I have yet to tell him the fat guy with presents likely won’t be making an appearance in our house either.
 

Legacy

Kenta’s favorite toy by far is a swat at a mouse in a circle toy my late Mom and Dad bought for my first cat Mr. Max. It was Max’s favorite toy too. How cool is that?
 

A Throne

Norma and Alias are jealous of my fancy litter box.
 

Furminator

Kenta had his first furminator session, which he loved. Diego-San used to demand to be furminated before he let me go to bed. But I put the furminator away after Diego-San died and I couldn’t locate it again so I ordered another. Norma and Alias are not too fond of being combed but they wondered why their new brother was getting all this special attention.

Family Ties 3

I love the way Kenta is learning from Norma and Alias. When meal time comes, Alias races down the hallway with the speed of a linebacker. There’s a cat tree with two scratching post legs that he attacks with so much aggression that one of the two legs has been shredded, less than a year since I bought the tree. Kenta chases after Alias and scratches the other scratching post leg.

Norma is the first cat I’ve lived with that does the knock things off tables and shelves and desks onto the floor. So to deter unwanted knock offs, I now place a whole bunch of cat toys on her favorite perching spot, a bedroom cat tree. Just recently, Kenta has followed Norma’s lead in making sure there are no cat toys left on the cat tree. Norma and Alias are still treating Kenta similar to how they treated Theo in the beginning. Somewhat wary but curious to indulge non-aggressive attempts at getting to know each other. 
 

Family Ties 2

Alias, Norma, and I truly lucked out that we found Kenta (or maybe he found us). He’s such a mellow fellow, loves to cuddle. He watches both of his siblings closely and loves when they pay any attention to him.
 

Family Ties

Kenta is working hard to get his siblings to like him. I think Alias is starting to warm up to his younger brother.
 

Alias’ Advice

It’s always a good day to roll up in a ball.
 

The Sounds of Meows

Norma has a very high pitched meow, almost a squeal. Alias’ meow is much more gutteral like it’s coming from his belly. Kenta has a high pitched like Norma’s only half the volume. The first time I heard it, I thought it was Norma and was worried that something was wrong since it sounded so timid. 

Comfort

It melts my heart to see Kenta learning to play with Norma and Alias. He’s tried to join in on Norma’s flinging of cat toys around but she’s let him know that play is a solo activity. When Alias chases Norma down the hall, Kenta is chasing along too. He played with the mechanical mouse in a circle toy for quite a while. It’s good to see him feeling more and more comfortable in the strange surroundings.
 

Routines

Kenta is learning our routines. I think he’s going to like the weekend routine even better.