The new normal.

After a better part of two years of talking myself in and out of getting a second cat, I got a second cat.

The dog thinks that LT, that's his current name, he came with the name Pisa, because of a vision problem he has to tilt his head to focus sometimes. I changed it to LT for leaning tower but adfter spending some time with him. I might call him R2 because he makes a wide assortment of whirring and chirping noises. Cats have their own secret animal names, they don't really care what we call them. I will have to settle on something to tell the vet for when I hand over the paperwork I got from the rescue group.

I got the little kitty because I thought Ace was lonely and needed a friend, so far, I'm not sure they have actually introduced themselves - Ace did hiss at LT once over  his food dish, but that was the first and only time to my knowledge that they ran into each other. There is time for that.

The dog thinks R2 is fascinating  and has spent a lot of time getting to know him better. He knows in detail what he smells like and the texture of his fur. Rocket licks him every chance he gets, R2 had a bath right before I picked him up and he doesn't really think he needs any help from Rocket in that regard.. He did smell like Dove, thanks to Rockets ministrations, he now smells like dog spit.

So far, LT has not fought back againts these violations of his personal space. He should and I hope he does give Rocket a good swatting for getting so fresh with him. It would go a long way to establishing himself as an actual real creature and not so much like a dog toy. I did not think I would be this grateful Rocket has fewer teeth than when he started and I pray I don't have to ever find out how well his other teeth work.

Thus far, he's kept it friendly-ish, but I'm hoping LT loses his cool and goes after him like he surely can. Cats can be vicious and cause damage when they get cornered - while I don't want any of my animals to damage any of my other animals, I would not disapprove of a little object lesson handed out to level the playing field and I think it would go a long way to settling the relationship and let us go on with life.

Right now its a little chaotic but I'm hoping that as time passes we all learn to get along, and that Rocket grows to ignore R2 with the same vigor he ignores Ace with.