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If you're a fairly regular reader of this blog, you've seen pictures of my cat Chippy. He's about fifteen years old. When he was younger he was a real hunter, but he's slowed down and can't hear much at all. He's always been sweet and adaptable. When we take him to the vet, we put him on the checkout counter, where he stays until time to go back to a room. Dogs don't worry him a bit.

This weekend one of my daughters moved to a place where she can't have a cat. And she has a cat. For weeks, I've been telling her I don't want to take the cat. Loud and clear: I DON'T WANT THE CAT. And of course, on the way to pick up some of her stuff (see earlier post - I predicted this, remember?), my husband said, "We're taking the cat too." Whee doggies, I was ticked.

So we brought the cat home. Put her "stuff" in the entrance hall. She has been an indoor cat, so "stuff" meant a litter box. And blanket and carrier and mousey toys and food and the sweetest pink food and water bowls I've ever used to serve a cat. And did I mention that her name is Audrey Hepburn? And that she's a beauty?

But as flexible and adaptable and laid back as Chippy is, Audrey is that nervous and shy and skittish. She's the kind of cat you might not see for days unless you put her food out in the open. We've gradually introduced her to the rooms of the house (my daughter had three rooms) and she is a very nosy little lady.

Okay, so we're growing to like her. But she does not like Chippy one bit. He sits like royalty about five feet in front of her as she hisses and growls. I guess he can interpret the sign language without hearing the sounds, because fairly quickly he walks on toward the door, probably hoping to get out before she slaps, um, claws him.

Today, we're trying to work on that. I let Chippy in the house and went about my business. About an hour after he had come in, I went looking for the two cats, and they are as far away from one another as they can get in the rooms we are opening for Audrey. Chippy is in our bedroom, cool and collected:



And Audrey is sitting in the doorway in the sun, napping after being on the lookout for birds and voles:



I guess Audrey is going to be around for a while. She's going to have to learn to tolerate Chippy. He's the cat boss around here.