As we have been adjusting to the new place, arranging everything and getting things unpacked, so have the animals. And the adjustment is particularly eventful for Violet, who is also getting used to Kelly and me and the dogs. And of course, the dogs are still getting used to her. Especially Dash, who often seems quite obsessed with her.
Violet is very small compared to the other animals. She is a few ounces short of seven pounds. So she is tiny, relatively speaking.
But wow, is she agile. She can leap like crazy. No problem getting up on this cat tree.
Now, Scratch and Violet hit it off right away. They get along great. Thumbelina seems to be mostly indifferent to her, unless she is getting too close to us while we are eating. Then she chases Violet away from us. But otherwise, she doesn’t seem to mind much.
Now Dash, on the other hand, he just wants to be Violet’s friend SO MUCH, he just can’t control himself. But he seems to be managing to calm down just a little bit, enough that he can share a space with her and not completely freak out, at least some of the time.
Now, that is our big front window in the living room. And now that we have a couch underneath it, it is a lot easier for all the animals to get up there (except Thumbelina, who at 15 doesn’t seem particularly interested in climbing in the window). So there are some occasions when we have three animals in the window: little Violet, in her basket; Dash, the dachshund who sometimes wants to be a kitteh; and Scratch, the cat who often wants to be a puppeh.
The above photo was taken on Halloween, when there was plenty outside to look at. And then later on Dash was wearing his costume for a little while.
So now part of what we are doing is trying to rearrange some of the stuff that has been unpacked, because little Violet likes to go in places that even Scratch has (so far) not yet dared to tread.
But we are pleased that she even started spending the night in our bedroom, even if it is just occasionally and even if it is just in the dog crate in the closet, to which she has definitely laid claim. Her crate now, sorry dogs.
I am looking forward to the holidays here in our new home, with our big Christmas tree and everything. We just have to figure out where the kids’ stockings are going to go now. We’ll figure out something.
-Geoff
