TBT: There were nice comments about the Ayla/Iza/Marley trio.
When I was younger, I tended to have one cat at a time. I lived in apartments with other guys and they could accept one but didn't want more around. I sometimes had aa apartment by myself and had 2 (Ralph and Sport-Sport in the 70s).
Tinkerbelle came to me fin the 80s rom a sister who said she was mean. And she was. Bitten across the spine by a dog when she was a kitten, she was always sensitive to that area when stroked. She angered easily due to tha and used her claws. I learned how to raise my hand over the sensitive wound. She came with me to this place in 1986. And simply vanished one day in the 90s. I don't recall what year it was.
But I had found a duo in 92/93. Both on HalloweenDay, LOL! Those were Skeeter and LC. Skeeter for "mosquito" (he buzzed around me a lot) and LC for "Little Cow" (she was black and white). They became inseperatable.
Ayla came to me as a sort of rescue. She was too small for the breeder to as a Queen and I always did want a Siamese cat.
Skeeter died of kidney problems that year, and LC followed him over Bridge. I added Iza and Marley to the house shortly thereafter. Ayla and Iza had some fussy problems the 1st year (both wanted to be Alpha Cat), but adopting Marley settled that down in 2010.
Ayla and Iza went from this (and it wasn't play)...
To this, in a few months with Marley's calm presence..
They became the best 3 cats together I've ever had.
The current Mews show promise. Lori still doesn't exactly love Taz or Binq, but things have settled down. After 16 months, she seems resigned to accepting their presence. I've even seen a few instances of mutual grooming, head-butting, and shared time close to me in bed.
Individually, each are doing well. Marley eats his Royal Canin T and D flavors pretty well (he doesn't like the E). He doesn't go outside much these days, so I feed him when the others are out. Without "regular" food, he eats it. He is my main lapcat.
The other 3 are utterly attached to me in their own ways. Lori is always close and wants to be on my shoulder. And she stretches up my legs when I stand still.
Taz is always in whatever room I'm in. He even wants to stay in the bathroom when I take a shower. The sound of running water has bothered all previous cats, but he just sits there on the vanity. And he hasn't peed on the bed in a couple months.
Binq has become braver. She used to think the bedroom was "the other Mews' place", but has lately spent some time on the bed at night and greets me there every morning when I get up.
She still won't tolerate being picked up. The vet can't find anything wrong her belly, but she seems to be very sensitive there. And she still tends to stay on the deck. The good news about that is that she used to be extemely reluctAnt to go out on iT, now she is quite enthusiastic.
And she really surprised me last week. I heard a noise outside and opened the deck door. Both Taz and Lori ran in all poofy-tailed. There was an intruder cat at the bottom of the stairs. Yet Binq not only stood at the top and hissed, she ran down the stairs at it!
It fled. She walked into the house. Her tail was very proudly straight and upright without the least poof! You can rest assured she got lots of strokes, treats, and attention after that!
So things are looking rather assuring lately.
Some pictures from last year this week...