Meeting the Family

Melvin has two "big brothers": Darwin, "Big D," and Bouhaki, "Little Boo." I got Darwin and Boo from the Humane Society in the summer of 2002, and after my ex-husband moved out in early 2009, it was just me and the boys. They got along so well I swore I wouldn't get another cat until one of them passed on because I was afraid of destroying their camaraderie.

Best buds

I'd gone and done it now, hadn't I? Nothing to do but stumble blindly onward and hope for the best...

I had Melvin sequestered in the guest room. He had everything he needed in there: food, water, litter, a place to sleep. I knew I had to keep him away from D and B for a while. 

Darwin was curious right away. He lurked outside the guest room door for hours. When I was in the room with Melvin, I could hear him meowing in the hallway and occasionally he inserted a paw under the door.

OMG CLOSED DOOR WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN

I made it two whole days before I ended enforced separation and brought Melvin downstairs for his first look at the world beyond the blue room. Introduction went about as well as I expected: wary sniffing, some raised hairs, hissing, but no fights. I decided to break the tension with some string.

Bouhaki is unsure about this strange creature

String: the great equalizer

Melvin's kitten nature manifested itself immediately: he wanted to play with the big boys and they were having none of it. Darwin and Boo are senior-level cats: 11 years old and content to do absolutely nothing all day. A rambunctious kitten was going to turn their sedate, predictable little world upside down.

I had unleashed a hurricane and I didn't even know it yet.