Our new fur family (post-Baby Jocko and Larry ☹) was getting along just fine. Dibbs and his baby sister Phoebe were settling into a normal sibling relationship. Dibbs, the bigger, older cat had patience with his young pup sister, Phoebe. It was amusing to see when Dibbs had enough of Phoebe, he would bop her on the nose a few times – but never with his claws out. Phoebe quickly learned how to behave with Dibbs, and as we immediately trained Phoebe not to go upstairs, Dibbs had space for himself whenever he needed some solitude.
When boating season blossomed, Phoebe, Frank, and I were gone from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. If we didn’t have a boat trip planned, we stayed in our slip alongside our boating buddies. We barbequed and had a wonderful time on our floating summer vacation home.
There was one issue that gave me a bit of guilt. Poor Dibbs was left home every weekend. Our wonderful neighbors, Giulia and Teresa, came in daily to feed him and take in our mail, but I felt he was spending too much time alone.
There was only one solution: Adopt another cat.
A colleague of mine was caring for a feral cat community near his home, and his wife took many into their home to domesticate and socialize. Cliff asked me if I would take a sweet little female from them. She was stunning! Quite petite, with short legs, and a long deep-grey coat, Princess came home with me after work one day.
Do they look happy? We had the best intentions, but Dibbs and Princess never quite hit it off. In fact, Princess was quite a loner. I blame myself because I let her stay to herself for too long, and I should have pushed her to acclimate with Dibbs and Phoebe much sooner. Once again, kudos to Frank for his idea to keep Phoebe downstairs. Princess used to stick her head through the railing at the top of the stairs and stare down at Phoebe laying across the bottom of the staircase.
Every night, when I went to bed, as soon as the lights were off, Princess jumped into my lap, purred as loud as any cat I’ve known, and rolled around snuggling and kissing me as if we were best friends. I really did love her, but with this love came a lot of remorse. Princess would have been happier in a pet-free home. Frank and I keep up our obligation to provide Princess with a safe and healthy environment, and I hope this beauty found some comfort in our home.