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It happened in March. Tricks became a mother once again. Six months earlier I had indicated that I was ready for a new Burmese friend. Only the colour, I just couldn't decide. I already had a lilac female and a red male. Would I choose brown or chocolate? Cream is beautiful too or maybe a red one again?
 After a trip by train full of obstacles (trains missed or not going at all, cellphones that don't work) he finally arrived. I had almost bitten my fingernails to the bone, waited a hour and a half at the train station and drove home to place an anxious phone call to the home front. My cellphone wasn't working either. Half a hour later a reassuring phone call and again I drove to the train station. Finally home, I made a pot of tea and sank in a chair. The two red males were introduced to each other through the door of the pet carrier. The little one was quiet, calm, curious and ready to go. The big one snuffled, sniffed and took off whining. Such a scary thing was unknown to him and he wanted nothing to do with it. I never expected that. My laconic and relaxed tomcat making such a fuss. What followed were three very stressful days. Because of Robbyn's whining, my oldest cat's red fusses blew. She rushed on the nearest cat with all her might and beat her up. That created even more stress. What had I started? My stress level was rising nicely. By dividing my attention consistently between all cats, they kept having faith and believing that they counted too. Especially Robbyn needed a lot of attention, but wouldn't always accept it, for he found I “stank” too much like Djavi. Luckily he calmed down bit by bit. Because of that, the others calmed down too. After three days I decided to do things differently and denied them access to the garden. Their ways to escape were decreased and the possible contacts were increased. I did open all the doors so no one could get stuck. That worked quite well. Since the worst stress was over, there was room for curiosity. With as consequence that one red male trudged after the other. From that moment on they carefully started to play, to cuddle and to wash each other. After just one week they were busy becoming the best of friends. The older cats weren't all that enthusiastic, but besides a occasional hiss or grumble everything progressed peacefully.  Now I could finally enjoy my red boys. They are brothers, both with a beautiful red coat and seem to have a similar character. When I look into the room or garden now, I have to pay close attention to see whose tail it is by the chair, under the tree, behind the sofa or between the leaves of the Lilies. I don't mind that, I love to look at such beautiful red boys. |
Nederlandse Burmezen Club  Member of Ocicat Club Holland  |
