Welcome Home, Saki

We moved to a new house a few months ago. Although we’ve unpacked and organized most of our belongings, we are down to the kinds of possessions that now require sorting and judgment. Which of these clothes can be given to charity? Does my daughter want her notebooks from high school and college? What about some of her other things? How about some of my wife’s and my keepsakes that have been in boxes for the past few years: shouldn’t they go? Consequently, our finished basement is still a mess, because we’re trying to accomplish a more definitive sorting, but it’s a slow process that can feel demoralizing.

But that’s just mise-en-scène, as my theatre-tech daughter might say. I’m sitting downstairs among this clutter, keeping our new cat company.

In my September 30, 2010 post, I talked about our kitty Taz, a female tortoise shell whom we got from a shelter a few days after our previous kitty Oddball passed away. Now that we’ve had Taz for two years, we knew it would be a little challenge to introduce a second cat into the family.


When we brought home a new cat, Domino, in 2001, we didn’t do it slowly enough, and Oddball went postal. She did become adjusted to the interloper, allowing him to sleep on the same sofa and the like. Sadly, Domino passed away in 2005, and horribly that same summer, Oddball developed a cancerous tumor that required the removal of a hind leg. But she healed and thrived, getting along on three legs until she passed away of kidney failure in 2010 (my June 15, 2010 post).

My daughter wanted a second cat, so she could bond with the cat more closely than she could when we got Taz, because she was still in college. Now she’s home to work for a year, and the time seemed right to find a new kitty.

She found him online. He had been a stray; the shelter people named him S’more. My daughter decided to name him Saki because of his Asian heritage, since he’s part Siamese (and part tabby).

We’ve kept him isolated in our full, finished basement until we could slowly introduce him to Taz. She knew he was here, and occasionally hissed at the basement door. Last night, we let them see each other for the first time, through the clear plastic (and lockable) pet door on the basement door. Taz’s ears went back and she hissed and fussed, but then walked away----not a bad first attempt at all. She didn't get medieval on everyone's a**, as Oddball had done when we introduced Domino too quickly.

This morning, I went downstairs to visit with him for a while. We take turns being with him and sit among the clutter, playing with him and watching TV.  I discovered that he had scratched a lot of litter from his box and onto the floor. I sighed and looked for a broom. A new pet isn’t as drastically life-changing as a baby. (My daughter’s birthday is coming up!) But they do introduce additional responsibilities into your day.

If you’re a “pet person,” though, your very well being depends upon a little four-legged critter who is your special friend, a refuge and companion amid your tasks and challenges. A new pet is the beginning of a new period of your life, and the anticipation of many family stories and adventures.