Jack

We have a new kitty in the hizouse. His name is Jack. He looks like a stripey Bengal tiger, and acts like one, too.

Jack dropped out of the sky, over the wall into our back yard one day. I saw something dark fall out of the corner of my eye, and Natalie and I rushed outside to see what it was. And there was Jack. He had "naughty" written all over him. But then he meowed and jumped on Natalie's lap and didn't leave and it was true love. Say "mew" in the highest pitch that you possibly can and then imagine it even higher and cuter, and that's Jack's little voice.

But Jack's appetite is anything but little or cute. He'll eat anything and won't stop until it's gone. Mister has lost a few inches due to his own dignified eating pace.

Jack had a few minor and major mishaps in the beginning, encouraging a strong sense of mistrust within the house. But in spite of the worms, urine and poop, he's come out on top and has begun his climb up the kitten tree into the branches of adolescence. He is very good with his litter box, a luxury suite that has an entry hall and spiral staircase leading to the main room. And although Mister seemed to have the upper hand in the boxing ring at the beginning, Jack has swiftly outgrown his teacher. So now the challenge is trying to teach him to respect his elders and to know when and when not to use his claws.

Today, we found out that Jack is 6 months old, which would make him 3 months old when he arrived. Also today, Jack got "fixed". I've always thought that "fixed" was a strange way to say castrated. It's as though he was broken before, which doesn't make any sense, because technically, he "worked" before being "fixed". And even though he can't "do it", he is not a neutral gender. He is a Tom through and through. So neutered doesn't work for Jack, either. Perhaps "surgically altered", or "woolly-cherry-less". Or "life bachelor", although he certainly is swinging around this house with the love, between genders and species.

Mister would never admit to being enamoured of Jack. But I can tell that he is. He sleeps through the night, exhausted from play. They now nap peaceably beside each other and interchange food bowls frequently throughout meal-time. Yes, there is hissing and howling at peak fighting moments, but it is not necessarily hostile behaviour. It's like a friendly joust, Jack just needs to learn the code of honor. I'm wondering if his newly lost fur-balls will entice him to seek higher levels of dignity. We shall see...