The new cat: On to Week 2

So far, this has been way easier than I thought it would be. (Famous last words??)

Things are going remarkably well with Annie Oakley, the new 2-year-old Carson shelter cat I brought home on Oct. 10.

While she remains mostly confined to the spare bedroom so she can begin to establish her territory and get used to her new home, I have been letting her out a couple times a day to walk down the hallway to the baby gate.

This has more than fascinated my two border collies Cowboy and Tess, of course, to the point where it's all resembling one of those old-time burlesque shows:

"Aaaand, it's SHOWTIME (bedroom door swings open, dogs come running, nails clattering across the wood floor). Step right up. Careful, careful, now, not too close you dogs, step back, step back. Today we present to you the mysterious, the beautiful, the alluring Miss Annie Oakley!" 

Her eager doggie audience freezes in place, staring intently from the other side of the baby gate as Annie sashays her cute self up and down the hallway for their ogling and panting pleasure (I half expect to hear them whistle or toss dog cookies at her). She coyly meows and purrs. They are entranced. Just wait until they see her unique style working out on that scratching post. The dogs can't get enough.

Or maybe they can.

When I let Annie out for a "cat" walk this morning, the dogs were inside the house but failed to show up at the baby gate for the daily viewing. She may be losing her mystique. But that's a good thing. My goal is to desensitize them all to one another over the course of the next couple weeks.

Annie definitely is yearning to break free of her bedroom/hallway confines right about now.

She peers this way and that through the barrier. And she seemed to miss seeing her usual adoring fans this morning in the hallway.

I invited Tess into the spare room with me for about 10 minutes Sunday night, she and Annie sniffed nose to nose. It all went really quite smoothly. Everyone's being so well-behaved.

Below is AnnieO with her new catnip mouse. Most of my beginning cat supplies (I needed most everything) I've picked up at the Global Pet Outlet on Normandie just north of Torrance Boulevard. But this one I found at Target and so far it's her favorite toy. 

Read our earlier entries on Annie (Oakley) the new cat.