So, based on that, we figured he'd be okay sharing his space with a hypothetical new cat - we just had to make sure the cat we chose was cool with BB. So, when the nearest shelter had a special adoption day late in 2019, off we all went as a family to pick a cat.
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Now: ordinarily, when introducing a new cat to an existing cat, the sensible thing to do is to let them sniff each other through a door for a few days while otherwise keeping them apart. But this time, there were two obstacles to doing this:
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One, the only sufficiently roomy place we could've kept Quango with a door between him and BB was the garage, whose door wouldn't allow for sniffing; and two, for the sake of our 5yo's feelings, we needed to know if the two would be compatible before he got attached.
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So, in defiance of regular cat protocol, and thinking that Quango at least deserved to stretch his legs after being cooped up in a tiny cage for months, we let him out into the room with BB.
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Quango explored the room. He walked up to BB. BB looked briefly alarmed, did a little hiss - which I think, in his odd understanding of Cat Language, after his visit with Teacup, is how he thought you said Hello to a new cat - and promptly fell over.
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Quango sniffed BB, bumped him with his nose, and then walked away again. BB got up, decided this meant they were friends now, and walked over to sit next to him. Here are the photos from that first introduction: https://www.instagram.com/p/B2snzliAsXu/
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Within 24 hours, they were sharing a couch together, and every fear we'd had about Quango not fitting in with BB had evaporated. He'd looked at our weird kitten, said, 'you are strange, but you are Mine,' and immediately accepted him. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2u0VQTAyQj/
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For the first few days he lived with us, Quango slept under the bed - hiding, as his ex-owners termed it, as he got used to the space. But within the week, he'd started venturing out to sleep elsewhere, first on the couch and then on our beds.
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We knew he'd finally settled in when, the next month, he started showing us his belly (and asking for belly rubs) while resting. His underbits had been shaved at the shelter, something I suspect he hated, and the fur took a while to grow back. https://www.instagram.com/p/B3qLTZNA5wq/
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He's the first cat I've ever adopted as an adult, and he's perfect. I don't know how he ended up in the shelter in the first place - he's clearly well-socialised, so unlikely to have been a stray from birth - but I can't fathom anyone just giving him up. And yet, someone did.
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To this day, he has never harmed BB; they playfight sometimes, or else Quango does a dominance thing by biting BB's scruff and standing on him, but he's never so much as scratched his nose otherwise.
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He still doesn't like to be picked up and will only tolerate cuddles - a tragedy, as he is perfectly hug-shaped - but most nights, he'll climb into bed with me, purring his very soft purr, and curl up so that his paw or chin are resting on my arm.
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With Quango here, BB no longer frets when we leave the house - but Quango, ironically, acts like a sad labrador whenever we go out, waiting on what we've now termed the Sulk Step with his chin on his paws, sadly watching the door until we come home.
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He's just a remarkable, wonderful cat, and if this thread has a point beyond celebrating him, I want to say: don't shy away from adopting adult cats at the shelter, even or especially if they've been returned before. All they need is a little love and the right environment.
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