We Don't Gnaw on Our Kitties

On Saturday, Susie and I added another member to our household: a one-year-old Siamese mix cat named Claudio (pictures forthcoming). After a fruitless Friday of East Bay kitty searching, on Saturday we discovered an pet adoption fair. We were looking for a kitten, but after over at least an hour of frazzled indecision, we settled on Claudio (nee Simba, aka Bo) because of his calm, cool demeanor, handsome seal-point markings, and enormous, beautiful blue eyes.

He's now settling in well at Casa Fong-Hiatt (despite recent diagnoses and treatments for an eye infection and tapeworms... TMI?); however, Viola, princess of the roost, isn't quite so sure about this newcomer. Yes, there have been incidents of hissing and swatting. This hostility is a completely new side of our previously sweet, friendly cat. Sadly, we have to keep the kitties in separate rooms while they acclimatize to one another.

Another great surprise for us has been cat vocalization. It's sound we'd never heard before: part growl and part meow, and really does sound like a cross between a choral exercise and a coyote howl. Apparently it's some sort of warning sound that cats make to ward off other cats. It's something that everyone should hear. I wonder if I can upload a .wav file of it....