The kitty (still formally unnamed) had a good first night upstairs in my office, where my husband reports that he was a snuggly and chill little bedfellow. I heard some zoomies going down around 7:00 a.m., as well as some litterbox kicky-feets, (The master bedroom, where I stayed, is immediately underneath my office/guest room. I can hear things.)
We set up a baby gate across the office door, but we are leaving the main door shut unless we are physically present to keep an eye on things. Lucy could jump the gate in a heartbeat, and in a similar heartbeat, the cat could get past it/through it if he really wanted to. But it’s made things a little easier, re: the “letting them work it out for themselves” part of the socializing; the dogs creep closer and closer, but if they shove a snoot through the bars, they’ll get a hiss and a swat - no claws, just a “please don’t.” Greyson takes the "no” as intended and leaves. Lucy keeps swinging until I gently but firmly send her away, but so far the cat hasn’t tried to hurt her, either.
As I said before, we aren’t worried about Greyson; he’s vastly more afraid of the cat than the reverse, and has never hurt a soul in his life. But Lucy has been known to retaliate in kind, when growled at/smacked/etc., - or to put it another way, she’s prone to returning whatever energy she receives from other animals. So for now we are very glad that she seems to be reading the cat as “anxious” rather than “aggro.”
You guys, she is trying so, so hard to be good, and to make friends. But being chill and letting others have their space does not come naturally to her, so it’s a struggle. An adorable, ridiculous struggle.
For his part, the cat is mostly curious about the dogs - curious enough to come to the gate if the door’s open and they approach - but he holds back and watches, and will hiss softly if he thinks they’re getting too excited. He doesn’t scream or run and hide, and doesn’t go on the offensive trying to chase them away. He just seems… wary. We’re hoping that as he becomes more comfortable with us, and our household, and the dogs - and likely his amputation, which only happened 3-4 weeks ago…he will decide that the resident canines are suitable roommates after all.
But for now, everyone is supervised and separated, but able to sniff and visit under controlled conditions. Fingers crossed, eh? We would very much love for this absurd little snuggler to become a formally integrated member of the pack.
We do have a name on deck, but are waiting to commit to it. We’re still testing it out, seeing how it suits him. Will report back when something sticks ::salutes::