New cat. Rascal

I feel a little guilty.  I somewhat feel like a person whose long term spouse had died and within weeks they get remarried to someone else. Not a good image.  I miss my Daisy.  I also miss having a cat.  

The weekly newspaper had photos of cats for adoption from the county animal shelter, Humane Society, and the Flathead Spay and Neuter Task Force.  The Spay and Neuter Task Force had a photo of a white and black cat for adoption.  My friend Donna and I went to look at the cat.  He seemed nice.  But he was a long haired cat.  I never had a long hair cat.  For some reason - too many cat food commercials? - I had the idea a long haired cat was an indoor cat and needed extra attention and pampering.

I looked around at the other organizations in the Valley. The humane society had a back and white cat but I had to wait a few days to be able to look at the cat as viewing was only by appointment due to COVID restrictions.   When I called later I was told this cat also had a sister and both needed to be adopted together.  A later photo showed the cat to be more black with white, and I wanted a white cat with black, more like Daisy.  And I wanted only one cat.

I checked around western Montana.  Other organizations had a few white with black cats.  Or that was what the photo showed.  I called and tried to get more photos as the distances were 70 and 100 miles away.  I never did get any more photos.

So I defaulted back to the Spay and Neuter Task Force cat. This cat, and two other cats, had been rescued from a junkyard in Columbia Falls.  The cat has a microchip and they found who the owner was.  The owner agreed the cat could be adopted.  The cat had a habit of roaming and disappearing from its previous home.   I talked to the owner about the cat.  The cat is named: Rascal.

A few days ago I adopted Rascal.   For now I think I will keep that name.  He is a male cat and is 5 years old.

The first day Rascal just wanted to sit in the corner of the living room.  When I came back in the house later Rascal was missing.  I looked and looked all over the house before I found him in the basement.  Then he ran upstairs and hid.  Later in the evening I found him the basement as I hadn't closed the door.  I let him be.  I figured he would come out later to eat or explore.

The next morning I couldn't find him. I used a flashlight and looked everywhere. After the third time I looked for him in the afternoon he came down to me in the basement.   This time I closed the basement door after we left the basement.

I was able to pet him.   When I took a break and cleaned the ashes from the woodstove Rascal went to my bedroom.  Later I couldn't find him.  Eventually I found him under my bed.  He found a spot to lay there in between the stuff stored there.  And he stayed there the rest of the day.

Last night he was under the bed when I went to bed.  He came out and joined me on top of the bed.  Since I was falling asleep and not petting him he left the bed.  This morning after I woke up he came back on to the bed.  I was able to pet him and he liked it.   He mainly stayed in the bedroom and under the bed today.  When I came into the bedroom he would come out and I was able to pet him.

So Rascal is taking his time getting used to his new home.  I wonder if he prefers under the bed, or that part of the basement, as those were about the only areas Daisy didn't go.

Petting Rascal is different than petting Daisy.  Rascal keeps moving over and over and around and around as I pet him.  He doesn't sit still.  He also prefers his head to be rubbed by me, also prefers to rub his head against my hands and arm.

So I am getting used to my new cat.  He seems nice. I haven't updated his microchip to me as the owner.  I am waiting to see if he will adjust to living out here, and me to him. If not I can take him back.  I won't let him outside for a number of weeks so he can get set in his ways that this is his home.

Today I was finally able to get a few photos of Rascal.