Candy, Meet Scout

Today, Scout got a clean bill of health from his intestinal parasites so we decided to introduce him to Candy.

Candy has been having a hard time since Bethesda’s death. Urinating and defecating outside of her box for the first two weeks (that has stopped). Acting depressed. She approached Bethesda to play every day of their lives together, and was usually rebuffed. In Bethesda’s last couple of years she preyed on her, frequently pouncing, sensing weakness. The day Bethesda died, she didn’t eat. Since we brought Scout home and segregated him in the master bedroom, she’s also been eating less. But we thought perhaps the root problem was loneliness. That she needed a buddy. At 12 1/2, she’s still playful. We were advised that if we were going to add another pet, we should choose a kitten of the opposite gender.

Candy has been curious about Scout since the beginning. A couple of times, she darted into the master bedroom looking for him. Tonight was the night for a proper introduction.

I went into the bedroom and got Scout, who has become much friendlier since the medication stopped yesterday morning. His little pea brain doesn’t have much of a memory, thank God. I brought him out to Candy, who was in her usual spot on the couch. I set him down beside her and he was immediately interested, sniffing her all over. She tolerated his fascination for about 2 minutes before casually raising a paw and gently batting in his direction.

Not, “I hate you.”

Not, “This isn’t going to work out for you.”

Just, “Enough for now.”

I scooped Scout up and returned him to his room where he got wet food. Hubby got down on the floor with Candy and hand fed her treats. When she was done, she came up to my lap for pets and then returned to one of her favorite places: the back of the couch.

All in all, I’d call that a win. We’ll try a little more tomorrow.