The Peaceable Kingdom

Isn't it weird how you just kind of get used to something, and then you think that's the way it always is?  Like if you have a large number of cats all living together under the same roof, then maybe it's just natural that they wouldn't all get along?  

We got so used to the shifting alliances and the vying for power in our original crew of six, that it just seemed normal.  Or if not normal, at least the normal landscape of a reality TV show.  Even though Wanda was always the alpha, you'd never know it from the way Otto, Mister and Reggie seemed to always be vying for the title.  It was a fairly regular occurrence to hear Reggie in some far corner of whatever room you weren't in, screaming like he was being disemboweled.  When you would run in there, inevitably you would find Reggie backed into the corner with Otto looming over him, getting ready to swat him.  Usually, it was pretty obvious that Otto hadn't even touched him yet, but just the threat of touching him was enough to send Reggie into "mom-he's-touching-me" conniptions.  Or, all the times that Mister would go slinking through a room while all the other males lined up around him to pounce on the creature that was "moving like prey" through the house.  See https://dabuddies.blogspot.com/2010/08/mister-stop-moving-like-prey.html and https://dabuddies.blogspot.com/2014/05/chocolate-chips-from-edge.html for more details on these hijinks.

Here's a handy guide so you can keep track of who got along with whom:

Otto wasn't a big fan of any cat who wasn't his sister and Siamese.  Consequently, Mister, Mango and Reggie often felt his wrath and poor little Elroy was mostly tolerated.  

Mango kind of felt the same way about everyone.  They were all basically okay but she hissed at them anyway.

Mister couldn't stand Otto or Reggie but tolerated Mango, Elroy, and Wanda, particularly after Wanda saved his life once:  https://dabuddies.blogspot.com/2010/09/mister-tries-to-eat-coat-hanger.html

Reggie truly loathed Otto, at least in his younger years, and disliked Mister pretty consistently.  (It's a weird stroke of irony that it was the three of them who managed to survive after the others had passed.)  He actually seemed to like Mango and had no problems with Wanda, and he and Elroy were bestest play-buddies.  

Wanda was the alpha, so she had equal respect for everyone.  She would also put anyone in their place who, by all rights, needed it:  https://dabuddies.blogspot.com/2010/12/wanda-opens-can-of-whoop-aagain.html.  For some reason, I couldn't find the original post that this references, but I'll keep looking.

And Elroy, you will already know if you've spent any time reading this blog, unequivocally loved everyone.  Otto was his favorite (don't tell Reggie), but Reggie was a close second, with Wanda, Mango and Mister coming in next.

So it's weird.  We were looking around the living room the other night, noticing that everyone was calm and peaceful together, and we didn't even have a wood stove on.  Zelda and Cooper are best play-buddies, Coco sleeps with Reggie on the bed (not touching yet, but give it time), and she has licked Cooper on the head a few times.  She hangs out with Zelda on the porch and Reggie spends time with Zelda as well.  

They all get along.  It's weird.

That's not to say we don't still hear caterwauling in the middle of the night after Cooper has gotten too wound up and is playing with Zelda or Coco too hard.  He's not trying to be a bully--he just gets over-excited and doesn't always know his own strength.  He actually has some success playing with Reggie, who gamely takes him down by using the Taekwondo moves he's perfected from years of fighting with the older cats.  Reggie has adapted much better to being the big brother than he did to being the little brother, or maybe he's just gained some chill and wisdom from his sixteen trips around the sun.  All I know is that the disemboweling shrieks seem to be a thing of the past.

So now we have a Peaceable Kingdom.  I wouldn't have believed it could happen until it did.  I still miss terribly all the other buddies who aren't with us physically anymore, and always will, but Da Buddies Eclectic 2.0 is working out very nicely, too.  It's certainly a lot quieter.