It has been three weeks since Sam join the ranks of house cat and things
are going very well.  We brought him home from Ted on Monday, September
27 and he spent the next five days in isolation with a screen separating
his room from the rest of the house.  On Wednesday we moved the screen
so that he had the 'sleeping quarters' of the house and Hobbes, Selena
and Lacey had the 'living quarters' - at least during the time when we
were available and awake to monitor behavior.  On Friday DH casually
opened the screen and let Sam enter the family room without any fanfare
or notice..well, for about 2 minutes.  There was the expected amount of
hissing and growling during the first week that Sam was in the house but
 no actual fights. When we let Sam join the other cats there was
tension and there were some encounters although no physical contact.  On
Friday - Sunday, Sam was allowed to stay out with with everyone. We
figured even if we were asleep we'd probably hear a cat fight (DH is a
light sleeper).  On Monday - Wednesday of the second week Sam was
required to go into his room while we were at work.  On Thursday morning
I decided that since everyone was avoiding physical contact I'd let him
stay out all day - even though we weren't home.  He's been out since.
We still have some hissing and an occasional boxing match although I
know of only twice of a paw making contact.

Everyone eats together in a circle about 6" apart.  There have been
times when everyone joined me on various parts of the couch. Hobbes
follows Sam around to see what he is up to and I would say that the two
of them have the most aggression although Lacey doesn't like Sam and
will hiss at him. She just stays away from him most of the time and
watches him from across the room. Selena and Sam went to Ted together
this past Monday (Sam for his second shots and Selena her annual vacs
and an allergy shot).  They were in separate carriers but they were
close and Selena's been more relaxed around him and curious to smell him
since then.  Occasionally some combination of cats will jump onto a
surface and startle the other who was on that surface (if that makes
sense) and a serious growling, hissing, raising of paws will occur but
otherwise things are fairly peaceful.

Sam enjoys being with us and will sleep in bed with us or lie against
our legs when we're relaxing on a couch.  He's very playful and has
enjoyed the toys he's found around the house not to mention the area
rugs.  Apparently greeblings have invaded and the other three didn't
notice. Sam is in the process of cleaning out greeblings from under all
area rugs. Its amazing how far a single cat can move a rug.  He's
unimpressed with the laser dot.  He eats all the time!! He's gained 12
oz from the time I brought him home from the vet and he had gained a
whole pound in the 10 days he was at the vet.  He now weighs 11 lbs 12 ozs!

I didn't mean for this to be so long, but wanted to thank everyone for
their purrs for Sam. We are all doing well and managing to once again
expand our family.

Purrs for anyone in need,
Julie, Hobbes, Selena, Lacey and Sam