Things are still much the same around here: Nikki hisses at Mere, Mere
hisses at both the big cats, Frank mrrps and mrows at Mere. They all
seem to have divided the flat into territories. the bedroom belongs to
Frank and Nikki, and Mere never goes in there. The living room is mainly
Mere's territory, and whenever Frank or Nikki go in there, they keep a
sharp eye out for any sign of Mere. She usually hides behind the TV or
on top of the bookcase when one of the big cats comes into the living
room. The balcony belongs to Frank and Nikki. I carried Mere out there
once, but she didn't seem happy about it at all, which is just as good,
because we've had a couple of really warm days, and Frank and Nikki have
been enjoying the sun on the balcony, and they can lounge there in peace
without that tiresome little hisser around.

Mere is incredibly good about sleeping at night. She doesn't wake up
until I get up and come looking for her. I showed her how to climb the
cat tree, and that is one of her favourite places now.

http://community.webshots.com/photo/305182462/305182462uDAhhj
http://community.webshots.com/photo/305182952/305182952kjmDSH

Nikki is not too happy about this. It's *her* tree. We had a bit of a
situation this morning. I got up and couldn't find Mere. Nikki came out
of the bedroom, climbed up the cat tree and jumped up on the adjacent
bookshelf. I suddenly saw Mere meatloafing at the other end of the same
shelf. There's some stuff up there, so Nikki didn't see her at once, but
when she saw me looking at Mere, she suddenly realised, too, that she
was on the same shelf as the dreaded #%&# kitten. She started hissing
and growling fiercely, and Mere started with her tiny hisses and growls.
Both girls went on telling the other what they were going to when they
got their paws on the opponent, but neither cat made any move towards
the other. Since Nikki had blocked the way to the cat tree, Mere didn't
have any escape route. She started crying at me, and I stepped on a
stool at the other end of the bookshelf from Nikki, raised my arm
against the shelf, and Mere climbed down my arm.

Maybe I shouldn't have shown Mere the cat tree. But she was scratching
everything else (including my legs), so I thought I might at least show
her the proper place to scratch. She got her favourite toy from my
niece's; a short length of thick rope with feathers at one end. She is
very diligent in chasing it and then carrying it to me by its neck (just
behind the thicker part with the feathers). We play fetch and she always
brings it to me. I took this rope and ran it up the length of the cat
tree, and Mere needed no other incentive. Soon, she was clambering all
over the tree, making daredevil flying leaps from the tree to a chair,
scrabbling up and down and entering the bookshelf, behind the books, at
different levels. She's a little monkey!

Frank would still like to mother the baby, but she just hisses at him.
Yesterday, she sat peering out from behind a litter box and Frank sat
some distance away and just looked at her. Mere hissed and growled at
him. Frank got up, wnet a few steps closer, then sat down and just
looked at her. Then he got up, went a few steps closer, sat down and
just looked at her. Every now and then, he'd say mrrp? mrow? rowrow? as
if he was asking, 'what is your problem, little one?' Mere kept hissng
and growling the whole time. Finally Frank gave up and left the silly
little tyke alone.