Rufus is on top of the table. He watches her from afar but would like to get closer. The first day she was here she chased him down the stairs and backed him into a corner and beat him up. He didn't lift a paw to defend himself then, but he's getting a little better now.

Here he is on the top step and she looks ready to attack. At least he has a paw lifted in protection. I felt sorry for him. He just wants to be friends with her and she won't let him near her. Hopefully, in time, she will lower her guard a little. The best way to introduce a new cat into the house is to put them in a single room for a while but there wasn't time, so I put her upstairs in the bedroom loft, so now she thinks it belongs to her and she guards the stairs at night. The dogs are afraid to come upstairs sometimes.

In fact the last time she visited Murphy was so scared she went downstairs and slept in the bathroom all night. I really have to chuckle since Lucy isn't that big. She's 12 pounds of pure terror. We warned the vet when we were bringing her in for her booster shots, but as most children, she wouldn't perform for them and they thought she was a perfect angel and that we were nuts.

Rufus on the otherhand is more aggressive at the doctor. He tried to bite me the last time we were there and growls and hisses a lot. He never does that at home. I guess that is why the dogs are scared of Lucy, because she growls and hisses all the time ... even for just looking at her.

Here are pictures of the terrible duo together at Thanksgiving, 1998. I had Lucy from Wednesday through Saturday while Mom was in the hospital. I never got her to come downstairs to spend time with mine until I forcibly carried her downstairs Friday night. Then they started to play. Wish I had done it earlier. Can you tell which one is which?

I am hoping that with time they will both settle down and really like each other when Lucy comes to finally live with us. Poor Rufus is always the perfect gentlemen. He would greet her every morning with a little "perp noise" as I call it and she would hiss at him. The next day would be the same thing. Poor guy.

The latest now is that Lucy makes the "perp noise" too but only for me. They are playing but they don't sleep together and I don't think they ever will but at least it is liveable around here now,
and I guess that is all I can possibly hope for.

Lucy joined our household on a permanent basis in January of 1999 and my mother passed away in February. As an update as of December, 1999 - the kitties play together but Rufus is still afraid of her. If I lift him up to her she bites his ear. If I lift her up to him, he kisses her. So his feelings are still pure, but she just doesn't want to get close. The funny thing is she comes around Madison and flirts with him.

Here are a couple of Christmas pictures - one of just Lucy and one with both of them in the picture. Lucy is always the one that looks very cool. Rufus usually has a bewildered look on his face much like that of a husband that has been dragged to the mall.

Here are a couple of pictures taken in January, 2000. I was so surprised to come upstairs that night and see them together on the bed I had to run and get the camera. Of course, this made Madison come too and he can't stand not to have his picture taken.

The funny thing was she would not face Rufus on the bed but after he left she turned the other way. Rufus is on the left in both pictures.

Here is the latest picture of the kitties. As you can see they are getting along better and better. Rufus is the one sitting up. He is still afraid of her but they are playing a lot more and he is getting bolder. He left the table not long after this picture was taken though. Scared off again by the terrible LuciFur.