A Boy and (one of) His Cats

Before Tommy was born, I hoped he'd love animals.  And I hoped the two animals that we had prior to Tommy's arrival would at least tolerate, if not love him.  I also prayed that Tommy would not be allergic to them.  I am allergic to cats (my allergy doctor gave up asking if I'm getting rid of them in my annual check up and thus my shot serum includes that!), so I feared I'd pass it on....so far, so good. 

Both Tux and Tails have been pretty cool about their youngest (and now BIGGER than them) brother.  Yes, it was stressful for both of them those first few weeks, just like it was for John and I.  Their ears and perked up and their eyes got big sometimes with the crying at first.  Tux had a dramatic personality change within a few weeks of Tommy's arrival.  He became much more social - he's afraid of most people and hides when we have company, but now, he actually will make the rounds as if he's looking for some attention, as maybe we weren't giving him that little bit that he needed!  Tails was affected a little more than Tux, as he ended up in the Animal ER 3 weeks after Tommy's arrival, diagnosed with Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUID).  He'd had some issues for about 10 months, but the doctors felt with the added stress in the house recently, it may have hit the breaking point.  And of course, both John and I were less focused on the cats with a newborn in the house, so we may not have been as diligent as we had been with things.  Thankfully, everything worked out alright, and Tails is now one of Tommy's biggest fans.  He rubs against him to show affection, comes into his room at night when we are reading books to say good night, and loves to chase balls that Tommy throws for him.

And while I mentioned that Tux is more social, he's no dope, and doesn't get too close to Tommy when he's on the go.  He'll observe from atop a piece of furniture, though he will allow Tommy to "kiss" him when I'm holding Tommy and he leans in to rub his head against Tux.  Tails, however, is game for just about anything.  We think he's part dog sometimes with how he acts.  Here's a video of Tommy and Tails from last weekend...Tails loves to go in boxes, and often the smaller the better!

Tommy knows to be gentle with both cats, thank goodness...we can't stress that enough with him!  And he's also afraid that the cats are going to try to eat his food, so when we're having trouble getting him to focus on whatever meal it happens to be, we say that Tux or Tails are going to eat his food....which leads to Tommy putting another piece in his mouth.  And since our cats only get the foul-smelling expensive prescription wet food from the vet thanks to Tails' "condition", they do search out any other morsels they can find around the house!