Mixed signals

We've started giving both Lily and Meow Meow more scent exposure to each other as of Saturday. No shows of hostility yet -- just a lot of sniffing from Lily. While Meow Meow was enjoying a dish of her favorite wet food in her (normal) dining quarters, we invited Lily to explore the room next to the foster suite and the upper hall.

Lily was very curious about the new space but was also still timid about checking it out while we were around, so we held off on taking photos. (She did perform a thorough inspection of the perimeter of each room, nose constantly to the ground.) The towel we let her examine from Meow Meow's room produced more sniffing, but after a few moments, Lily seemed to lose interest. This bodes well -- indifference is a benign response.

Once Lily was back in her own room, we let Meow Meow back out. We put the towel from Lily's suite where Meow Meow was likely to happen upon it (on the landing of the stairs, where she likes to survey the kitchen and living room):


Meow Meow stepped very deliberately around it on her way down, but that was all the attention the towel commanded. (There are cushier spots she enjoys as it is.)


Despite the fairly calm behavior, Meow Meow has had some litter box misses in her room during the night, so we're watching her closely to see if the issue is related to stress from Lily's presence. Which means no more feeding in the room next to the foster suite for this week since that seems to cause more agitation than just the smell of another cat. (Meow Meow seems oblivious to Lily's scent all over my hands when I offer to pet her -- she still wriggles with delight and rolls over for a belly rub.)

So that's the news for now. Once Lily's more comfortable with her new boundaries, we'll try to get more photos of her. And then, if things with both kitties are all right, we'll move on to the first visual meet-and-greet ...