Meet Black Jack.I finally made the decision about three weeks ago to adopt a second cat to keep Chessie company... It is important to realize that on average I am away from home between 9 and 16 hours a day between my work, my hobbies and my volunteer work for the TLEW railroad... I had come to realize that I was not home (and awake) enough for Chessie's benefit, and that there was only one solution to the problem: Adopt another cat.
Both Chessie and Black Jack are from the Friends of Felines Rescue Center near Defiance, OH (and both more or less grew up there together; they are almost exactly the same age). After three days of intense stand-off they began to get along, and are now "close friends." Adopting Black Jack has definately fulfilled my reasons for getting a second cat; Chessie is far less troublesome than she was, and I haven't had a cat scratch since the evening I walked in with the cat carrier... This is a very significant improvement!
The only reason that I havent posted this earlier is because the last time that I had a chance to post (when I got my chickens, see my hobby blog) Black Jack had mysteriously vanished... After an hour of searching I finally discovered that he had found his way into the crawlspace via an insecure vent... He found his way back down there several more times (once for at least six hours) before I was able to blockade the vent. Once I bolt the vent down this will no longer be a problem...
Unlike Chessie, who is outright ornary, if not crazy, Black Jack is a very calm-mannered cat who is perfectly contented to sit back and relax. I think this may already be rubbing off on Chessie (I sure hope so anyways...)
