Molly in the Bedroom

I’m fairly certain that Molly would have preferred to live out her twilight years in tranquil solitude. She has not forgiven me for bringing Casper into the house, and reminds me of this every time she sees him. She is just too old to accept anyone new, and she is still carrying a hate-on for other cats from her early days. The shelter warned me all those years ago that she must be an only child, and boy were they right. We tried for about nine months to integrate Casper and Molly using all the proper techniques, but to no avail. Casper, ever the gentleman, took numerous beatings from Molly and never raised a paw to her. He also suffered through her hissing, swearing and derogatory comments in the hopes they would become friends in the long run, but it was not in the cards. Much to his dismay, our attempts to assimilate the crazy calico and his mellow moggie self ended after Molly bit me badly while in a blind rage during one of their supervised encounters. I know she didn’t mean to hurt me, but she was panicking and I tried to soothe her by putting my hand on her back. Casper was in front of her and she probably thought there was some danger coming at her from behind so she lashed out and bit my hand, hard. As I left the after hours clinic on my way to the pharmacy to fill the prescription for TWO kinds of antibiotics, I looked at my throbbing, bandaged hand and said to Robert “no more”. It was just too hard on everybody, Molly was terrified, Casper was confused and now I was injured. We had given it an earnest effort and it just didn’t work. After the hand episode Molly went happily to live in our master bedroom alone, and Casper roamed the house alone. Her food, litter and toys are all in our bedroom, which may not be the ideal situation but as Robert says “you do what you have to”. I mean really, she's almost nineteen with 1/3 functioning kidneys, how much longer could she have...five years tops?

Casper has been introduced to three different cats since operation “meet Molly” failed. Each time I waited for the fur to fly and each time he welcomed another kitty into his warm embrace. Not one single hiss, growl, or snarky remark emanated from him, only loving acceptance and friendship. He took each newcomer under his wing and showed him the ropes. He really is our Goodwill Ambassador and almost solely responsible for the harmonious atmosphere amongst the boys. I thank my lucky stars everyday for Casper; our gentle giant.

Don't feel bad for Molly, she loves her bedroom oasis. Every single one of the boys has strayed into her territory at some point where they were summarily dressed down and informed in no uncertain terms that they were not welcome. She is a formidable old dame who "wants to be alone", and the boys have learned not to mess with her!