Nikos the Cat

Last Friday Nikos moved in. His previous owner, a very sweet young guy, was obviously sad and regretful bringing him to me, admitting that he and his wife couldn't keep him. "Our son terrifies him, and it's not like he picks on Nikos, just his very existence is upsetting." The nice man brought Nikos over, and I caught a glimpse of a rather scruffy orange tabby as he shot out of his carrier and ran under my guest room bed. That was it for the first 24 hours. I knew he was alive because when I woke up the next morning the cat food was gone from the kitchen, but otherwise there wasn't a peep, wasn't a glimmer of him. I resisted the urge to peek, giving him the privacy and safety he so obviously needed. Finally on Saturday morning, while I was hanging in the living room, I saw an orange head tentatively peek out from the hallway, and there he was. He studiously ignored me for the first couple of days but became more bold in his forays to the kitchen, and on Sunday morning, at four in the morning, I got my first real visit.

A few preliminary observations:

• He's a strong one. All that tenseness has created a wiry muscular ninja of a cat. The strength he puts into head-butting me is just amazing after the gentleness of BeeGee.
• He's big! He's got long legs and a long body - reminds me of my ex-business partner.
• Oh my lord, he's hungry. He was competing with a much younger cat for food in his last home, and obviously didn't win very often, because he's so skinny now. But he's making up for lost time. He would eat three cans of food a day if I let him. I don't let him.
  
• He likes to hold hands (aww). He'll plunk himself on the sofa next to me and reach out his paw. He's not much for full-body cuddling, so far as I can tell. Of course it's hot as hell around here now. I predict there will be more cuddling in the colder weather.
• He wakes up every morning at 4:00 and wants me UP! This is not the best thing, needless to say, but I've been hesitant to bark at him about it during the "settling in" phase. I was more clear this morning - shushed him rather loudly - but once I'm up I'm up. I'll be more forceful each morning until he's broken of this habit. I don't have a door to my bedroom (I use the rumpus room) so I can't just lock him out. We'll get this issue resolved.
• He's a serious purrer and a serious talker, especially when he wants more food. Lots of creative meowing, quite the repertoire and range. Mezzo soprano, I'd say.
• He seems to be a careful litter box user, praise the Lord!

Nikos is so different from BeeGee that I'm reminded that it's the cats who train us, not the other way around. He's the one who insists on ear scratching and neck rubbing. He likes it his way or it's the highway for me. If I move in for a surruptitious belly rub, forget it. I won't see him again for a half hour. But boy, he loves to be brushed, which is very good, because right now he's quite scruffy. Evidently, he picked up the bad habit of pulling out clumps of hair when he's stressed (my house is now orange), and his coat in general is lackluster. But that will change as he mellows out and gets some vitamin- and oil-rich food into him. I predict he'll be a contented Garfieldesque boy in no time.

He's moved from under the guest bed to on top of it, right in the middle of it, as befits a potentate-to-be. Welcome, Nikos! Your kingdom awaits. Now if we can just get that early morning wake-up call out of his system!