Mackie Becomes a Whole Different Cat

Mackie continues to surprise us at how well he has adapted to being a now primarily indoor cat. In fact, he doesn't like to go out at all unless one of us is outside, and then he comes back in when we go in. If he gets left outside, he seems scared and uncertain, as if his indoor life was a just a dream and he's back in his reality.

But no, the reality is he's an indoor cat now that sleeps in our bed with us, and adjusted to the litter boxes easily. This after being an outdoor cat for two or three years, coming from where we don't know. Who raised him as a kitten? Because it seems unlikely he would have broken to the house this easily if he had not had some human contact as a kitten.

The thing that finally won him over completely was treats! He was so excited about the taste and crunch of them, he stopped hiding under the sunroom sofa and reconciled himself quickly to being on top of the sofa where treats were more likely to appear.

And unlike BeeGee, he's let the other cats approach him and get a sniff of him, so now most of them -- except Seven who still doesn't care for any of the cats who came after him except for the return of his mother -- have adjusted to him and they can all sit together on the sofa.

BeeGee is going to be much harder to win over, and if she is anything like Arbee, who after 15 years still doesn't let us pick her up, she may never adjust.

Sometimes I think the spirits of the cats who were here and have since gone -- Red, Merly, Callie -- entered Mackie because some of his new behaviors mimics them, especially Merly.

Mackie napping on top of a chair instead of under a sofa.