Our Second Arrival

I read that Devons liked company, so we asked for two.  All of Rascal’s siblings had been adopted, so we waited until the next litter’s arrival.

I met our second little guy when I picked up Rascal.  Patrice called him Pilot – a cute ball of grey and black fur, with a quiet little voice. He barely filled the palm of my hand.  He would join our growing family in early July.

John and I struggled with the name.  Pilot didn’t seem to fit.  I suggested “Flatts” so we would have Rascal & Flatts.  Didn’t quite work for John.

One of my many obsessions is collecting Christmas ornaments.  My collection includes ornaments with meaning (like a seahorse as a reminder of my grandfather’s fish tank, and my horror at watching the seahorse parents gobble up their young, while my grandfather worked to invent methods of rescue).

Naturally while in Bar Harbor, we had to visit the Christmas Shop where we found rows of floor to ceiling pet ornaments.  After much deliberation, I selected two – a white cat and a grey/black cat.  As I approached the cash register, the clerk mentioned that prices included the engraving of pets’ names on the ornaments.

Panic. We had less than 30 seconds to decide on a name.  John quickly announced that he liked “Jackson”.   Jackson is the name of the town where we have lived since 2008 and our most favorite place on earth (beside Disney World of course).  Jackson it was!

John was in Boston working the first week of July, so he “rescued” baby Jackson from the orphanage (as John likes to remind Jackson every so often).  I impatiently waited at home, mistakenly thinking that Rascal would be overjoyed.

Frankie and Sammy visited often during those first weeks and Rascal loved them, especially Frankie.   Rascal was smaller that the Scheupp boys.  In one leap they would jump to the kitchen counter (primarily to escape from Rascal).  Poor little Rascal was still too small to make the jump.  He spent hours trying – jump, jump, jump – thumping on the floor each time.  He tried standing on the bottom step and jumping from there…he tried the second step.  On one occasion he was able to jump and wrap his paws around the corner of the granite.  He hung in mid-air for several seconds until slowly slipping back to earth.  He tried only once to leap onto bar stool,  thinking perhaps that would get him to the counter.  His attempt left him hanging in mid-air, belly on the stool’s foot rest, tiny legs hanging on either side, stuck and waiting to be rescued.

I couldn’t wait to give Rascal a full-time playmate!!!

John finally arrived with Jackson.  He resembled a little black bat.  His body hadn’t yet grown in proportion with his ears.  He was a cutie!

I’d rate the boys first interaction as “really poor”.  In an instant, Rascal was aware he was to permanently share my affection with this little creature.  He lunged at Jackson fangs first, claws fully extended.  They had to be separated.   I started with a 5 foot high screen, duct taped to a doorway – one cat on each side.  Jackson climbed up and over.  I tried a doggie playpen.  Jackson climbed up and over.   I covered the playpen with three pieces of plywood.  This worked. The boys sat for hours at a time looking at each other, swatting at each other through the pen.  Rascal’s tail angrily beating back and forth.  Jackson gleefully thinking this was a fun game, already infatuated with his new big brother.

A few times a day I would conduct closely supervised “fence-less” visits.  Each time more of the same.  Rascal would grab Jackson by the throat in a vicious attempt to kill him.   Jackson was athletic, faster and smaller.  He would leap out of Rascal’s arms and escape to a tiny space leaving Rascal unable to follow. This went on for three weeks. It was exhausting, I cried at least once.  I was angry at Rascal’s jealousy and was thinking we may have to return Jackson…but I was already in love. (side note – had I only watched Jackson Galaxy on Animal Planet, I would have learned that I was doing it all wrong! – https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/cat-introductions-part-2/)

Although unhappy with the situation, Rascal eventually accepted his brother.  By early August they began napping together.  Jackson was ecstatic; you could see the adoration in his eyes.  Rascal was his new mother.

All is not perfect, Rascal was (and is) very jealous.  If I am holding Jackson, Rascal pouts.  If I play with Jackson, Rascal will give him the evil eye and a certain “meow”;  Jackson will immediately sit down and refuse to continue our play.  If Jackson tries to join us at night, Rascal pushes him off the bed, banishing him to the floor under the bed until we are sleeping.

But, when no one is looking, Rascal “secretly” returns Jackson’s love.  They playfully chase each other around the house, they groom one another and on occasion nap together.  They collaborate to find and steal food.  They  are copycats –  Rascal teaches Jackson how to “paw” and in exchange Jackson offers new methods to reach the highest spots in the house.  If Jackson wanders out of sight; Rascal will circle the entire house meowing anxiously until “baby Jacks” reappears.