Noki Journey - Part One

Noki has been my first pet experience of ownership. At this time of writing, we live together, but soon we won't. Soon, Noki will be living with my parents, a decision that was tough to make. Due to current circumstances, I believe that this would be the ideal situation for him. As I'm getting ready for my first child to leave the nest, I decided to relive our journey together through this. To be honest, I did live with a previous cat, but it belonged to my ex. Even though I loved this cat like my own, when my ex and I parted ways, there was no question that they would be keeping the cat. But I wasn't left alone, because during this time, we did get another.

My ex knew someone who lived in another city but was coming up to visit, and their friend's cat just gave birth. During this time, my ex wanted to get another cat because their cat did not get along with others. They were hoping that if they lived with another baby cat and saw how it was no threat, their cat could live with another. So my ex used this opportunity to get a new cat for free. Initially, we thought Noki was going to be a girl, and we planned to name him Nori until the vet visit, and they revealed his little balls. Nori was still a suitable name, but every time I thought of Nori, I was thinking of a different version of Noki. So we did a small letter switch, and now Noki was named, which translates to soot in Finnish. Noki is a tuxedo cat, mostly black, so the name fits well.

Since the initial cat was very antisocial and would hiss at any possible threat, Noki lived in the bathroom. Door closed, as a boundary for the initial cat to get accustomed to Noki. Initial cat would hiss near the bathroom, just knowing there was someone else in the vicinity. I stayed in there often, in the tub, layered with blankets and pillows. When we needed to shower, we moved his stuff to the bedroom until the tub was dry again. Until one day, while Noki was in the bedroom, door closed, we came home to find both cats chilling in the living room. After a day or so, we decided to let them hang out without the boundary. We learned that the initial cat would still hiss, but only after a few seconds of interaction. The conclusion, initial cat just hissed at everyone and wanted to do their own thing. Initial cat would play with Noki, but as soon as they were "losing," they would start hissing. 

They grew up together like a teenager and a younger sibling who just always wanted to hang out with their older sibling. We would find them on the bed sleeping next to each other or napping on the floor, but initial cat just had their moments where they wanted to be alone. Then the breakup happened, and the cats were going to be separated. Initial cat went with the ex, and I got Noki. My ex was okay with this because, at least now, they knew the initial cat could live with another. I moved back home to my parents; a three hour-drive with a cat in my lap. The only way Noki would stop crying. After growing up with another cat, Noki was about to experience their solo pet era.

To be continued...