Noki Journey – Part Four

Moving into a new place can be stressful. Adding in another person who you never lived with before, can add anxiety to that stress. Having to include a whole other cat as well? You need a plan.

As soon as we moved into our new place, we separated the cats. They are territorial creatures and dumping them together can cause issues. Noki and Lika in one room, Aiko, the newest addition, in the other. Over time we let them mingle and get to know each other. Noki was curious about his new sibling, having no fear. Aiko, did not like others. Period. My partner and I believe she must have been a street cat at some point because she’s so mistrusting. After some time, she could tolerate the other cats…from a distance. Interactions with Noki were friendlier than with Lika; this could be because Aiko tends to like male humans more than female ones, so maybe this includes all animals as well.

After some time, we brought over the final member of the family, Goose. A bearded dragon lizard who lives in a tank. Technically the oldest of the bunch, followed by Aiko, Noki, and Lika. We let Goose roam around the house a few times and the cats were curious, but Lika was always the most interested. Noki would be curious, but never kept his attention.

We have a balcony the cats like to roam around, the girls more than the guy. Noki enjoyed sitting at the balcony door entrance, viewing the outside world from the comfort of his home. He was curious and went outside, but you could tell if he had to pick, he’d be indoors all the time.

The new place was bigger than my last apartment—we had two rooms, but we also doubled in size. Even though he enjoyed the company of my partner and his newest step siblings, I could see the tension with Lika. Both of them wanted my attention and at first, Noki would let Lika lay with me. He would come in when she left and waited if she was there first. Over time, he couldn’t wait. It was okay when Lika was there first because he would plop down next to me, but the issue was when it was reversed. Any time he was laying on me first and Lika would come by, he would hiss her away. He was here first and wanted to keep my attention to himself. After a while, he took it a step further and wanted to cuddle with me when I went to bed. Yes, you read that right, he was the little spoon. A few minutes after I go to bed, he would come in crying to make sure I made space for him to cuddle. We would lay, on our left sides, his head on my arm, with the other wrapped around or petting him.

He really is like a little me. That’s why I knew, it was time for him to go if he was to be truly happy. After much deliberation, I decided to give Noki to my mom. He wanted all of my attention and that was something I just could not do. At my last apartment, my mom would ask all the time if she could have Noki. I said no, but the thought lingered. After seeing his latest interactions with Lika, I could tell both of them were not at their happiest. Noki craved the attention and the only solution that made sense to fill his needs, were if he was a solo pet again. And my mom, was happy to oblige.

To be continued…