Pet Diaries: Suitors, Strays, and Soul-Jumping Scares!

We've had fluffy for about four years now (I hope I counted right). She had generally been a magnificent cat - very quiet, to the point of boring. Lol. But lately, our house has turned into a full-blown feline telenovela. If you’re a fellow cat lover on Hive, pull up a chair, because the saga of Fluffy, Mallow, and Dusty is one for the books.

My Beautiful Fluffy

The Turkish Angora Soap Opera: Suitors, Strays, and Soul-Jumping Scares

Thank you for this collage, Gemini

Fluffy Goes "Cray Cray"

It all started with Fluffy. I thought it was me, but she’s the queen of the household— quiet, elegant, and perfectly content being an indoor girl. She's our "Madam". But Fluffy isn't spayed, and lately, her biological clock is everywhere; it's been a source of our "agony" (especially to my husband).

Being in heat has turned "Madam" into a "wild" creature. The "calling" is constant, especially at night. It’s been stressful, to say the least, especially since my husband's patience has officially run out. We’ve been doing everything to keep her calm, but hormones always win. 😵

Adding to everyone's stress, hubs has become Fluffy's target (maybe because my husband is the one who is obviously annoyed). Fluffy started on peeing on most of his stuff. The other day, she literally peed on him! We told him to be nice and gentle to Fluffy, which I think he started to do, and so far, she has not been mischievous.

Here at the right is the usual Fluffy. She's still like this generally during daytime, but as nighttime falls, she becomes a different animal.

Meet the Culprit

A few weeks ago, we found this guy in front of our door. He seemed nice. He is actually very social. He lets the kids pet him. My husband checked, and yes, he's a male. For me, he posed a problem since Fluffy is not spayed, and he could get her pregnant. We don't want more kitties. Hubs said he seems neutered— flat balls. In short, we welcomed him. Even fed him. And yes, the kids even gave him a name -- Dusty.

It was okay until he decided to make our wall his new throne and he started spraying our doors and windows. Eeeewwww. His scent is everywhere and it really aggravates Fluffy's cray-crayness. 😓

Fluffy calls from the window, and at night as we sleep, we put her in the kitchen. The problem, they made the little window at the bathroom their "meeting place". Arrggghhhh.

Wait, there's more. Meet Bruno Marsh.

One morning, I was being incredibly careful about opening the house door, knowing Fluffy was in her escape-artist mode. I checked the bed. Yep, Fluffy was there, looking like she was starting to settle down to sleep (given her long night). I walked to the front gate, opened it, and my soul literally jumped out of me.

There, sitting right outside, was Fluffy. Or so I thought.

I stood there frozen, brain glitching. How did she get out? I just saw her on the bed! Is she teleporting now? As it turns out, I wasn't looking at a teleporting Fluffy. I was looking at Mallow. Same breed, same snowy white fur, same elegant tail—but definitely a different cat. He was just sitting there, a timid, fluffy surprise that had decided our gate was his new home.

The kids immediately named him Marshmallow (Mallow for short). When we realized this "girl" was actually a "he," I suggested the name Bruno Marsh. I thought it was genius. The kids? Not so much. So, Mallow it is.

Mallow is young, playful, and sweet. We’ve bathed him, and he’s slowly becoming part of the family. The funniest part? Fluffy hates him. While she’s screaming for Dusty on the wall, she spends her time growling and hissing at poor Mallow.

Mallow after his first bath

The Stand-Off

When will this end?

Mallow generally still stays outdoors. He is welcome inside the house and Fluffy ignores him most of the time, so all is good. But he does not "sleep" inside.

We are planning to get Fluffy spayed, especially now that Abu Dhabi requires pet owners to register and microchip their pets. I will have to bring Fluffy to the vet for check up and shots, and have her registered. Hopefully, she becomes her old quiet self again, and we no longer get visited by Dusty.

_{All photos are owned by the author unless stated otherwise.}