I know she looks HUGE in these photos, but she is really a little bitty thing. This morning I picked her up and took her to the vet who confirmed her age: 4 months. Pinga was fine until the vet and her assistant tried to draw blood from one of her paws. At that point my sweet little bumble bee turned into a crazed writhing screeching hyena…the vets couldn’t hold her down, not even with a towel wrapped around her…no kidding. They almost gave up, but I knew we had to find out if she had FIV. With my help, they finally got a blood sample (and a few scratches to boot)…and I am happy to report that she got a clean bill of health. No fleas, either!

As soon as I got home, I shut our cats in a room and let her explore the rest of the house. Then I shut her in our bedroom with Stefano, who is home from work…yes, he has the flu (eeek! I am taking Sambucol and Manuka honey…prevention, prevention…). In the late afternoon, we began the slow and cautious introduction process. So far we have introduced her to three of our four cats, one at a time, of course…and yes, there has been a lot of growling and hissing, especially (and surprisingly!) on Peekaboo’s part. We thought that our amiable little Peekaboo would be the friendliest…boy were we wrong!!!

Today the cats have had only brief encounters…or rather, brief hissing and growling sessions…as for tonight, well, Stefano and I have decided to sleep in separate bedrooms. He will sleep with Pinga and Mr. Flu, and I will sleep with the other kitties. I know that may sound extreme…but cat lovers, especially those with multiple cats, know how these things go…it will be fine in the end, but it will take a few days…