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That's a picture on the side of the jungle gym box. Pepper's ears aren't that long.

Just a suggestion but if Caramel doesn't learn to like him and you still want a playmate for her, you could try introducing a kitten instead. It's usually easier to introduce a kitten to an adult cat than an adult cat to another adult cat.

I'm worried that Mel would be too rough with a kitten and I may not have time to watch over them again since I'm back to work next Monday. This is a sort of one-shot deal, since it takes Mel a minimum of 4 days to get used to a new cat, unless I get downtime again. I also don't like the prospect of adopting and returning cats until we find a "fit".

Now that I look at that picture again, it does kind of look like I can see his third eyelids in the corners of his eyes. The fact that it's showing like that when his eyes are open and he's eating (not sleeping or dozing off) might indicate a health problem. So yeah, you might want to have a vet check that out.

I mentioned that several times at the shelter because my cat guide books say the same thing, but the volunteers just kept telling me they didn't see anything wrong.

I get one free vet appointment from the shelter and I have that set up for Saturday. Whether or not we return him, I'm taking to the vet because I want that looked at. I'm not going to just ignore it and return him unchecked. (If he does get returned, it would have to be Saturday after the vet visit because they're closed Sunday, and Monday I'm back to work and would have to leave him home alone with Mel for 8 hours. He doesn't seem to be a problem with Pepper so far.)

I think Mel's feelings are finally starting to shift from fear to curiosity. She followed Hermes upstairs awhile ago and I haven't heart any hissing or growling coming from up there.

The result is that Pepper is going absolutely crazy chasing those catnip balls around the downstairs rooms. I have never seen her go at it quite like this before! She's running all over the place! Usually, what happens is that as soon as she starts playing, Mel jumps her and that's the end of it. She just attacked one of those fluffy toy mice for a few moments, then ran to the door and scratched the welcome mat. I wish you could see her like this.

This is what I was hoping would happen - Hermes would distract Mel enough that she'd leave Pepper alone.

Man, she just ran back and forth across the house, attacking a catnip ball on each pass. Wow. Maybe she really is a younger cat than we thought. But Mel was forcing her to live her life as a couch lump.

I don't want to make it sound like Caramel is some mean, evil cat. She's a good cat who just does bad things some times, and I think in most cases, she doesn't intend to be hurtful. She's been snuggled in the microfiber blanket on the futon for about the past hour and when I go to pet her, she purrs and rolls over on her back and lets me pet her belly and even her arms. She has never really let me pet her belly and arms like that before. Usually she'll paw and nip at me if I try.

I feel sad about the way she feels right now. She does have a right to distrust this strange cat that's in her house. But if she does learn to like him, it will pay off for her in the long run. Today, Hermes was playing in the cubes, and I can just imagine Hermes and Caramel chasing each other in and out of them. That's something Mel wants Pepper to do with her, but whenever Mel darts out of the cubes and "tags" Pepper, Pepper just growls, hisses, and runs away.

Hermes also likes to get at the end of the tunnel, wiggle his butt, and charge through it. He doesn't charge at any particular target like Mel does, though. His favorite place to sleep downstairs is the second-highest ring in the large cat tower. I think he likes it because it's the largest ring that any of our towers has and it has no hole in the bottom (some have a hole to let the cats climb up into them, but that one doesn't.) He might not be a bed sleeper. He's only been on the bed once and he didn't seem that impressed with it. I think he likes carpeting. He also doesn't eat much. He eats about a handful of dry food once or twice a day, and about as much wet food as Mel does, which is 1/8th of a small can of Friskies. (I don't think he even ate any of the food I put upstairs for him. I think Mel and Pepper ate it all.) Mel sometimes overeats, though. She vomited the other day and I think it's because she ate too much, too fast.

Man, Pepper was sleeping on the futon earlier (where Mel is now) with her eyes open, and I could see her rapid eye movements.

Which reminds me... there's a cat named Nudder at the shelter that sleeps with her outer eyelids open, but her third eyelids shut! It looks so disgusting. Like an alien or frog cat or something. (I stopped in the shelter today to update them on Hermes's status and Nudder had been moved to Hermes's cage...which is great because Nudder is a gray longhair, too, so at first it looked like Hermes was back in the cage and I had to wonder for a second if I was dreaming.)