I think it is the right time to introduce the newest member of our family. This is Marzipan (formerly known as Tinabel). She is the sweetest and the most well-mannered cat I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
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| Marzipan the cat |
I met Marzipan through a friend. She, in turn, introduced me to a wonderful person named Ginny who has been sheltering stray cats around her workplace and finding homes for them and was even so kind enough to let me borrow a small cage so I can transport Marzipan home.
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| Marzipan when we picked her up |
Marzipan was in a cage with some other cats and she did not make a fuss when she was transferred to the smaller cage for transport. I have to admit that I was a little surprised how big (and round) she looked since I was expecting to adopt a kitten. She hardly made a sound and kept still when handled.
According to Ginny, Marzipan has already spent 2 Christmases with them so I would estimate her age at 2 years and 10 months making her a little older than Nougat. Since I love celebrating cat birthdays, I have decided that Marzipan's birthdate to be February 14, 2018 (because why not).
It was straight to the vet clinic for us on the same day for an initial health assessment and the first dose of deworming medication. I had to ask the vet if she thought Marzipan looked pregnant. She wasn't entirely sure either just by casual examination and arranged for us to come back at the end of the week for an ultrasound (Marzipan already had 1 known prior pregnancy). She also postponed her vaccinations for the next visit. As it turned out, she was just a very fat cat. She was obviously pampered with food treats (the place where I got her from was a compound of food establishments and the people who worked there probably kept feeding her). I'm sure Nougat was very relieved since I kept on telling him that he was about to become a surrogate father (imagine what that must have sounded like when the only real practical experience you have is humping the cat bed).
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| Marzipan doesn't mind being held and cuddled and would contentedly sit on my lap |
When we first got back home from the vet that day, Nougat was initially very curious about the newcomer who was still in isolation in a large cage. He would peek behind corners observing but never coming close. When Marzipan was allowed to explore the whole house, Nougat started to behave very territorially (complaining especially loud when Marzipan uses "his" litterbox). Unlike Kitkat before that lets Nougat boss him around, Marzipan proved to be a street-wise fierce kitty and would not allow any of that nonsense. I think what aggravated the situation was that we all thought that Marzipan was pregnant and would constantly tell-off Nougat to leave his older sister alone (we now affectionately call Marzipan "ate Marzi" — "ate" [pronounced as
A-teh] being the Filipino word for older sister) because she can't be stressed.
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| The first photo of Nougat and Marzipan on the same shot. They are finally starting to get along. |
Nougat and Marzipan have settled into a delicate truce and although they are far from actively socializing with one another, they can at least peacefully co-exist within the same space without all those hissing and chasing each other around the house all the time.
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