Our household has a new member! We’ve been thinking about getting a little companion for Oscar for a couple months now. While he overall seemed happy with his situation, it’s obviously better for inside cats if there are two of them. Even more so because I might be at home with him most of the time now, but at some point in the future I’ll get a full-time job and he’ll be alone for long stretches of time. It was clear that we needed to get a second cat eventually, yet we were reluctant for months. What if Oscar wouldn’t get along with the other cat? There’s no space in our 3 bedroom apartment to keep the cats apart permanently, and it’d be heartbreaking to have to give away the other cat.

Then I saw the ad for Marchesa online and fell in love. At first glance, she seemed the perfect partner-in-crime for Oscar: She’s a British Shorthair as well (so she’d probaby have the same calm, easy-going temperament), and she’s about his age (since the exuberance of a kitten would likely annoy our little philosopher). Even though, we debated it for two weeks before we contacted her previous owner. It turned out that Marchi didn’t get along at all with her other female cat, to the point were there were physical quarrels and mishaps on couches and the bed. Since she’d been perfectly content living together with a male cat in her home before this one, the owner thought she’d be a good match for Oscar.

We didn’t have much choice other than adopt her anyway after meeting her, because she decided she’d adopt us the moment she saw us. Especially Phil. She sniffed on his hand and immediately started purring and rubbing up against him! I mean, could you say no to this sweet little kitty face?! So we went back to get her a week later. Luckily, we needn’t have worried. When we arrived back at home with her, she immediately climbed out of the carrier and started happily exploring her new surroundings. We had planned to quarantine her in one room to make the transition easier for everyone, but she was too fast for us! Oscar was deeply offended for two or three days, but in the end his curiosity won over and he decided to accept her on his territory.

He loves to play catch with her or sniff her butt, and then is adorably confused when she’s had enough and puts him in his place. Even though she’s about half of him size-wise, she’s definitely the new boss around here! Otherwise, she’s loving and cuddly and overall has such a happy and perky personality. I love that she comes for long cuddles into bed in the morning and at night, and that she climbs on my lap to sit there purring.

Our other concern was that she might be sick, since the previous owner didn’t have her vaccinated. We quickly made an appointment at the vet to get her checked up because of that. She’s completely healthy! We got her vaccinated as well, and will have her neutered in a few weeks once she has settled in with us. I’m so glad we took the leap despite our worries, because Marchesa is such a lovely cat! I couldn’t think of a better addition to our family. 🙂