New Guy

So, I had a new roommate move in about 3 days ago. One of my current roommates does not like my cats. She insists that they do all of these horrible things, which, granted, the did do some bad things, a YEAR AGO, when I go them and they were 4 months old! The chewed headphone wires and computer power cords, yadda yadda. I offered to replace both, but she said she already had extras, little did I know she would  try to throw it in my face MUCH later that I did not just go ahead and replace them anyway, now I know better.

So, new roommate. We call call him Neil, and old roommate, we shall call her Kathy, have been chit chatting. I came home on day number one of Neil being here and told him it might be best if her keep his bedroom door shut, as my kitties, who are still dumbass babies, have been known to eat things and like to chew on plastic. Neil informed me that he and Kathy already talked about it and she told him of everything they have destroyed. I liked that he didn't immediately hate my kitties, because I feel that was Kathy's intention, to get another person in the house on the "I don't like your cats" bandwagon. He said, well, I like cats, so they don't HAVE to stay out of my room, I again said, well, maybe shut your door when you are not home.

I arrive home from a long, bizarre day at work, talking on the phone to my mother, walk upstairs to my bedroom and smell poop. I mention it to my mom, look all around my room, find nothing, decide (sorry Neil) that perhaps it is just "boy" smell, since Neil left his door open, which I then shut for him.

I proceed to make myself dinner (roasted veggies from Laughing Stalk Farms and pasta with some frozen Naan bread from Trader Joes), pour myself a glass of wine and start to relax.


The, Neil comes home, we discuss the day, he goes upstairs. A few minutes later, he arrives back downstairs and tells me tat one of my cats pooped in his bed and he just sat in it!!!! I freak out, repeatedly apologize, follow him up the stairs with cleaning supplies and ask what I can do. He does not seem angry, which sort of confuses me, because I am not sure if he is just very passive, or if he actually understands that this is abnormal behavior from my cats. I offer to have his blankets dry cleaned, throw his clothes, sheets etc into the wash and give hims some of mine for the time being. Still, he is not mad, I wish he was, becuase then it is easier for me to be mad at my cats!

So, I start looking online to see what info I can find on this subject. What I came up with is that cats get stressed out when there are changes in their house. I thought they would be happy to have another person in the house who seemingly likes them, as opposed to Annie (former roommate) who did not like them at all. But, as I was reading all about this on many websites, I realized that my kitties have been acting very strangely since Annie started moving her things out. Mostly just very skittish, I didn'st think much of it, but now I realize that they are stressed out. The worst part seems to be that there isn't much I can do about it, they just have to get used to the new guy.

Neil said he just needs to close his door, which he wanted them to hang out with him, but maybe in a month or so he can try again. I just do not know how to deal with my overwhelming feelings of embarrassment and guilt and it doesn't help matters much that I am super depressed already and now I think  two of my roommates hate my cats which in turn equals me.

which leads me to now. I woke up before the sun came up, because I am very stressed out about the situation, cannot sleep, but being awake certainly isn't helping either. I am going to make some tea, and try to work on a sewing project and listen to MPR.

awesome.