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CosmoI’m getting a new brofur? Wow. In a house full of girls, that is going to be quite something. I have no human dad, so it’s just mum, me and my two sisfurs.

Mum told us that she’d been ‘eyeing’ up this beautiful boy for nearly a year. Now that’s a long time, so I wonder what made her wait so long. She said it was because she wasn’t sure if four was too many and also we were getting along so well, she didn’t want to upset the balance. But this boy needed a home and nobody was coming forward. She said it was possibly because he was largely black in colour, and black cats are very unpopular in the Middle East. But mum loves black cats. In fact, she loves all cats!

He was called ‘Cosmo’ and we learned that he had been abandoned by his family and was found starving, sick, with mites and cat flu and matted fur, running scared and desperate in the streets of the UAE (Abu Dhabi) among the tall buildings. A kind lady had rescued him and he had been in foster care for a year in a one-bedroom flat with 10 other cats. That’s a lot of cats in a small space and the kind lady desperately wanted to find him a home of his own, because he was a sweet boy and loved attention. However, although he got on OK with other cats if properly introduced, he did have abandonment issues and also didn’t like to be bullied.

Luna and CosmoNow, Luna is a bit of a princess, being mum’s first rescue. She always thinks mum is ‘hers’ and the flat is ‘hers’ too! But she came to accept me and Lily. How would she react to a boy though? And a big Maine Coon, a bit like her? A proper challenge. Actually, I should correct Luna’s status. Mum is MINE and the flat is mainly mine.

Mum paid for Cosmo’s paperwork (whatever that is!) and also the transport for him to come over from the UAE into Oman. Mum seemed super-excited, but I must say, I wasn’t sure about this ‘brofur’ business. I do enough sharing already. *sigh*.

The day came for Cosmo to arrive and mum went off to the vets to collect him. He was a big cat. I mean BIG. Mum says he’s all fluff though and he has this lovely grey and black coat and a tail like a toilet brush. Oh, whoops, mum says I’m not supposed to say that. OK, a feather duster.

To begin with he was in the spare room but boy, was he noisy. He makes the weirdest sounds like he grunting, growling and yowling when he plays and he has this deep throaty meow when he wants something. That’s all we knew about to begin with, apart from the smell. Phewy, boy-smell sure is different from girl-smell. Although he’s neutered, so I understand it’s not as bad as it could be. MOL!

After a few days, mum let us all meet. Luna was very hissy and growly and so naturally, I just copied her, since I couldn’t see ‘the enemy’. Lily was just curious and went to sniff around his room. Mum was careful not to leave us alone together and when we were all calm and tolerating each other, we got yummy treats together so we would associate each other with good things. After a while, Luna stopped hissing and so I also started to be more intrigued and less hissy myself. He didn’t seem mean and even when I did hiss at him when he got too close, he never hit me or hissed back. Perhaps he was a softie after all.

Lily and CosmoA few days after that, Cosmo was out among us and we were all getting on reasonably well, with a few interventions from mum. He didn’t seem too boisterous at first, but a few weeks on, he started to settle and assert himself. Now I wasn’t too pleased with this, but I did feel sorry for Lily, who is so meek and mild and Cosmo would chase her and pin her down. She squealed and so mum had to supervise more closely for a while. Once, he even pinned me down and bit my neck. But I shrieked so loudly he let go. He did it once more but since then, I’ve had the firm upper paw and will bop him once or twice if the mood takes me. I think he’s learned that females are dominant (except Lily) and doesn’t really go for us at all any more. Even Lily has some respite and not long ago, mum says Cosmo and Lily were even sleeping near each other on the bed.

Moet and CosmoCosmo has now been with us for 3 months and he’s part of our family now. OK, he still smells a bit odd and he still grunts and growls when he’s playing, but he’s my big brofur and I love him.

You can contact Moet on her Twitter account: @Moetblindcat

And here on her Facebook account:  facebook.com/MoetBlindCat

You can also follow Moet on Instagram: @moetblindcat

And on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MoettheBlindCat

She also has her own website: www.moetblindcat.com

A Morning Kiss

A morning kiss, a discreet touch of his nose landing somewhere on the middle of my face.
Because his long white whiskers tickled, I began every day laughing.

Janet F Faure