No Basement cat in this house.

Hello readers. I know you have all been biting your nails waiting to hear news about the Hank/Oscar experiment. Things are moving slowly - but they are moving forward. Oscar is going through several stages:

1. Terror and wtf-ness. Although, he is much too proper to ever use the phrase wtf. Or it's shortened version. I think he would, in his loudest, yet most proper british accent declare: "hWhat in god's name is happening here??" (The extra h in front of what is for emphasis - Oscar always says h before a wh hwhord). Night one - Oscar was extremely disgruntled. I told one of my friends that if Oscar had thumbs, he probably would have made a tiny noose that first night. For a moment I thought he had thrown himself down the stairs... but no. He didn't.

2. Super scared takes over mildly curious. By the morning, Oscar decided it was time to tentatively take over his house again. One tiny paw step at a time. He was fine in the kitchen, a little jumpy, but generally willing to be around the family (the human family). As the day progressed, he tiptoed into the dining room, but stayed away from the doggie gate. But looked from a far at the beastie within. Then, Oscar stared at him from the gate!
3. Shock and awe. After Tim and I returned from our dancing lesson, we began our night time routine - well, new night time routine. Hankus needed to go outside for bathroom time and general awesome snow romping. To avoid any shock to Oscar's system, we carry Hank past Oscar. At first, Oscar would run into the basement screaming. This time however, he simply looked up at us as we carried the beastie out side. And then began to sratch on the door as if he wanted to go outside too! During dinner with a friend, Oscar actually hung out with us in the dining room (purring, cleaning - normal cat things).

4. One step back - but not in a bad way. After Mr. Hank ate, we took him outside for another bathroom break and snow romp. When we bring him in, we keep him by the door to wipe of the snowy paws and face. Well, he got a little excited because Oscar was actually still in the kitchen...and Hanks wanted to be friendly. And Oscar did not... nothing major here, just a friendly puppy who is just a bit bigger than the cat running up to him with every intention of making a new friend only to be hissed at and swatted across the nose. Hank didn't flinch. Oscar looked ridiculous as he tried to escape and become Basement cat once again, but was too freaked out to open the basement door. So he scuttled up stairs. Good news here people - Oscar did not puff up - no puffy tail, no puffy back, nothing. I think he was just more offended than anything. So this is good.

5. Snuggles! While Oscar is still cautiously dismissive of all things new beastie, he did eventually make it into the living room for a very nervous snuggle down time. I was shocked. It has only been about 24 hours since his life was kind of turned upside down and here he is, taking such slow steps that the wood floor creaked underneath him - was making his way to the loveseat for some quality snuggledown time. Ah, progress.

6. He is currently sitting next to me as I write this - not totally relaxed, but the Hankopottamus is in the crate pretending to sleep, but occasionally stirring. Oscar is keeping an eye on him. I'm hoping that he'll be sniffing the crate soon.

As for Mr. Hank, I am happy to report that we haven't had any accidents - he's going to the bathroom outside, eating all his food, having a lot of fun during supervised play time, loves the snow, and is sleeping through the night (one little wake up last night, but for 2 minutes. Maybe more of shift that a wake up). We couldn't be happier with him. I know Mr. Kits will grow to love him too. Best Friends!!

More pics soon. Maybe a video if I can figure it out on my phone. It may be time to get a simple digi camera...