It’s been a few months since I’ve let you know how Olympia, our rescue kitty, is doing. The short answer is, she’s doing great!

(Demon kitty will swallow your soul!)

As you can see, she still loves to sit under the loveseat on the pillow that was once Galapagos’s. On occasion, when Olympia isn’t using it (which means she’s either under the bed or under the china cabinet — she’s an under cat), Galapagos will sit on the pillow, too, but for the most part she’s relinquished it to Olympia. They have argued over the pillow only once that I know of, and it was kind of adorable to see them both try to sit on it at the same time, but usually there isn’t a whole lot of arguing between the two of them. Most of the time they respectfully ignore each other.

That said, Galapagos will often stare at Olympia, usually when she’s eating. (Galapagos abhorred wet food until Olympia started eating it, and then suddenly wet food became the most desirable thing in the world and oh my God, she has to have it now, want, want, want!) She will also chase Olympia around the apartment, though these chases are extremely short and usually end with Olympia going right under the bed. Galapagos will sometimes chase her with one paw threateningly raised, but that’s as close as they’ve ever come to an actual fight. So I’d say they’re getting along well.

The real breakthrough is that Olympia is now allowing us to pet her without running away. She won’t let us pet her out in the open, but she’s receptive to it when she’s under the loveseat, so we have to get down on the floor to do it. But it’s totally worth it. She’s even started purring! Recently, there have been a few affectionate headbutts, too. What’s more, amazingly, Olympia loves to be brushed. Loves it! We’re hoping this, like the wet food, will rub off on Galapagos, who is currently taking an anti-brushing stance.

Olympia is also helping herself to the cat toys more. She waits until we’re not home or are asleep, and then she bats them around the living room until Galapagos tells her to be quiet because the humans are sleeping. She teaches Olympia this by chasing her under the bed, of course.

But the best thing of all? Olympia has begun to actually come out of hiding to chase the laser pointer! She will actually leave her comfort zone of being under things to chase the red dot around the apartment, right out in the open! And finally being able to see all of her like that, in action, I can finally and truly see what a beautiful cat she is, with her black coat and little white spot on her chest.

Olympia has made a fine and welcome addition to our home. Even Galapagos would grudgingly admit that, despite the fact that I don’t foresee them ever becoming snuggle buddies, just like I don’t foresee Olympia ever truly becoming a lap cat. But who knows? The future may surprise us. And if and when it does, I’ll be sure to let all you cat lovers out there know!

Originally published at Nicholas Kaufmann. You can comment here or there.