Following these instructions from the shelter, we’re switching who’s in the spare room for brief periods, so that the cats get used to the smell of the other cat in the area. I dunno if it’ll work, but it sounds like a good idea–once we let Ben and Athena out at the same time, it’d probably be best if Ben’s only worried about Athena and not about his surroundings.

That’s the theory, anyway–in practice Ben seems completely unworried about anything.

Ben went through the house the first time and cased the joint like a professional burglar.

The second time, as I sat working on Digger, a Very Large Beast suddenly appeared on my desktop. He examined the surroundings, walked over, stepped onto my lap, draped both paws over my shoulder and head butted my cheek, kneaded my shoulder once or twice, then got back on the desk, examined my stamps and CDs, got down, and went off to investigate the washing machine.

I’m guessing this is what the shelter meant by Ben liking to hug people. It was very cute, if a bit startling at first. Ben is big. When he jumps down, it’s a thud like furniture hitting the ground.

I wonder what he weighs.