So we got home with our cargo (Olive) and went into the house. Hazel was waiting for us at the door like usual (she’s a bit like a dog that way) and she seemed to know that something was up.

We set down the carrier, opened it up, and out popped Olive! Hazel immediately got down low, hissed and ran for her life with Olive hot on her heels.

It took days for Hazel to warm up to Olive. She tried several hiding places throughout the house, none of them working at all. The final hiding place was on top of the refrigerator, which still didn’t work - Olive just climbed up with her.

After a few days, things seemed to get better. The first marked improvement I saw was the two cats sitting on the same couch. Not directly next to each other, but on the same couch nonetheless. And things continued to get better.

The cats obviously still have their disagreements. Olive will always have that mischievous side to her that Hazel doesn’t have much tolerance for, but in the end, they have each other while Meg and I work all day. And that’s mostly a good thing.