So I'm staying with Tanner this week while my parents are out of town. Kate is also out of town. Last year, when this same situation happened, I had to run back and forth between the dog and the cat, and the cat hated sleeping alone, so this year I brought the cat over to meet Tanner so I could take care of both of them. This has had mixed results.

The first time I introduced them, Tanner wagged his tail excitedly, and Hypatia immediately hissed at him and ran away to hide behind the sofa. Eventually I made Tanner go away so she could explore. She went upstairs and hid under my parents' bed. Tanner came and found her there, and he made motions like he wanted to play, but she puffed up (like this) and hissed again. She didn't calm down for the rest of the visit. Still, Tanner didn't eat her, which is what I had been most afraid of.

The second time I brought her over, which was the night before my parents left, I let her out of the carrier and she ran away and hid in the best hiding spot ever. Literally--we couldn't find her for three hours. We looked under beds, behind couches, under armchairs, behind the Christmas tree, in the Christmas tree, in closets, in the bathtub, etc., etc. She was nowhere. I even opened up some canned food, which is her favorite ever, to see if she would hear the noise and come out, but she didn't. I was getting kind of panicky, imagining that she had gotten outside somehow, and visions of a freezing-to-death kitty were haunting my brain.

Finally my mom had the idea of using the flashlight to look around, and she looked in the radiator and saw two yellow eyes staring at her. Hypatia was found! I was extremely relieved. My parents have these old-fashioned cast-iron radiators, and there's one of them under the window-seat in the front room. There's a little space behind the radiator, and since it's covered on top by the window-seat it makes an excellent hiding place. According to my mom, it's also where my hamster used to hide when I was a kid and she got out of her cage.

I enticed the kitteh out of hiding with wet food--she must have been very hungry, because I hadn't refilled her food bowl that day since I knew I'd be taking her to my parents'. She was covered in dust, so she looked more like a black/gray kitty than a black/white kitty. As soon as she was far enough out, I grabbed her and took her upstairs to the room I had prepared for her, with a litter box and food and water. I closed the door so she would feel safe. She hid under the bed for a while, but eventually came out and sniffed around and ate a little more food.

I kept the door closed that night, and the next day I put a baby-gate on the door so the dog couldn't get in, but she could get out if she wanted to explore. (Tanner probably could jump over the baby gate, but he doesn't because he's afraid of it falling on him. Scaredy dog.) She stayed mostly in the room for the next couple of days. She cautiously explored outside it, but if the dog got too close she'd run back in her room. She also FINALLY used the litter box, which I was getting worried about because she hadn't used it in almost 24 hours. Teh Intarwebs say cats can stop peeing if they're stressed out, though.

This morning I woke up to find that the cat wasn't in her/my room! She had gotten brave enough during the night to venture out onto the stairs, and she was looking over the downstairs foyer, while the dog was asleep on the couch in the TV room. I was so happy that she wasn't terrified of him anymore. She's still kind of alarmed by his huge (to her) size and jumpy movements, but she isn't frozen with fear anymore if she's walking around the house by herself.

When I left for work, Tanner was following her and nosing at her, and she was mewing with alarm, but I was about to be late so I had to close the door even as she followed me to it, possibly seeking rescue. I know Miss Hypatia can take care of herself, but I was still worried about how they'd get along. I spent my time at work imagining bloody animal parts strewn around the house. (My cat is kind of like my kid that way, in that I spend a lot of time imagining horrible things that could happen to her.) But of course when I got home they were fine, hanging out in completely separate parts of the house.

Now I'm sitting on the couch with my computer and Tanner actually came and lay down beside me while the cat was on my other side, and Hypatia didn't run away. Same room! Not killing each other! Woo!

They have a couple more days to hang out and then Kate gets home on Saturday, so I can move the kitty back home. I'm sure she'll be glad to be back with Kate and her own house, but I'm glad she doesn't seem to totally hate it here.