Nimbus's BFF is a Cat

Sparta is my beloved kitty of 7 years. My mother found him under a car at a gas station on a rainy night and brought him home. He was too cute and too sweet and too loving to be given away or taken to a rescue, so he became part of the family (he's named after The Mean Kitty). During my sophomore year of college, I took him as my own cat, and we've been inseparable ever since. He's the most important living being on the planet to me.

Sparta in his favorite location: my lap

Since my sophomore year, life hasn't been easy for Sparta. He's moved from Mount Holly to Cullowhee to Raleigh to Greensboro to Raleigh (without me) to Cullowhee to Sylva since August 2010. It's caused him some separation anxiety and stress concerns, as one could imagine. He's never quite sure if rearranging the house is packing for good and if bringing out the suitcase is moving or traveling. We've now lived in the same house for nearly two years, and he's developed a routine and easy lifestyle. However, I've applied to some jobs in New York - one that would require me to start by the end of this month - and I'm hoping he doesn't revert back to old habits of worrying whether I'm going to come home at night or if I've left for a long while. I also hope I can find a house where he'll be comfortable. Over the years, I've learned Sparta's requirements for a home:

1. Large windows so he can watch the birds and be aware of any other cat or dog threatening his kingdom
2. A large open space to run from one side of the house to other in either a burst of energy or while playing catch with his toys
3. At least one window that faces the sun so he can bask in the morning sunbeams (like he's doing right now)
4. A screened-in porch (I've never lived in a home with a screened-in porch, but it's a feature I've always wanted, and I know he'll love. He wants to be an outdoor cat, but he's not very street smart! He wouldn't last an hour on his own.)

Sparta watching his favorite movie "The Mousehole Cat"

Sparta has also seen a lot of pets come and go. In the Greensboro home, he lived with a chocolate Lab and a cat named Mac. He didn't mind the Lab, but he and Mac didn't get along. He went to live with my former boyfriend without me for two months. He and I were both miserable without each other. He also lived with Nutmeg the hamster and Binx the cat, who came into my life last November and left it in July. Binx and Sparta never got along, but they eventually tolerated each other enough to where it was a safe environment for both. However, it could be very stressful at times.

When Nimbus came into the picture, I wondered what Sparta's reaction would be. At first, he was quite curious, as any cat would be. But then, he didn't really show much interest in Nimbus. He's always been quite a calm cat and has never hunted for his food. Sparta's go-to meal is human food, a long and hard habit to break him out of. Right now, he's allowed five different types of human food: a small amount of tuna when I have it for lunch, a few laps of milk from my cereal (because it's not healthy for anymore than that for kitties), small pieces of steak and slices of chicken or turkey. To me, it's important for Sparta to get real meat like steak, chicken and turkey. Cats' teeth are made for meat, not the crunchy, hard kernels we give them in cat food. Neither is canned food constantly the best option either because the slick meat and gravy can become caught in their teeth causing plaque to build up and gingivitis. Before he was trained, Sparta would make off with whole chicken legs, popcorn, potato chips, anything on your plate. He was a little devil, but thankfully, his tastes never really were inclined toward moving critters.

Sparta and Nimbus

To allow Nimbus playtime, both the cats were corralled into separate bedrooms for Nimbus's safety. I was never fond of the practice, though, because it meant that the longer Nimbus played, the longer the cats had to sit in their bedrooms. Already, Sparta sat in his bedroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays while I was at school. Binx sat in his bedroom on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They still didn't get along well enough for me to trust them together alone. To come home and have to lock them up yet again for Nimbus's sake always made me cringe and feel guilty. Since Sparta was so calm, I decided to try letting them interact with one another outside of the cage.

At first, Sparta wore his harness with his leash to become accustomed to the chinchilla's robust bursts of streaking down the hallway, his bouncy steps and his close encounters by tickling Sparta's face with his long whiskers. Sparta, of course, would lunge when Nimbus scampered away from him, but it didn't take long for them to grow used to each other. His reaction was more "What on earth is that thing??" rather than "Let's cook it for dinner!" In fact, I shouldn't have been worried about Sparta hurting Nimbus. It was actually the other way around!!

Nimbus and Sparta plotting how to conquer the world!

Chinchillas can be quite fierce and nasty when they are protecting their territory. Since Nimbus had never encountered Sparta during playtime, he felt that the living room was his and no one else's. Not even mine! That first interaction was led by Nimbus, who went after Sparta, testing him with nips to the tail and bluffs by dashing up to Sparta in order to scare him. It was quite hilarious, and Sparta received the message clearly: Nimbus is the boss!

Normally, I would never recommend introducing your cat and small mammal together. Sparta certainly never had access to Nutmeg the hamster unless she was in her exercise ball. In this special case, I felt Sparta was calm and even "chicken" enough to allow tolerance to form with this little puffball of power. And, it did very well. Instead, Sparta would rather play with catnip or his toys. On occasion, Sparta will have too much energy and need to be locked up again. Not because he's trying to hurt Nimbus by biting or scratching but because he's chasing the chinchilla. Every few weeks, I'll give a glance at them together and see Sparta, paw hovering over Nimbus' head, ready to bop him between the ears! It's a hilarious little game, but one we don't allow to go any further. Sometimes, they will play a gentle game of tag. Sparta will run after Nimbus, then Nimbus will run after Sparta. It's quite entertaining.

For me, it couldn't have been more of a relief, and I've found videos of other chinchilla owners who have tried the same experiment.This first video is of two chinchillas and what appears to be a Maine Coon.

This video shows a Siamese with his chinchilla buddy. I completely agree with the statement made by the owner in the description: "PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ALWAYS SUPERVISED AND DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU ARE COMPLETELY CONFIDENT THAT YOUR CAT WILL NOT ATTACK."

If you are thinking about introducing your cat to your furry friend, I suggest taking into consideration your cat's temperament. While a chinchilla can be harmful to the cat because of its sharp teeth, the cat's behavior needs to be considered more so because of the claws, the teeth and the size. You should also begin with a controlled environment like using a harness to restrain the cat to gauge his or her reaction.

In my next post, I'll tell you what happens when a cat and chinchilla don't get along.

My perfect Sparta, who does not live up to his name!