Jackson Tiger Pepe LePew Drummer Boy, Part Two

Sunday, November 18, 2012

My iPhone rang with whatever ring-tone I had at that moment.

"Hey, this is Anthony, my wife couldn't bear to make the trip so I'm here in your driveway with Pepe and his things."

"OK, be right out."  He was early, I liked that.  I always like people who are early.

A white Audi SUV was in the driveway, and standing in front of it was Anthony, beaming as I approached.

"Hey buddy, how YOU doing?"  Yes he sounded like Joey from Friends.  They were from Staten Island, after all.  No offense to anyone from Staten Island.

I shook his hand and smiled back.

"Here he is.  He had a tranquilizer shot from the vet before I made the trip just in case the long car ride would freak him out, so he may be a bit out of it" Anthony explained.  Wait, they drugged my new cat? A bit drastic wouldn't you think? Oh well, some cats get very nervous in the car, and Tiger used to make that kazoo meow sound, so who was I to judge.

"HAHA, OK" I said as Anthony handed me a soft cat carrier which I quickly brought inside.

As before with his predecessor, I put the carrier down quickly in front of the old man, who was waiting in the middle of the living room to greet his new friend.

"Tyler, this is Jackson. Don't expect much, they drugged him."

Tyler sniffed the new carrier, circled it once, and that was it, he was off to the kitchen to munch on some dry food.  Like an old pro, Tyler was used to this by now.  He's 13, nothing impressed him anymore.

I brought the carrier to the same bedroom I released Tiger in over 4 years before and opened the zipper.

"Holy shit, he's HUGE" was my first reaction.

"I know, right?" Anthony laughed right behind me.  "We weighed him this week, he's actually eighteen pounds."

This was one BIG cat.  They weren't kidding. Everything about him was huge, his head, his ears, his feet.  Tiger at his heaviest was seventeen pounds and he did not look as huge as this cat.

Jackson was very out of it, meowing gently, really not aware of where he was and showing no fear of any kind.  He barely looked at me and yawned.  I left him in the carrier with the zipper open and helped Anthony bring in the rest of Jackson's things.

This cat did not pack light.  A huge cat tree, with scratching post and 3 levels, was placed next to my wall unit in the living room and quickly commandeered by Tyler. As if there was any doubt of that?  Anthony brought in plenty of food, two large beds, toys, the works.  They even gave me a litter box cabinet.  I didn't really have room for it, but I always wanted one of those.  You hide the litter box and there's an entrance on the side.  Very cool.

As soon as his SUV was emptied of cat contents, Anthony shook my hand, wished me luck and he was off.  In fact he seemed to rush off.  Clearly he wasn't a cat person, he was nice enough but he didn't seem to want to say goodbye to his cat.  Oh well, whatever, he was my cat now and I was appreciative that he made the trip all the way out to Glen Cove to deliver my new boy.

Jackson was home!

Expecting, or hoping, for a similar experience that I had with Tiger when I brought him home, I went back to the bedroom, again keeping a somewhat curious Tyler at bay in the hallway.

"Hi Jackson, I'm Dan, your new...."

The carrier was empty. 

I peeked under the bed, and there he was.  A large pair of headlights staring back at me.

"HISS.  HISS!"

Jackson had dragged a cat bed as far under my queen size bed as possible, making what was in effect a cat fort where the head of the bed met the wall.  He was sitting in his bed staring back at me, hissing his large head off repeatedly.

This was one PISSED OFF cat.

"OK big guy, I'll leave you alone.  There's a litter box and food out here if you're hungry."

Later that night, Jackson made his presence known.

Jackson has a way of meowing almost in English.  You have to hear it firsthand to really get what I'm saying, but he doesn't meow.  He speaks English with a feline accent.

"Hello?" "HELLO?????" I kept hearing in my sleep.

Was I dreaming?  What the heck was that noise?  It sounded like a demented Ewok for fuck sake.

No Ewok, it was Jackson.

My new large white and tabby cat had emerged from under the bed and was now sitting by my bedroom door and demanding at the top of his lungs to be let out.

"Jackson, come here, it's OK big guy" I tried to reassure him.  It did nothing.  This cat wanted out of the bedroom in the worst way.

"C'mon Jackson, let's get to know each other.  I can't let you out until I introduce you to Tyler the right way.  I have to make sure you two get along, you're twice his god damn size."  He really was.  I was actually worried for the old man not being able to handle what was in fact a small lion.  Yes, Tyler was still Tyler, but he was past 13 by that point and slowing down significantly.

"HELLO?" "HELLO!!!!!!!" "HELLLLOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

That was all I heard for the next several hours.  This large cat wanted nothing to do with me, every time I slowly tried to approach him he would back off, hiss, and run under the bed.  As soon as I tried to go to sleep, Jackson was back at the door, the one cat chorus.
"Fine, you want out, I guess we are introducing you two now" I finally exclaimed, giving up my fight.

I opened the door, and out ran Jackson, right past Tyler, into the darkness of the living room.  Thankfully Tyler, as if on cue, waltzed into the bedroom, so I closed the door and got back into bed, leaving Jackson to explore on his own.

"What the hell did we get ourselves into old man?" I asked Tyler as he sat down next to me, purred and placed a paw on my right hand.

I woke up 90 minutes later and found Jackson all the way on top of the living room wall unit, perched behind one of my speakers and staring back at me with a look that would give grumpy cat a double take. He somehow managed to get on top of the tree and use it to get to the highest point in the living room.

I decided to ignore him and have my breakfast and get ready for work.  Minutes later Jackson ran back into the bedroom with a loud THUMP.  Still not knowing how he would react to Tyler, I kept him confined to the bedroom for the day.  Jackson did not seem to mind, having found the same spot on the window behind my bedroom headboard that Tiger and Tyler loved to watch the world from.

Looking into the eyes of my new cat as I grabbed my shoes to leave,  Ashley's words finally sunk in. 

"Alright, Jackson.  Take your time, I know this was a major change for you.  I can't imagine how stressful this must be. I won't crowd you, take all the time you need and I know you and I will become friends.  I'll leave you alone here today, see you when I get home from work."

He looked at me as if to say.....thanks.