Scruffy is Shadow's puppy

I've noticed this since about the second day after they moved in with me, though exactly how to describe it has eluded me until now. Shadow, of course, goes where she pleases, with rare interference by me. Scruffy spends much of his time following her around like a puppy, including going up to the window sill, to the food bowl, and to the litter boxes, which sit together in my tiny bathroom. It is this last behavior that I find most humorous.

I am led to wonder, though, if he was separated from his mother too early, and Shadow is a sort of surrogate.

I am also continually impressed with his resilience. Last night both cats were still scratching at their ears, so I gave them the mineral-oil Rx again. Shadow for the most part accepts this intrusion, though I don't think she's particularly thrilled about it. Scruffy has to be caught, which is always traumatic for both of us.

The chase is always centered around the bed. Typically under-the-bed is his favorite hiding spot - it is also the hiding spot that it is most easy to catch him at, as I can remove all of the boxes and other hiding places, then fold up the bed (a futon) and grab him on the third or forth attempt. So, if he doesn't start out under the bed, I chase him until he's there, then close off the bathroom and gate off the steps, then remove all of the extra hiding places.

The first two or three times we went through this, he inflicted some significant scratches on me, but I've since learned to wear socks, long sleeves, and leather work gloves. When possible I also use a towel, but I haven't yet figured out how to catch him with the towel, and so have to transfer him to it, wrapping his limbs and claws to his body but leaving his head sticking out, like a little kitty burrito.

I do worry about hurting him.

This time I caught him, and wrapped him up, and it occurred to me that if I gave him some tuna before letting him go, then he might associate the tuna with me, in addition to the chase, capture, and treatment. Unfortunately, I didn't think of this until I had him caught and wrapped up, and so hadn't prepared the tuna.

This wasn't helped by the fact that I have a manual can opener, rather than an electric one.

So once I had treated his ears, I had to carry him over the gate, down the steps and into the kitchen; find a can of tuna and the can opener; open the can (that was the most interesting part - if only I had a prehensile tail) and dump it out onto the only clean plate I could find, which involved attacking it with a fork to pry it out of the can. I then offered him some tuna with a fork, but he would have none of it.

Earlier he had showed real interest in a previous can, half of which I put on a plate and placed for the cats. Shadow immediately dug in, and I sat quietly petting her as she ate, hoping that this would serve as an example for Scruffy, and he clearly wanted the tuna, as he approached the plate several times. Each time he came to the plate I reached out (slowly and calmly) to pet him, and each time he then retreated. Eventually he just sat a foot from the plate and watched his sister eat all of the fish. He didn't get any tuna, and I didn't get to pet him.

So I was surprised that he refused the tuna now. I guess he was too scared or traumatized. When I let him go he disappeared under the bookcase (his other main hiding spot), so I placed the tuna plate out for him there, but although he came out after a few minutes and sniffed at it, he didn't eat any. Once again, it all went to Shadow.

He's looking scruffy again, too, since I haven't been able to brush him since a few days ago, when I was came upon him and his sister sitting quietly on my desk chair, and was able to pet and brush him for a few minutes. He seems to like being petted, but his fear is a more powerful motivator.