Zeno and Sino

It's been interesting to watch my two cats of differing ages try to live in the same apartment. The whole scene is almost the opposite of what happened ten years ago when I brought Duforth home. She was already past the kitten age, and was used to having her own life, a rhinestone studded collar, and her own very private litterbox. Next thing she knew she was living with a flashlight beam-chasing, food-hogging, active litterbox user who was pretty happy being the only one of his species in his world. They clashed straightaway. Then they slowly learned to get along, in their own cautious way. He even seemed to miss her after she was gone.

Now Zenobia, though resembling Duforth, is the flying puffball at home. They have separate litterboxes but are not afraid of exploring. Sino must be cut off from the kitten dry food because his stomach is so sensitive now. Zeno, however, is not afraid of sampling his delicacies. His only revenge is to drink her water, which doesn't seem to faze her at all. He sees her bat things around and run back and forth all day but doesn't join in. Instead, he watches in a hunched stance, like a feline Walter Matthau.

Occasionally he takes a swipe at her, but she usually runs away. Someday she may fight back, the way Duforth did, causing him to squint and cringe whenever he saw her. Till then, she seems to be the cautious one, trying not to get in his path. Why can't everyone just get along?