Ok, so Ninja and Sweep are the best of friends again. They give each other headbutts, no more fighting... Nothing. Despite, you know... Sweep being an unneutered male (I have to beat the boys around the head - I just don't bleeding get how difficult they're making it to put a smegging catflap in!).
So yesterday I went to the catlady who lives two doors down to ask her about Sweep, because I knew she'd know about him (not least because her neighbour told me he sleeps in her shed).
Well, Sweep sleeps in her shed. And whenever he does, when she comes out in the morning Ninja is sleeping in there with him
Apparently he hasn't been doing it lately, so I informed her that we are taking him in and that he's been sleeping in my house lots. She told me he
does belong to someone round the corner, but they don't let him in and they don't feed him, so I'm not going to bother
Meaniepantses. Well, that and they didn't get him neutered... How awful can you be?
I mostly wanted to make sure she didn't get worried when she didn't see him for a while, as she's a very caring lady and I don't want her to get concerned about Sweep when he's sorted out and finally has a home.
And funnily enough... There's another all-black cat in the neighbourhood, and she has named that one
Sooty 
We had a good laugh when I told her we'd named Sweep, Sweep
Apparently he's been sleeping in her shed for a long time, she'd named him Baby but thought he was a girl, so no issue there. Apparently also the tortie-and-white who came in with them and ate here at least once has been named Tiddles, but the reason she looks so well cared-for is because she lives with J (that's the lady) where necessary or possible. J also has another tortie-and-white named Ginger who doesn't like Tiddles, but she takes Tiddles to the vet's and everything and has no issues with her, so I'll happily consider Tiddles "owned" and am pleased I clearly don't need to worry about her
She expressed surprise at how sweet Ninja is with the other cats, and I told her I
cannot figure out how he's getting along so well with an unaltered tom... But I guess stranger things have happened, and right now at least it means we can give another homeless little guy a happy home.
He's still trying to figure out how to break into the ratcage, by the way. Every day, several times a day, he comes into the lounge (he's not at all afraid of my son, which is also good
), trundles across to the cage and approaches it from a slightly different position to see if that works better. He also spends a fair amount of time on the window sill in the bay window where he and Ninja like to hide, but he's notably less skittish. I'm still trying to get a picture of him when he sits back on his haunches and waves his front paws at the rats
It's adorable and funny.
Ninja is slowly coming out of this particular "I don't want to be around humans" funk, which is always a great comfort. I think that when we start keeping Sweep in for a while, he'll also stay in a lot more as he appreciates Sweep's company. And it's nice to know he's been out lots because of his friends rather than because of something we did!
So, there you go. Oh, and my pet supply shop has ordered some dry shampoo for me that they'll have on Tuesday, so I can pick that up and be prepared to give Sweep a good cleaning once he's been into the vet's for a checkup and to have his present condition documented.
