I woke up very early this morning with pain in my knee again. Nothing new there - but I reached over and Princess was in Queenie's place next to my ear. Fluffy was on the other side of my head. Beasley was at my hip near Princess, and Queenie was near my feet there. Bugs was on the other side of my feet.
This was not a first, but pretty close! All five on the bed when I woke up.
The cats have been working really hard to make their personalities come out, lately.
Bugs is no longer just "cute" but cute with a purpose. She has an agenda. She wants to be noticed and cuddled. I changed the sheets on the bed & she had a total fit! She couldn't play with me while I made the bed - by the time I was making the bed she was long gone. She just didn't like me stripping the sheets! She growled & moaned. You could see it on her face. Afterwards, when I cuddled her & put her on the bed, the purrs were much louder than usual.
Queenie is not just Beasley's favorite and a velcro kitty, but a little girl who wants to be loved and appreciated. She is still a little afraid if I move too fast, but she's getting better. She doesn't care for the "pudgy cheek" scratch, but she puts up with it because she gets to lay on my lap as long as she wants to if she lets me give her a little of that.
The biggest change has been Princess. She is "pawing" my arm in the morning when I get on the computer. She is taking over the chair next to the computer (it has the cats' pillows on it) and so she is just below eye level. She is very proactive about cuddles in bed, but now she isn't waiting for bedtime. And when I go into the bedroom in the evenings, she no longer looks at me with that wild-eyed stare. Boy! Three solid years of this & she's finally getting it that I love her and want nothing but the best for her. I go and sit next to her and snuggle on her a little bit. Then, she gives me that "why'd you stop" look, instead of getting up and going into her hidey hole box.
Fluffy is a total snuggle bug. She waits till I put up the footrest on the chair and then jumps up. She wants to lay in a special spot where she can straddle the arm and my knee at the same time. Yes, my sore knee. She seems to understand my pain. Her fur is all matted again, but it's like she just refuses to let me trim them off or brush them out. I might be able to get 3 strokes with the brush, or isolate a mat with my fingers and grab the scissors - then she's off! If I just let her be, she sleeps like she hasn't had any sleep in days. I actually caught her stealing food this morning. She finished her bowl & went over to Beasley's bowl & picked the food up & dropped it on the floor. I stopped her & put his food back in his bowl, but she didn't like that so she left the kitchen. When I walk into the bathroom, she has to meet me at the door & go into submission pose. Head down & turned almost upside down, hiney up & leaning on the doorframe. She's asking for a cuddle, of course! A quick scratch & stroke & she's happy. She doesn't come closer or follow me in, but stays there looking longingly at me like she wants more cuddles. What a card!
Beasley has been pouting a little bit. He wants to play so badly! If I could cull him out long enough and keep his attention long enough, I think he would benefit greatly. He's been hopping up on my lap when I'm on the computer & otherwise ignoring me. He comes for cuddles a little bit, and puts his whiskers forward when he talks to me, but I can tell he's not getting understood. I can see his frustration. I understand, but there isn't anything I can do to help. He needs to ignore the girls long enough to get some quality play time. I guess I'll just keep trying. Meanwhile, he head-butts me when he comes for cuddles, so I know he still believes in me.
Yeah, the holidays & all the time I've been able to spend with the cats has really helped. They are better for it. Maybe Beasley is missing special time with mom, but he's happy the girls are with us, too. He loves them. He and Fluffy have a deal. He sleeps on one side of the chair, she gets the other side. They protect each other against the girls - Bugs and Queenie. If either of the girls come up, they get chased off - with a look, nothing else.
I look forward to more love from all of them. We are looking for a larger abode. My business activities are growing and our space together is more squeezed. I guess it's time to move on a bit. I look forward to a dishwasher, and a washer and dryer. I look forward to being able to walk through a room and not have it do double or triple duty.
Well, Happy New Year! Hope you get all the things you want. I hope you have prosperity and health. And may there be peace on earth - if only for a little while. It's been too long since there was peace.
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Fluffy and Bugs
Fluffy and Bugs have changed.
Fluffy has achieved "Fur Person" status and Bugs is working on it.
What is a Fur Person? Read the book and find out. The book is amazing. It helped me to refine my articulation of my attitude about cats. Basically, it's the story of an adopted stray male cat who gets neutered & loved by little-old-ladies. Told from the cat's point of view, no less! The book is available here:
The Fur Person
Anyway, the book is amazing & I hope you read it whether you buy it or not.
Fluffy achieved the "Fur Person" status by her continued expressiveness, her hugging my legs or belly, and basically just being herself. She's a total mess, you know! Her fur just won't stay unmatted, no matter what I do. I comb and brush all the time. I have to cut mats about once a week. She loves to lay by my knees and will come up to check what I'm doing about twice an evening. She comes over to my chair while I'm on the computer, and she herds me into the kitchen.
She asks for food all the time! I think she may be diabetic, so I feed her on a schedule, and I'm trying to reduce her weight. When she came out of that cage, she weighed about 14 pounds. She's down to 11, so that part is working.
When it's bedtime, she will walk into the bedroom and sit on the headboard, looking cute, rubbing her cheeks on the top of the headboard with her hind end up in the air. She's begging for snuggles... She gets them, of course.
So, that's miss Fluffy.
Now for Missy Bugsy Bear.
Bugs really changed after she got spayed. She turned into this loving kitty who just won't quit. She'd been in heat for over 4 months by the time I could get her in. The shortage of vets and the cost of having a cat spayed while in heat conspired to keep her (and the rest of us!) in misery. That all changed in one afternoon.
She became this loving kitty who is passionate about whatever she is doing. She is all play or all loving. She prefers play, but loving is right up there. Put a feather wand in her vicinity and she won't quit until you finally put it away - 2 or 3 hours later! She is a demon!
For loving, she is about the same. She tires of loves after about an hour, but she'll come right back in a few minutes. It's like she needs to patrol and see what the others are up to and then decides it's time to come back to you. She jumps on the top of my chair and washes my hair. She still has trouble with her claws, but she IS learning.
When she came, she was the first to get shots. I didn't have a good hold on her and she attacked out of fear. She got my face pretty bad. Yep, my face! She almost got my left eye, and I had to take antibiotics to clear the infection. I think she knew that it was bad, because she always steered clear and ducked whenever I stretched out a hand to her. I still see that reaction, but most of the time it's putting ears back for a scratch on the head!
Anyway, she reached out a few days ago and raked my hand. She doesn't understand that she can grab without using her claws. I tell her and tell her when it hurts. I gently squeeze her paw and tell her no. She seems to get it. She is much better now (after 16 months) than when she came. It's just that she gets excited and all the training goes out the window.
Bugs' favorite game it to help make the bed. I put the pillows up and fluff them. She comes running. I pull up the sheet and blanket on one side, she's meowing. I pull up the coverlet, and she comes up on the bed. I then go around to the other side of the bed and do the same thing. She is now waiting for the "cover" which is a sheet to keep the cat hair from obliterating my breathing during the night. It's just a sheet I use over the rest of the bedding. Anyway, that comes up and OVER Miss Bugs. She's started to purr, now. I go to the other side and pull it up - then I lift it and she comes running, purring all the while. She hops out and onto the sheet, and I finish up. She's so cute! She does this every morning. After I've got the sheet up, I have a half-quilt I use for the foot of the bed. It's for the cats to sleep on and it collects cat hair. I pull this up, sometimes over her, sometimes she jumps onto it. She likes that, too. I tell her how cute she is, give her a scratch and a cuddle & I'm off to the shower.
She loves this morning game.
So, how did she become an almost fur-person? I was sitting on my chair watching TV with my legs crossed on the chair (not hanging down, more like lotus position, but I'm not that limber). She jumped up and stood on that narrow strip between my feet and the edge of the seat. She didn't come up to me or climb onto the back of the chair like normal. Instead, she leaned into me and rubbed her chin on my toe. She watched the other cats playing all this time, and just stood there for about 20 minutes. I reached and scratched a bit, and rubbed her back, and she responded, but didn't move. Finally, she jumped down, checked the others out and then got up on the back of my chair. She was just being my baby, I guess.
I could understand her wish to be involved in the other cat's games, but at the same time she was seeking my approval. Like I said, her first love is play, and the second love is cuddles.
Poor little Bugs is still at the bottom of the pecking order. She gets it from all sides. I ignore her quite a bit, the other cats pick on her a bit and she just wants love. She really needs a home full of love where she can be only cat, but for now, she's our Bugsy. We love her and would miss her terribly if she ever left us.
Well, that's my post for today. I've been remiss in posting. I guess I got involved in other things.
Fluffy has achieved "Fur Person" status and Bugs is working on it.
What is a Fur Person? Read the book and find out. The book is amazing. It helped me to refine my articulation of my attitude about cats. Basically, it's the story of an adopted stray male cat who gets neutered & loved by little-old-ladies. Told from the cat's point of view, no less! The book is available here:
The Fur Person
Anyway, the book is amazing & I hope you read it whether you buy it or not.
Fluffy achieved the "Fur Person" status by her continued expressiveness, her hugging my legs or belly, and basically just being herself. She's a total mess, you know! Her fur just won't stay unmatted, no matter what I do. I comb and brush all the time. I have to cut mats about once a week. She loves to lay by my knees and will come up to check what I'm doing about twice an evening. She comes over to my chair while I'm on the computer, and she herds me into the kitchen.
She asks for food all the time! I think she may be diabetic, so I feed her on a schedule, and I'm trying to reduce her weight. When she came out of that cage, she weighed about 14 pounds. She's down to 11, so that part is working.
When it's bedtime, she will walk into the bedroom and sit on the headboard, looking cute, rubbing her cheeks on the top of the headboard with her hind end up in the air. She's begging for snuggles... She gets them, of course.
So, that's miss Fluffy.
Now for Missy Bugsy Bear.
Bugs really changed after she got spayed. She turned into this loving kitty who just won't quit. She'd been in heat for over 4 months by the time I could get her in. The shortage of vets and the cost of having a cat spayed while in heat conspired to keep her (and the rest of us!) in misery. That all changed in one afternoon.
She became this loving kitty who is passionate about whatever she is doing. She is all play or all loving. She prefers play, but loving is right up there. Put a feather wand in her vicinity and she won't quit until you finally put it away - 2 or 3 hours later! She is a demon!
For loving, she is about the same. She tires of loves after about an hour, but she'll come right back in a few minutes. It's like she needs to patrol and see what the others are up to and then decides it's time to come back to you. She jumps on the top of my chair and washes my hair. She still has trouble with her claws, but she IS learning.
When she came, she was the first to get shots. I didn't have a good hold on her and she attacked out of fear. She got my face pretty bad. Yep, my face! She almost got my left eye, and I had to take antibiotics to clear the infection. I think she knew that it was bad, because she always steered clear and ducked whenever I stretched out a hand to her. I still see that reaction, but most of the time it's putting ears back for a scratch on the head!
Anyway, she reached out a few days ago and raked my hand. She doesn't understand that she can grab without using her claws. I tell her and tell her when it hurts. I gently squeeze her paw and tell her no. She seems to get it. She is much better now (after 16 months) than when she came. It's just that she gets excited and all the training goes out the window.
Bugs' favorite game it to help make the bed. I put the pillows up and fluff them. She comes running. I pull up the sheet and blanket on one side, she's meowing. I pull up the coverlet, and she comes up on the bed. I then go around to the other side of the bed and do the same thing. She is now waiting for the "cover" which is a sheet to keep the cat hair from obliterating my breathing during the night. It's just a sheet I use over the rest of the bedding. Anyway, that comes up and OVER Miss Bugs. She's started to purr, now. I go to the other side and pull it up - then I lift it and she comes running, purring all the while. She hops out and onto the sheet, and I finish up. She's so cute! She does this every morning. After I've got the sheet up, I have a half-quilt I use for the foot of the bed. It's for the cats to sleep on and it collects cat hair. I pull this up, sometimes over her, sometimes she jumps onto it. She likes that, too. I tell her how cute she is, give her a scratch and a cuddle & I'm off to the shower.
She loves this morning game.
So, how did she become an almost fur-person? I was sitting on my chair watching TV with my legs crossed on the chair (not hanging down, more like lotus position, but I'm not that limber). She jumped up and stood on that narrow strip between my feet and the edge of the seat. She didn't come up to me or climb onto the back of the chair like normal. Instead, she leaned into me and rubbed her chin on my toe. She watched the other cats playing all this time, and just stood there for about 20 minutes. I reached and scratched a bit, and rubbed her back, and she responded, but didn't move. Finally, she jumped down, checked the others out and then got up on the back of my chair. She was just being my baby, I guess.
I could understand her wish to be involved in the other cat's games, but at the same time she was seeking my approval. Like I said, her first love is play, and the second love is cuddles.
Poor little Bugs is still at the bottom of the pecking order. She gets it from all sides. I ignore her quite a bit, the other cats pick on her a bit and she just wants love. She really needs a home full of love where she can be only cat, but for now, she's our Bugsy. We love her and would miss her terribly if she ever left us.
Well, that's my post for today. I've been remiss in posting. I guess I got involved in other things.
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