Caturday

I hope everyone has a lovely Caturday! Ours is low-key, as usual, with me doing schoolwork and Aaron working on machinery projects. The cats are currently snoozing.

Garrus assumed his usual morning sleeping spot on the couch. I bet when he wakes up he’ll ask for a desk visit.
Mau didn’t even flicker his eyes open. He seemed perfectly content to show me his glorious tail as he snoozed.
“Mrrow?” Charlie sleepily chirped at me when I snapped this photo.

Everyone is Friend-Shaped!

I’m pretty sure that “everyone is friend-shaped” is Charlie’s motto. He thinks he can be friends with any and every cat he sees, including the neighborhood cats that sometimes stroll through our backyard. (These neighborhood cats, however, do not reciprocate Charlie’s friendly overtures through the window.) Charlie will head bunt hands, shoes, spoons, other cats, and new toys, but not pants. Why? Charlie is irrationally afraid of jeans. He’s also a bit wary about piles of laundry. (By contrast, Garrus will happily turn into a cat loaf on Aaron’s jeans.)

So not everything is friend-shaped, but you get the general idea. We love our sunny little boy, even if he has strange phobias. His bromance with Garrus and Mau is adorable, and his squeaks warm my heart.

So Proud of Our Garrusy Cat!

We were able to trim Garrus’ nails ourselves today with a towel over his face, a stress reducer to calm him, and patience! (He normally gets his nails trimmed at the vet’s office.) The stress reducer also made him more chilled out and affectionate (!) so he forgave us quickly and repeatedly asked for visits from both of us. He even started talking outside my office door when I was trying to do schoolwork, at which point I took a break and he came in for a desk visit. We were able to pick him up and have lap time with him – and he even purred in my lap! Such huge progress for our Gentleman Cat!

I may have RBF but I am secretly purring.

New Couch!

We got a new couch! My parents are moving and were generous enough to give us their luxurious leather sectional. It’s HUGE. However, the couch offers plenty of lounging space and Mau was more than ready to try it out for lap time (as you can see).

“It’s lap time!”

They spent quite a bit of time sniffing and exploring the couch, being concerned (especially Charlie), and being mildly discombobulated with the new changes and the lack of an ottoman.

“What have you done with my ottoman?”

We moved moved the cat tower from near the fireplace to the window, where the armchair used to be. Lots of change for the cats! The new position of the cat tower brought lots of interest too.

“Oh hello! Welcome to my new cat tower!”
Garrus kept giving me the snootiest looks. For him, the cat tree is the Tower of Sass.
“I found my spot! There are other spots but this one is MINE.”

Office Supurrvisors (in Training)

As you may remember, Boudicca was my designated Office Supurrvisor, as she hung out in her bed-box or sprawled on the window seat to sunbathe. That way she could be near me, close enough to receive scritches, but not be in the way.

“Being an Office Supurrvisor is not for novices.”
“I’ll lay here in case you feel like petting me. No pressure though.”

The boys haven’t quite figured out the duties of being an upstanding Office Supurrvisor yet. Garrus and Charlie, especially, have been rather persistent and increasing their frequency of desk visits, and Charlie likes to bunt my hands and paw at the cursor.

“Hi Mom! We think you should take a study break and feed us dinner at 3 PM!”
“Pardon? Were you doing schoolwork? What do you mean we’re in the way?”

The boys recognize the tone of my voice and gestures, so if I ask them to get down, they do. Thankfully, they don’t knock items off my desk either, but they have smacked me in the face with their tails a couple of times! Silly cats!

Desk Buddies

Aaron recently bought me larger monitors for my computer – highly useful for grad school – but the cats apparently think my desk is even more irresistible. Now all three regularly stop by for desk visits.

Garrus can be very persuasive when asking for desk visits. Thank goodness he is a Gentleman Cat.
Mau rarely visited my office before but recently that changed. Once he saw Garrus up there, he made himself at home!
Mau decided to ponder cat things while up on my desk.
Charlie did get up on my desk but after chasing the cursor on my screen, I asked him to get down. He gave me this face afterward.
Charlie likes to trot into my office and ask for pets around 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon. He flirts like this on the window seat to get my attention.

Sock Bin Cats

As cat owners know, cats are ninjas. Some have incredible hiding powers. (Some, however, not so much…) A couple weeks ago, Charlie would disappear and we couldn’t find him in his usual spots. We knew he was somewhere in the house but couldn’t figure out where. Then I saw something move out of the corner of my eye…the sock bin. Charlie had climbed inside Aaron’s sock basket and decided to take a snooze in it.

“Mom, can this be my spot? It’s warm, comfy, and box-like!”

“Can two fit in this spot? Let’s see!” -Mau

Mau didn’t consult Charlie if he could shoehorn into his spot but nevertheless they shared. It was a tight squeeze.

So far we haven’t seen Garrus snoozing in the sock bin but he definitely has explored the storage rack. He generally prefers the bed though – after all, where else could he have bed visits?

Cats are so weird.

Do your cats hide in unusual spots? Do they sleep in laundry bins or dresser drawers? Share in the comments!

Cat Lessons: Gratitude

We are fortunate that all three of our cats get along with each other so well. The bromance between the trio is pretty cute – it apparently involves using one another as pillows. They do play with each other frequently, though that is more difficult to photograph, and evidently share their toys. Such gentlemen cats!

What I have noticed about the trio is that they seem so content with one another’s company and apparently grateful for it. (Perhaps I’m overly anthropomorphizing…) Be as it may, being happy and grateful for one’s friendships is a worthwhile lesson to learn!

Do your cats get along? What kind of relationships do they have? Do they share or do they compete with one another? Share in the comments!

Happy New Year!

May you all have a most happy new year!

As you can see, Charlie and Mau will start 2019 with a snooze in Aaron’s sock bin.

Garrus found a perch on Aaron’s freshly folded shirt. The boys have been exploring the clothes rack lately. So much climbing!

Mostly snuzzling (snoozing + snuggling – or would that be snoozling?) though. So much zzz.

Happy New Year!

What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? Share in the comments! 

Desk Visits

Garrus has always been reserved but he has been slowly becoming more affectionate. Being on Zylkene has noticeably helped him be more relaxed, faff about less and actually eat at meal times, and regularly ask for pets. He’s not accustomed to being picked up or held much, though, so we will continue to work on that.

Lately, Garrus started jumping onto Aaron’s Mac desk in his office and recently started to do the same on my desk more often as well. At first, he was more interested in sniffing the monitors and investigating everything on the desk. When he turned his attention to either Aaron or me, he seemed like he didn’t know what to do. (Charlie and Mau, by contrast, know exactly how to ask for pets and can be most persuasive about it.) We talk to him and offer him scritches, and if he is in the way (e.g. standing in front of the monitor we are working on), we can ask him to move and he does. He doesn’t knock items off the desk either.

“Excuse me, I would like attention please.”

“Pardon me, madam. Would you please take a break from reading your library book to give me scritches? I would most appreciate it.” After giving me this look, he softly bunted my chin and he received a smooch on his head in return. [please excuse the messy desk]

Often, when Garrus comes over for desk visits, Charlie trots into my office squeaking and flops onto the window seat for his own visit. Then I have to ensure both kitties get enough attention! It’s a demanding job to be sure.

Look at this purr monster!

I believe that Charlie is a happy little boy. I mean, look at that face!

Do your cats demand desk visits? Do they demand visits in other locales in your home? Do they get obnoxious about it or are they polite? Please share in the comments!