March 29, 2007
Adventures in Cats
Written by Jenna Petersen in Jaunty PostWe are cat people. It didn’t start out that way. As a young man, El Guapo didn’t really care for cats, I don’t think and in my family our dogs always outnumbered our cats (and sometimes our people. Yeah, that’s how we rolled). There is something about floppy ears and a sweet little blinking “I love you” stare that makes dogs really lovely.
But then we grew up and got married and decided that while we weren’t jonesing for a kid, we were yearning for furry companionship. But we were in an apartment and I knew I’d be the one walking a dog, so we decided we’d get a kitty. And then one kitty turned to two. And then Kitty #1 when to the litterbox in the sky and then we got another kitty, so we were back to two again.
Harley is almost six now. Quinn will be five in the Fall. And after this long a time with them, I am beginning to have questions:
1. How do they go boneless? Seriously, they get floppy like mops! What is that about? And how do you figure out you have the boneless capability? I’ve tried it and I don’t have it!
2. Why do they lay in weird places? They have a bed. They have our bed. And yet, I continually find the cats in situations like these:
Harley on top of the cabinet in the kitchen.
Harley in the cubby of my old desk.
Quinn in the sink in the guest bathroom.
3. Why do they love and fear nature at the same time? Harley wants to go outside. It’s a bad thing. She is an inside cat. Quinn wants to catch birds. She will jump at the window to try to get to them. But if they actually make it outside? FREAK OUT.
4. Why won’t they wear costumes?
Okay, maybe you can force them to wear costumes. For a minute. Before they rip your face off.
So do your pets do anything… weird?
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Shana Says:
Cute pictures!
I have had cats like yours in the past–cats who lay in weird places and go boneless. But my cats now are a bit high strung, even rigid. Suki goes wherever I go. She sits next to me in her chair (a big, black desk chair) while I work in my office. If I go into the living room or bedroom, she comes too. I swear she’s a dog. Both my cats come when called. Roxie sleeps on the bed all day (all night, too). I see her periodically when she cuts through the office on the way to her food bowl.
Clarisse Says:
We had a dog who on two occasions managed to ring the front doorbell when she wanted to come in. We were not able to teach her to do it on a regular basis (which would have been very convenient) but it was nifty the first two times we went to the door and there she was sitting with a big doggy smile.
ladydawgfan Says:
We have always had cats and are currently owned by two, Pebbles and Bam Bam. Pebbles is the “Costello” to Bam Bam’s “Abbott” in the silliness department. In fact, of all of the cats that we have had over the years, Pebbles is the flat out GOOFIEST!!
Her favorite position to lay in is upside down, on her back anywhere in the house. I have photos of her posted on her Catster page (look under “Pebbles” and “South Burlington”) if you want to get an idea of this.
RobynDeHart Says:
We have one boneless cat and one stiff one. Baxter was mine before we got married and really wanted to be an only child, he’s still annoyed that Sydney joined the family even though now she’s been apart of us for almost as long as she wasn’t. He’s just a big baby, but he will go boneless with me and he likes to sit with me on my chaise while I write, but he will often push at me to move over and if I get up, he moves into my spot. He also has a tendency to huff at us if he doesn’t get his way. Syd is our litte street kitty. She was literally rescued from a parking lot and she’s a scrappy one. She’s pretty small and still hunts for food bits all over the house - I can’t train her not to get on the counters. She’ll sit in your lap, but she HATES to be held. She’s very sweet, but everything must be on her terms. On occasion she’ll sleep on the bed with us, but very rarely. If Bax is on the bed, he’s on my pillows taking up all the space - that’s what happens with an almost 18lb cat. He’s a beast! I’ve always been a cat person, never have been into dogs. I like other people’s, but I don’t know that I would want one of my own.
Margo Maguire Says:
Lou (the roof cat from one of my previous posts) likes to be in the bathroom while I take my shower. And then he likes to bite my wet toes. Not hard - just little nips - but I’ve learned to slide my slippers on really quick when I get out of the shower!
Shana Says:
Oh! Suki likes to drink out of the faucet in my bathroom sink. She sits in there and meows until I come in and turn on the water. Then she sticks her paw under the water and licks the water off her paw.
Anyone else have a cat who does that?
RobynDeHart Says:
Well, Shane, Syd did this for a while until we bought one of those fountain water dispensers. We probably wouldn’t have minded so much, but it was like the only way she would drink water. The new water fountain solved that problem.
Lois Says:
Oh, my cat’s the weirdest. . . all she does is sleep and eat.
Ah, okay, not that weird. LOL
Off hand I can’t think of anything that she might have done that’s just so strange, but even she once in a while moves around and does something.
Lois
Jenna Petersen Says:
Oh yeah, Quinn drinks out of the faucet, too. Not regularly, but sometimes she gets it into her head that she needs to drink from the sink. Weird.
smile0303 Says:
I wonder if the drinking out of the faucet is them getting back to their roots of drinking from water dripping down from rocks and other things in the wild…just a thought from a non-cat owner.
Shana Says:
Robyn, I got my cats one of those water fountains, and they were scared of it! I had to return it and get my money back.
catslady Says:
Where to begin since I have 5 and one on loan from my daughter but I may just get to keep (got totally attached). She’s only 3 and likes to follow me around. She likes high places and stands on the top of doors. My oldest cat will now only drink water from my front bathroom faucet and another one will only drink it from the back bathroom. go figure.
AndreaW Says:
Well, I don’t have pets, but I wanted to chime in and tell everyone how much I enjoyed reading your pet stories!
Love the pics, Jenna!
Jenna Petersen Says:
Thanks Andrea! I just put a really cute one up of Quinn at http://www.jennapetersen.com, too for the April website update.
Rainy Says:
I think cats nestle in strange places, just because they can.
One of my favorite cats, Emily–now departed (I’d like to think of her sitting on some angel’s lap instead of ending up in a heavenly litterbox–was not at all boneless. She was a very solid, sort of stubby cat with very short legs. She fit well into our family of short legs.
You know how cats are usually light-footed, creatues. Well, Emily sounded like a herd of elephants when she clomped through the house. But I did love her.
Kathryn Says:
I am a cat person through and through and presently have two (but have had as many as four). Zulu is 7 and weighs in at 20lbs and is a handsome dark tabby (tabbies are my favourite). We lost our beloved Pippin (23 lb Maine Coone) to liver disease at age three last July and now have Jinx, a shorthaired male pale orange tabby of 9 months. What a live wire!!! They both drink out of the sink and Zulu loves to drink my hot bathwater — and supervise my baths. I also have three dogs whom I am very fond of, have always been a medium size dog kind of person until we got Rolo our dachshund. He is a hoot! The facial expressions on this dog kill me and he is an absolute snuggler — he sleeps in the bed under the covers all night.
Meredith Says:
My puppy has that exact same set of rudolph ears! In fact, I have a picture of her looking none too happy to be wearing this as my current desktop, lol.