Cats...

As I’ve been doing random things around my house today how odd my cats are has really struck me. In my house there are three cats. At the house I stay at when I work there are a total of six since my youngest cat travels with me. The difference in the two groups is striking. At my house I have two older cats; they’re both six and a 10 month old kitten that is a Maine Coon mix. At my friend’s house there is a 10 year old Japanese Bobtail, a 4 year old Burmese, a 2 year old Maine Coon and 2 9 or so month old Maine Coon mix kittens. So when you add my youngest in it is quite a wild bunch some days.  At my house the two older cats will play with and nap with each other pretty much anytime, but only the male, Simba will include the younger cat, Lilly. The female, Midnight will only hiss and growl at Lilly and swipe at her when she thinks Lilly is too close to her. The area that Midnight considers too close seems to depend on the day, hour, temperature and multiple other factors I have no clue about. Sometimes they’ll be just a couple of feet from each other just hanging out and others if Midnight can see Lilly she feels the need to growl at her. I just don’t understand. I could understand it when I first got Lilly as Midnight has never been a fan of changes of any type, but she’s been here for three months now! Three months is plenty of time for Midnight to adjust in my mind.

On the other hand when Lilly travels with me to my friend’s house she is greeted the moment she gets out of her crate by anywhere from one to five other cats that are ready to play. One of the kittens, Charlie is usually waiting at the door for me to bring her in and will play through the door of her crate if I don’t let her out immediately. The older cats will all play in their own ways too, plus will snuggle to nap with her anytime she will stop to sleep. I’m not sure if it’s a temperament thing or what. I do know that when I first started taking her down there the Burmese acted a lot like Midnight did, but she’s completely adjusted to her now and I find them napping together pretty frequently when we’re over there.

Cats are just odd creatures in general. They are very useful what with the snuggling, purring and rodent eradication. On the other hand their choice of where to sleep at times defies explanation. I’m not sure how the top of a couch could work out to sleep on with how often I’ve seen a cat dreaming and fall off of one, or sitting on a person’s head while they are trying to sleep. Also the 2 year old Maine Coon that weighs about 16 pounds will curl up on your hip if you are lying on your side and try to sleep there. Oh and all of them won’t hesitate to sleep on a computer keyboard, especially if you’re trying to type on it J

Yes, cats are a little odd in behavior with the odd sleeping and running around the house as if they are crazy, but I wouldn’t give mine up for the world and know plenty of others that feel the same way.