When I fould the photo for last week’s Photo Friday post, I also came across another photo of Tigger, Chris, and Abbey, but this one is dated a year earlier, May 07, 2010.
Chris is on my lap now but ten minutes ago he had his head on Floki. I think his affectionate personality is very cute. What do you think?
I decided to post an older photo today. This is from early December 2009, less than three weeks after we adopted Chris.
Chris and Tigger, December 3, 2009.
As you can see, Chris was just as needy and annoying back then as he is today.
Chris and Frankie, November 20, 2018
Chris is the most affectionate cat I have ever seen and that affection is not limited to humans. He is equally affectionate with the other cats in the house and he always has been that way. Because of that, all of our cats, past and present, have thought of Chris as the annoying one. Rose and I would sometimes call him Baby Huey. The other cats would tolerate Chris but none of them would seek him out for attention.
Recently things have changed. A couple of months ago we saw Floki go to Chris and push his head into Chris’s face. Chris then washed him and the scene repeated many times after that. Now it is common to see Floki join Chris for a nap and not the other way around.
Does anyone else have a cat that seeks out attention to the point of annoyance?
One night, shortly after Puck died, Chris was lying on my chest and rubbing his face against mine. My wife saw this and said, “I don’t know what you will do when Chris is gone.” She then said that she thought Chris would be the next to go. I assume she said that because of all the weight Chris has gained recently but he still remains pretty healthy as far as I can see.
What got me thinking was the possibility that love could be quantified. Could a person love two individuals but love one of those individuals more than the other? Or is love an absolute like pregnancy? Can a parent love one child more than the other? As a parent of only one child, I can’t answer that but the truth is, I will miss Chris more than Puck.
I feel bad saying that and it makes me seem like a horrible person but I can’t deny it. In my defense, I will say that missing someone is possibly not directly related to loving them. What we miss in a person, or animal, are the good feelings that they gave us when they were around.
With Chris, I would miss the funny ways he would figure out how to open a cabinet or drawer before climbing inside. I would also miss the amazement of him getting on top of things that seem impossible for a cat to reach. These are things I miss already since his weight gain has slowed him down. I think what I would miss most is Chris’s affection. Chris is the most affectionate being I have ever met. This affection, I think, is Chris’s way of showing us that he loves us back very much and I think this has a way of reaching down and touching the soul.
His affection is what drew me to him in the first place. The first time I saw him he jumped on my shoulders and licked and bit my ear and nose while I was trying to clean the cages at Petsmart. The next time he was on my shoulders again at the shelter. I sent the following bad photo to my wife asking if we could keep him.
When Rose met him he showed her equal affection.
Chris at adoption center with Rose.
It wasn’t an act to get out of the shelter. Once he arrived at our home the affection didn’t stop.
Chris getting comfortable with Rose on his first day home.
Chris loves everyone and is not afraid to show it. He will go from lying on my lap to lying on my wife’s lap and then to lying up against one of our other cats. I have seen and heard about him jumping on the shoulders of complete strangers. I still laugh when I hear the story of a plumber under our sink who had to deal with a cat on top of him while he was trying to work.
Historically, none of our cats have been very affectionate with other cats. The exception to that would be Tigger. He sometimes would be seen cuddling with Abbey or her brother Alex.
Abbey and Tigger in Abbey’s cat bed.
Tigger and Alex
After Chris came on the scene, he became an annoying third wheel.
Abbeys bed could sometimes get over crowed.
Abbey annoyed with Chris.
Alex (on top) with Abbey, Tigger and Chris
While Tigger sometimes cuddled, it is almost mandatory with Chris. I do occasionally see Chris sleeping alone but he usually seeks out someone to lie with. He is like the glue that holds our family of cats together, going from one cat to the other as if trying to create a universal scent.
Of course, nobody is perfect and Chris will get into fights just like every other cat. Chris can also be jealous. Whenever Frankie is on my lap, Chris has to be on my lap. I’m not sure if Chris is jealous of me paying attention to Frankie or Frankie paying attention to me.
Yes, we do miss Puck very much and yes, we will probably miss Chris even more when the time comes but whether that has to do with the amount of love we have for each of them is unknown to me. What do you think? Are there any parents out there who can admit to loving one child more than another? Liking a child more is not the same. My wife will sometimes tell me she loves me but doesn’t like me very much right now.
It is so cute when cats cozy up to each other. In our house, Chris is almost always involved. 
Chris loves everyone, actually. He is just a very affectionate cat that always has to be touching someone and Frankie seems to tolerate it.
When I started this blog I couldn’t decide what to name it. I had several names in mind, none of which I can remember now. I only remember that all of them were taken. I eventually settled on Crazy Cat Chris and registered it at WordPress.com.
Almost immediately I realized that I made a mistake. Chris was not a crazy cat. I think I just liked it because all the words started with C. I then choose Bad Cat Chris but the truth is, Chris is no more bad then he is crazy. The “bad” in Bad Cat Chris only refers to his behavior, not to Chris himself, and it really only refers to the human interpretation of the word “bad.” What is bad to a human is not necessarily bad to a cat. Like Shakespeare said, “there is no good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
The first several months after we adopted Chris, he kept us from getting a good night’s sleep by attacking our feet, biting our noses, treading on our bare skin and lying across our necks. BAD CAT! Indeed, the people who adopted him before us thought he was a bad cat and returned him to the shelter after one day.
Chris, November 2009
He no longer attacks feet and he has learned not to bite Rose’s nose but everything else is the same. Jumping on counters is another “bad” behavior that we were never able to correct. Nor were we able to stop him from opening cabinets and closets and getting inside. At eight years old he still tries to get out the door every chance he gets and he still scratches the furniture, but only when he knows someone is looking.
Despite his behavior, I wouldn’t want him to change because that is who Chris is. He has always been very entertaining and he makes us laugh. His bad behavior is not really bad, it’s more like naughty, and even that’s not right. He is just a non-human who is very good at not following human rules.
There is something special about Chris, more special than any other dog or cat I have ever had, and I have had some good ones. Chris is pure love. He loves me, he loves Rose he loves everyone who steps foot in our house and he is not afraid to show it. He bleeds affection. Everybody who knows Chris loves him back.
He is even affectionate to all the other cats, although he will fight with them too.
Rose worries that when we lose Chris I will be devastated and she may be right. I think about that more now that Chris will be turning eight. The last three of our cats that passed away, Abbey, Alex and Tigger, all died at eight years old. But, of course, now is not the time to be thinking such thoughts. We have a birthday coming up.
I might be a bad pet parent for saying this, or even thinking it, but I love one of our cats more than the others. I know that sounds terrible. It’s like saying you love one child more than another.
I’m talking about Chris, of course, but I’m not sure love is the right word. It is harder to define than that. It is like I have formed an emotional bond with him and I know when our time together comes to an end, breaking that bond will be the hardest thing to do since my dad passed away. To be fair, I do love all our cats but Chris is a bit different.
The reasons I have formed such an attachment are many. The badness that I talk about on this blog is just a behavior. There are many other sides to Chris. There is funny Chris, cute Chris, Talkative Chris, Smart Chris and affectionate Chris. Deep down, Chris is the most loving and affectionate creature on four legs that I have ever encountered and you can’t help but love him back.
From the beginning I noticed that everyone just loves Chris and I’m sure that is because Chris loves everyone. “Give and you shall receive” is true for cats as well as people.
Below is an example of Chris’s affectionate behavior.
There is a drawback to all that affection. My wife is away on a business trip so I thought I would let the cats sleep on the bed. I should have known that would never work. Chris always keeps me up half the night doing what you see on the video. I don’t know why I always think this night will be different.
I recently commented about how Chris is sleeping more now that he is older and he sleeps almost as much as a real cat, but after last night I take it back.
What do you think? Any other “bad” pet parents out there?
Chris is the most affectionate cat I have ever had. He is also more affectionate than any dog I have ever had. He spends a good part of his day on my lap, on Rose’s lap or curled up with Frankie or Puck.
I’m not complaining, I love that about him, but part of that affection is an unusual need to bite, especially my nose. Fortunately, the biting is only a small part of his affection but it is quite annoying and the reason all the cats get locked out of the bedroom at night.
Now I’d like to hear about your most affection pet.
Special moments like this should be cherished because before you know it, they are whacking each other.
