My son recently moved into an apartment with a female roommate that is not his girlfriend (further Stymieing my desire to have a grandchild). His roommate recently got a black kitten that she named Binx after the cat from the movie Hocus Pocus. When he told me about the kitten I asked where he was but he didn’t know. “He’s around somewhere,” I was told.
We talked for a few minutes and then the kitten showed up. I was amazed at how small the kitten was and I asked if he was old enough for adoption. “He is almost eight weeks old,” Chris told me (My son, coincidentally, is also named Chris). He said his littermates were twice as big as him.
I suppose he is right about his age because he gets around very well. He uses the litter box and goes up and down the stairs with no problem. I will be interested to see how big this little fellow gets.
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?
Frankie has a bit of a shoe fetish. Leave shoes lying around and there is a good chance Frankie will lie on them. Sometimes he will even fight with them, although I have never seen a clear winner.
Our cat tree has a cubby with a small window. It is a place where a cat can go and get some privacy, as long as someone with a camera is not bothering them.
I will never understand why cats like lying on things that are seemingly uncomfortable. Here, Chris decided to lie on pictures that I was getting ready to hang in our new house. We are both lucky that his weight didn’t break the glass.
Forget Cat Daddy. Chris is Daddy Cat. I don’t have any experience with real daddy cats but Chris is like a humanized version of what a good cat father would be. Someone who loves his kids and shows it often while also disciplining them when they break the rules. His rules.
Of course, Chris has never had kittens of his own but when we adopted Puck he seemed to take over the role of father figure. He loved Puck and Puck followed his rules like a good son and was often rewarded with love, affection, and a good tongue bath. I think Puck’s death really hurt Chris. For several days he seemed to wander aimlessly like he was looking for Puck and didn’t know what to do with himself.
Fortunately, Floki was here to fill the gap. We adopted Floki as a kitten, just like Puck, and Chris was right there to teach him the rules. His rules. Unfortunately for Chris, Floki was a bit of a problem Child and didn’t always follow the rules. Nevertheless, Chris still treated Floki like his son and a surprising thing happened recently. Floki started going to Chris for attention. This was an amazing development because Chris was always the one who sought out the other cats. It is a pleasure to see the bond that has developed between the two, especially when Floki comes to Chris and puts his head down so Chris can wash it.
Chris can also control Floki. This is something that Rose and I can’t do together. We have to bring him to the vet for nail trimmings because trying to hold him down for the task only leads to scratched arms and a cat under the bed. Chris, however, has no trouble holding Floki down. If only I could train Chris to do it at nail trimming time.
I sometimes think it was too bad that Chris was fixed when he was because he may have had some over-the-top kittens. especially if he could have hooked up with my sister-in-law’s cat, Holly.
Update: I forgot to mention Chris was washing Floki early this morning when Floki got up and bit Chris in the ear. Chris responded by putting his right paw on Floki’s head and pushing him down. He then resumed washing him while he held his head down.
Bad Cat Chris 