New Cats on the Block

The three cats have been living with us for a few months now.  We’d been petless for a couple of years and while I wrote about the dogs and cats in my books, it was based on memory.  Having these cats has reminded me of how each animal has their unique personality and facial expression.

Spyderman is the senior member of the three felines.  He’s around thirteen and a white point Siamese which means he’s a light cream color all over.  No darker ears or facial markings.  He has blue eyes. Something happened and he’s lost his ability to meow.  He used to have that distinctive Siamese sound that sounded almost like moaning.  Now he just looks at me and opens his mouth soundlessly to let me know he wants something.

The something is usually water.  That means sitting in the kitchen sink and drinking a dribble from the faucet.  It’s actually quite hard to get the dribble just right and he often ends with a wet head, which he doesn’t mind. But I do because he shakes the water all over my papers.  He also likes showers and will bang on the door to be let in.  And I thought cats didn’t like to get wet.

It’s been interesting to watch how he reacts to being outside for the first time in his life.  It’s just in our backyard and only when someone is out there.  Not that he seems interested in going beyond the confines of the yard.  At first he seemed entranced by all the sights and sounds, probably smells too.  It didn’t take long for him to love his outside time and to try to slip out when the doors open.

He wants me to pet him and will cuddle next to me if I sit on the couch, but nowhere else.  When I look at his face he always has sort of a worried expression.

Buttercup or Princess Buttercup has long hair and is a butterscotch color with white areas.  She came from a rescue place and I think she might have been in a house with a herd of cats and not much care.  When she first came to live here, she continued her behavior of running away from me.  And then one day she hopped on the couch and cuddled next to my leg. She’s like Spyderman and only likes cuddle in certain places on her terms. 

Instead of running away from me she comes up when I’m having coffee and wants me to pet her, but freaked out when I tried to pick her up.

She loves going in the yard.  So much so she scratches at the door to ask for to be let out.  She has shown some interest in the birds flying by, but seems like too much of a princess to be interested in hunting.  Her expression has lightened a little and it almost looked like she had a cat smile.  Her favorite place to lounge is in the big front window where she can watch the action on the street.

And then there’s Kitten.  Her real name is Kona.  She’s the only cat I’ve known as a kitten.  I took care of her along with the other two when my son and his wife went to Hawaii.  She’s almost all black with a little white under her chin and on the tips of her paws.  She’d been a “gift” from one of my daughter-in-laws students.  She was so tiny, I could hold her in one hand.

Not any more.  She’s five now and eats the most of the three of them and has the tummy to prove it.  Even before she lived here, she’d always jump in my lap and want some attention.  Now it seems like she thinks she owns my lap.  She likes to position herself with her head on my shoulder and her body over my heart.  She had a fierce looking face.

She took to outside immediately and races around the yard.  Her instincts kicked in right away and she positioned herself to pounce when she started noticing things moving in the yard.  But it seems its only part of her instinct because she never jumps at anything which is fine with me.  I’ve had enough gifts from cats over the years.