It is funny to observe what phases or oddities my cats go through.
For example, the last few days, I have come into my bedroom to find one of the drawers to my dresser open a few inches. Just wide enough for a cat to squeeze in. Colby is usually the main offender. The other two hardly complain, though. There was one morning I woke up and found the drawer open. I groggily walked over to it and knocked on it. Out came all three of the cats. I probably would have found this more amusing if I had not been half asleep and irritated with them because their movement in the dresser is what woke me up.
Cheddar is usually the one that decides what time breakfast or dinner is. If I am still asleep, he will start meowing until I get annoyed enough to get up and feed them. Colby will often chime in with his own attention grabbers. This is usually in the form of playing with the cords that dangle from the window blinds. He has also been known to rampage around the apartment, knock the cardboard from the windowsill so the sun disturbs my sleep, and other things. Chantico will occasionally chime in with her own meows, but for the most part, she is the more behaved of the three when it comes to letting me sleep. However, if I happen to be on the computer and they are eager for food, any movement on my part that might indicate I am about to get up, they will jump down from their perches and meow eagerly. This can get annoying when I am trying to do homework.
When I first got Chantico, she was only a couple months old. I do not think she had quite been weened yet. The reason I believe this is because I had to keep her from trying to nurse from Colby or Cheddar, particularly Colby for some reason. It took weeks to break her of this habit. I am not entirely sure when she finally stopped. It just happened one day without me noticing.
All three of them seem to enjoy chewing on cardboard, though not as much as they used to. Cheddar likes styrofoam, too. I do not know what possesses them to munch on these odd things, but they do, and they seem to suffer no ill effects, thankfully.
What other oddities or phases will they go through? I guess time will tell.
Over the years, numerous stray or feral cats have frequented my parents' kitchen for the abundance of dry cat food. The first cat that I can remember off the top of my head was a short haired gray cat that my brothers and I called Nermal. Another cat that wandered in was Interloper. He was a orange tomcat that lived a couple of houses down that liked to come in at night and cause trouble with our cats. We had a long haired orange cat named Jesse that was related to our indoor cats, but was never tamed as a kitten. Another cat that we named Ragamuffin was a long haired black and white cat. Some of these cats have wandered on or vanished over the years. Others have been found and buried.
The current stray or feral cat that frequents the kitchen is a white cat with gray points. My brother named him Tundra. He has been coming in for a few years now. I do not remember if he started coming in before I joined the Air Force in 2001. I do not think he did. We are not sure how old he is, but I hope my parents will take him to the vet soon and get him checked out. Maybe the vet can offer an opinion.
Tundra at first would come in when he knew he was not likely to be disturbed while eating, usually while everyone was asleep or not home. After a while, he started coming in whenever he felt like it, because he seemed to realize that we would not bother him if he wanted to eat. He would watch warily as we walked in and got or did whatever we needed. As long as we made no effort to touch him, he continued to eat.
Every now and again, I would hear amusing stories. My parents' male cat, Prince was sitting on the coffee table one day. My dad, who was sitting on the love seat on the other end of the table, noticed him reaching down and batting at something on the floor. When my father bent over to look, he was surprised to find that it was not one of their other cats, but Tundra, who my father says was on his back batting at Prince.
Over the last couple of weeks, which have been very wet, windy, and cold in the Seattle area, Tundra has been coming in more and more. My mom likes to put whipped cream in her coffee. She will usually put some down for whichever cats might be present. It is a trend that has gone on for years and years. Tundra has apparently taken a liking to it. He even shared a bowl of milk with Prince and Prince's mother, Gypsy. According to my mother, he has been known to sit on the arm of the love seat, and even had a "love attack", which required my dad to scratch his ears, back, and tummy. Needless to say, this is very strange behavior for Tundra. I am glad he is becoming more friendly. Obviously, the other cats (mainly Prince) have accepted him. So, I think it is safe to assume my parents have another cat.
I will list the others off.
Smokey- A fourteen year old, long haired, gray tortoiseshell. She is a mostly outdoor cat, though she comes in during the winter when it gets cold. We hardly see her during the summer. When she does decide to come in, though, one cannot get rid of her. She is an aggressive lap kitty at that point.
Patches- A thirteen year old, long haired, black tortoiseshell. Patches is a very sleek cat. She is also extremely bratty. I have lost count of the number of times I have gotten yowled at when I overlooked something she wanted. Patches is an indoor/outdoor cat. Patches also likes to "help" my mom with reading assignments, academic papers, needlework, and quilting. I have joked that when my mom gets her degree later this month, she needs to make sure Patches and Prince get one, too, for all the help they have provided. Patches is Smokey's niece.
Gypsy- An eleven year old, short hair, black tortoiseshell. Gypsy in some ways, is more feral than Smokey. She may come in more frequently, but she does not aggressively demand attention. Gypsy disappeared for about a year when she was about two. We long presumed her to be dead when she suddenly reappeared on the front porch one summer evening. Her meow is usually quiet, but every now and again, we get a haunting reminder of where her kittens got their meows. She scared me one evening a few years ago when she howled in the hallway. It sounded very much like that of Prince's brother, Peekaboo, who had died a couple years before that. Gypsy is Smokey's half sister and Patches' aunt.
Prince- A ten year old, black tomcat with white toes and white on his chest and belly. Prince is the surviving member of his litter. One brother died when they were four, another fell ill and died a couple years ago, and his sister disappeared during the summer of 2006 and is presumed dead. Prince is like a watch cat. He constantly wanders around the house and my parents' property to check things out. When he is inside, and when Patches is taking a break, Prince will help my mom with schoolwork and needlework. He also tends to dictate when it is bedtime. He will go down the hall at a certain time and if no one follows him, he come back out and meow, then go back down the hall. This will repeat until everyone goes to bed. He has other mannerisms that have earned him the nickname, "Gentleman Cat". He lives up to his name. Prince is Smokey's nephew, Patches' cousin, and Gypsy's kitten. He is the youngest of my parents' cats, and the last in Puff, his grandmother's line.
My parents have had many cats over the years, and I am sure I will mention a few of them in future posts. For now, though, I will stop. Writing all of this did show me just how much some cats live up to their names. My parents' cats certainly have.
I have three cats. They are Colby, Cheddar, and Chantico.
Colby is a orange cat with white on his chest, tummy, and paws. Cheddar is all orange. Colby and Cheddar are litter mates, thus I dubbed them 'The Cheese Brothers' shortly after I adopted them from the nearby animal shelter. I decided to keep the names the shelter had already given them.
The shelter preferred that more than one pet was adopted, so they offered a pretty good price for the two litter mates. I was looking for two cats. This was because I work long hours, so I figured it would be better to have two cats so they did not get lonely.
I had long wanted to enjoy the company of felines again, especially since I grew up with a house full of cats. The base dorms do not allow pets. While some people may disobey this rule, I did not. Thus, I was quite ecstatic when I finally moved off base and was able to adopt cats.
Chantico is a chocolate point Siamese. She is named after a very rich chocolate drink that Starbucks used to offer. Rob likened this drink to drinking a brownie. I bought Chantico from a breeder. She is the second Siamese that I have had. I was impressed with how quickly Colby and Cheddar adapted to her presence. They had not been so kind to her predecessor. It was quite entertaining to see two big orange cats being chased around by a little white cotton ball of a kitten.
My first Siamese was named Chaos. I realized after tracing Chantico's lineage that Chaos was an uncle of hers. Chaos was the runt of his litter. I thought it would be best to have another male, and he was the only one left, so I chose him. It turned out that he has some serious health problems. He died a month after I bought him. He had a knot or fold in his digestive tract that prevented him from digesting food properly.
Anyhow, I bought a couple of new pieces of cat furniture to replace the scratching posts they have effectively shredded. They have been enjoying them quite a bit, so far. I bought them some fuzzy mice, too, but they seemed more interested in eating those. I do not want them eating those. They tend to be bad for the digestive tract. Colby ate two before they came back up. Cheddar attempted to eat two more, but I managed to stop him. I will think of some better toys to get them, I guess.