Pussies Galore

This is Sam -- short for Samwise -- in one of her favourite positions. She's one of the few cats we've had, who lies on her back and kneads the air. Most of the others knead either pillows or us. Kneading us is a really good way of keeping track of who needs their claws trimmed.

Sam's the consummate drooler. In fact, I think she has an auto-drool mechanism. As soon as she starts kneading me, she salivates copiously. She's also great for parking atop my 'mouse' arm, when I'm working at the computer. I'm not sure if it actually strengthens my arm, trying to operate the mouse with ten pounds of cat resting on it, but at least I don't have carpal tunnel issues. Here's the thing, though. When she's in this position, she also kneads my arm and drools over my keyboard. I simply don't have the heart to push her away...it just feels too much like I'm rejecting her affection, when I do that, and she is one very affectionate kitty.

And then there's Sam's brother, Pip, short for Pippin (the blond kitty to your right, in this photo with Spot), who is also a major kneader. He saves his kneading activity until I'm in bed, and then he starts in on Nicky, the Teddy Bear, who sits by my pillow. Pip doesn't drool, but he does have auto-purr, which means that as soon as he starts kneading, a sound similar to that of an Evinrude motor, is audible even in the next room. Imagine it right by your ear. He moves from Nicky to my pillow and then occasionally decides to play with my hair, straying from time to time to my cheek, which he also pats to get my attention just in case it wavers. The amazing thing is that I have no trouble falling asleep with all this going on.

Spot is one heavy, solid dude. He does the whole "flopping" thing on the bed and after spending fifteen or twenty minutes flopping, rubbing, purring (he has a deep tiger-like purr), gnawing, and drooling, he either pastes himself against my hip and thigh, or drapes himself over my legs and dozes off. Spot also has a thing for anything minty, including Icy-Hot, or Vicks. It has the same effect on him as catnip. His gnawing becomes considerably more enthusiastic when he gets a whiff of anything of a mentholated nature.

These cats have known each other from birth, and have never been apart. Each has his or her own unique personality and each has a very special place in my heart. They're all related. Sam and Pip are littermates. Spot is their cousin (and possibly a half brother). They were born to mother and daughter cats within a week of each other. We adopted them when Spot was six weeks old and Sam and Pip were five weeks old. They are the ones who came to live with us, when my husband said, "This house needs more cats." That was when all, but one, of the original eight cats, who moved with us from Ontario to Vermont, in 1996, had passed.

Sam was especially fond of that one, our old Patton, who died in his nineteenth year, back in January 2008. She pined for him for quite some time and it was obvious she missed him. She was also very close to our old dog, Ben, who died last February 3rd (2009) at age 14 years, 4 months. Again, she pined and really cut back on eating after he passed away. Since Ben's death, her affection quotient -- both the giving and receiving thereof -- has gone through the roof.

The dynamic amongst the cats changed, as well, first with the passing of Patton, and then Ben. From the time these three kittens arrived (April 2003), Patton was the "the big guy," the boss. You'd think that after he died, Spot, the largest and seemingly boldest, would become the boss, but he didn't. Pip, the lightest and smallest of the trio, is the king, and Sam, the only female and of medium size, doesn't take shit from anybody.

Despite their different personalities and occasional tiffs, the causes of which, when they do occur, I mostly cannot ascertain, these cats, as all the cats who have shared our household have done, manage a peaceful coexistence. They play tag and other games together. They take part in the midnight crazies together. (Only people who share their lives with cats know about the "midnight crazies.") They eat in the same area and share their food. They mutually groom and laze together. They snuggle up together and snooze. If anyone needs lessons in getting along, there can be no better example than Spot, Sam, and Pip.

I actually feel quite privileged to be part of their family.

Rose ;-)

November 17, 2009