Little Pixie is a momma’s girl. She loves to follow me when I tuck the kids in at night, she’s decided she wants to sleep on my pillow even as her sibs continue to nest in the living room, and she is crazy about climbing me when I am standing still – especially in the kitchen. Ninja and Pumpkin will too, but Pixie is the craziest. I know we went through a phase of this with Misty. I can remember having him climb up and into my shirts, down sleeves, get stuck etc.! Fortunately, he outgrew it before he was a 20lb adult cat. I hope my jeans/clothes survive until these kittens find a new game! As distracting (and sometimes painful) as it is to be a jungle gym for rampaging kitchen (wannabe) panthers, there are some benefits. Ever have a headache that wraps up and around your head, from eyeballs to temples, across the skull and down the neck and shoulders? I blame the sinus/head cold I’ve been fighting the last few days. Anyway, Ibuprofen can kill the head pain, but it takes awhile to make it down to the stiff and sore neck. Wrapping a warm, purring kitten across my shoulders is downright medicinal. I should market this! It’s better than one of those strange-smelling rice bags you microwave and that only stays warm for about 30 seconds… it promises relief, but it’s all just a cruel lie. Kittens are self-applying, and provide a bit of acupuncture work as well, no extra charge!
Ignore the dark circles, my red eyes, and pink nose here.. this is my cold suffering look and not my best! At least I have a tropical shirt on to go with my pirate cat. All I need is a margarita. The kids’ school is having an International Day, and while I have no USA-logo-patriotic clothes to wear – a habit/practicality of living overseas so long where we try to be conservative and blend in - at least I can look like a Floridian.
If Pixie isn’t on my shoulder, I will often have a cat in my arms instead. These guys are snugglers! Pumpkin – inventor of the attack bear hug – is a big baby.
And just how am I supposed to get up now?
(unseen in this pic – Ninja on my shoulder!)
And it’s not like they have nothing else to play or sleep on. They have the run of the house, and we even bought them a kitty-climbing-scratching-fort-thing. They’re not sure about it yet, but the kids like it.
It’s a good thing we brought these cats in. They’d have never made it in the wild without all the cuddles and love they require for survival!
5 comments:
Awww, I want some cat cuddles. Can't wait to meet them! Though they won't be tiny cats anymore by that time . .
They may not be tiny for long, but we promise to keep them indoors with lot of attention, and give them lots of love and sweetness, which will keep them kitten-y at heart so there will be plenty of cat cuddles when you get here... just bigger cat cuddles than they can make now!
I'm curious if you're going to de-claw them? Spade and neutering?
I'm not pro or con one way or the other, i'm just curious. :)
Spaying and neutering, definitely - healthy for them, helps keep them babies, and there are enough cats already around here! We don't need ours adding more!
Declaw'ing would be convenient if it were a safe and kind thing, but the procedure is very terribly cruel. Most people do not realize (unless they are cat owners and/or have researched it - I didn't until I got my first cat) but declawing a cat isn't just the claw, it's the amputation of an entire toe joint, on all of their toes! Once I learned this, never, ever, would I agree to it. Here's a website. declawing (not graphic, just a good explantion).
Right now, we are in the stage that puppy owners know too well. There will be some out of control critters romping about causing mischief and possibly damage. It is to be expected and even more importantly - accepted. Honor made the connection today that kittens are like kids and adult cats are like parents. Kids and kittens run around and play like crazy, adults do not. (usually) :)
To reduce kitty damage and human pain, we have special clippers to trim their toenails, and in addition to regular baths, these guys will be getting used to regular manicures. We also will provide them with toys and things to scratch. I haven't tried any of the protective rubber covers on claws, even when our kids were babies. The cats were always careful and gentle. Our rule has always been that if anyone should mess with and tease a cat enough to make it mad and scratch - they get what they deserve from a fully armed animal with every right to protect itself, in addition to getting into more trouble from us, for being mean. Honestly though, we've only ever used this rule as a warning to visitors. Brian and Honor grew up with our first cats and only ever received a couple of accidental scratches - usually from crashing into a cat running too fast to stop - never a scratch from a cat they made angry or annoyed. Train the cats. Train the humans.
We also plan on getting furniture throws - for some reason the looser fit of a cover does not make as good of a scratching surface for cats. I also like that I can wash covers on a regular basis - cats or no cats - can't throw the sofa in the wash, but washing a cover freshens things up.
They surely are in the right home!
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