Meet the Cats

This post is for you, Meghan, to catch up on the kitties in my life. ;)

First of all, we have Loki. You know who he is, Meghan, but for those who don't and might be interested, here ya go.

Inherited from our former roomies in Oakville, he's been a part of the family for about two years. He started out as a pretty crazy guy, high energy, high strung, loud and heavy on personality. He's quieted down a fair amount now, and even seems rather grown up now that we have the kitten, but he's still a pretty unique guy. He's also rather large. I never truly appreciated what a big cat he is until we got Penelope, but after cuddling her, he seems big and muscular and heavy by comparison. He really isn't the skinny ninja he used to be.

On the other hand, he's still pretty dynamic. He can wrestle and chase with the best of them and is teaching Penelope all the moves. He'll carry on a conversation, he loves to lick faces with his sandpaper tongue, and he likes to sleep on the computer chair at night. If Seguin stays up late playing games when Loki wants to go to sleep, he's not shy about stealing the chair the second Seguin gets up for a drink. He also loves hugs.

Magic is Skye's kitty. She's teeny tiny and black in colour and is about 10 years old. She has the funniest scratchy little meow and will often hop from surface to surface following you about in a quest for pets, but gets peeved if you pick her up.

She gets along okay with Loki and tolerates the kitten. Her favourite person is definitely Skye, but she will show up looking for company if Skye is not around. She eats lots of strange things, or example, she prefers tuna with mayonaisse to tuna juice from the can, but her favourite treats are moochies. Toss one down the hall and she tears after it like it's the last morsel in existence, pouncing on it with a mad efficiency. It's pretty cool to watch.

I think she feels pretty comfortable living here even though she pretends to hate the other cats. A few months ago, she licked all the fur off her back end. It's was strange looking, bald and skinny; Skye and roomie at the time called her Sir Patchy Bottom. Since she's been here, however, she's allowed it all to grow back, and she has a normal cat bottom again. I think that must be a good thing.

Penelope is the newest member of the family. Her full name is Doctor Penelope, sometimes known as Penny or Squeaker or The Kitten. She was a member of the last litter of the Grandview straw Delta, who was mercifully taken to live in the observatory just recently. We'll have had her two weeks this Sunday, but she's made herself very much at home.

Her favourite playmate is Loki; they chase and they love to wrestle. Sometimes if he's not interested in play, she'll just lay there and look at him. He takes care of her, attempting to bathe her and burying her messes in the litter box (as she's not yet figured out how to do it herself).

When Loki is not around, she's happy to play with the mouse or the bee or the ball. She'll play with feet, she'll climb legs, she'll attack your arm, she'll relentlessly chase her own tail. She spends all her waking moments in full-on play mode, attacking, pouncing, jumping. When she finally tires, she'll lounge a bit, fall asleep, wake up, and after a bite to eat (sitting completely inside the cat dish like a child's ball bin) she'll start playing all over again. She is in hardcore training for ninja catdom.

Though they're incredibly independent and need less companionship from us than other kinds of pets, cats still appreciate friends more than one would think. I know our cats love us the way we love them, so it always makes me feel better to know they've got company when we leave the house to do our human stuff. One cat is always fantastic, but another one or two seems to make things more complete. =)