Cat Sitting Personalities - Volume 3

"Mom wants to use another one of my blogs to tell you about the cats she sits for.  I may as well let her, since she's almost done.  I have to say, some of the cats sound kind of interesting.  Now I know what mom is doing when she comes in smellling of other cats.  It has actually gotten to the point where I recognize the scents of the cats mom watches most often.  But when she watches a new cat, my brothers and I have to sniff her up and down to find out what she's been up to.  Without further ado, here are five more cats, and a ferret."

Buddy & Romeo:  I don't have the opportunity to watch these guys often, but they rank right up there among my favorites.  Buddy is a solid, short-haired beige tabby with the biggest heart in the world.  He is one of the best lap cats I have ever known, and he always looks at me with intelligent eyes.  I know there's something going on inside his head, and I know that I have earned his affection.  His littermate Romeo is aptly named.  With a tall, lean frame, an angular face, and a fine, but long-haired coat, Romeo is the epitome of handsomeness.  Romeo is beige and white, and very difficult to photograph because he just won't sit still for the camera.  I was lucky to get the shot above.  Romeo's a little more distant than his brother, but I've noticed over the course of watching these guys a few times, that Romeo trusts me more and more.  Buddy and Romeo have a cute routine when it comes to their feeding time.  When I'm opening their can of food in the kitchen, they stretch their front legs up onto the cabinets and ask for their food.  They're good boys though, and they don't jump onto the counter.

Milo & Otis: Milo and Otis are two very sweet boys.  Otis is the most outgoing and is such a lovebug.  As for Milo, I have had to earn his trust.  He's a little more cautious, but he's also a wonderful cat.  These two brothers enjoy playing with the Cat Dancer toy, but even more, I think they just love laying in the sun.  I don't mind simply looking at them because they are two of the most handsome specimens of feline masculinity that I have ever seen.

Casey: I have only watched Casey once and she is the newest cat in my "portfolio."  Casey doesn't know her name because her mom usually calls her "kitty" or other nicknames.  She's a pretty, young cat, and is very shy.  The first day I took care of her she hid under the bed and made it clear to me that she didn't appreciate my presence.  I devised a strategy for my second visit.  I brought a variety of dangly cat toys and a laser pointer with me.  I was successful in luring Casey out from under the bed.  We played with a a dangly fleece ribbon with feathers on the end, and we played with the Cat Dancer.  I was able to get shy, cautious Casey running around the living room in circles chasing the laser.  So, there's a lesson for those of you who think your cats don't like to play: you need to create some fun for them.  Who likes to play with an inanimate catnip mouse forever?  Cats like toys with motion, and most often with unpredictable motion.  You need to interact with them and make it into sport.  Experiment with a variety of interactive toys until you discover the one that makes your cat go wild!

Rain: I'm going to conclude with a blurb on Rain, who was not a cat, but was a ferret.  When my neighbor Deb saw my ad and called me about watching her ferret Rain, I was intrigued.  I'd never really interacted with a ferret, but I was excited about the opportunity, and I did some research in preparation for the job.  Rain had a very large, multi-level ferret cage that she slept in at night, but during the day she was free to explore the apartment.  She had lots of toys to play with, tunnels to crawl through, and lots of hiding places.  Ferrets like to hide objects, and hide themselves.  Rain was a petite ferret, and was very curious and smart.  Deb told me how she had been rescued from a dumpster as a "kit" and turned in to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington.  The AWLA doesn't often get ferrets, but they just happened to have Rain available for adoption the day that Deb went in looking for a ferret.  It was fate.  Deb and Rain had several great years together, and I had the opportunity to watch Rain a few times, before she was diagnosed with cancer.  Poor little Rain lost her fight with cancer a few months ago.  I know that she deeply touched Deb's life, and she touched mine too.

With this third cat sitting installment, I've covered most of the cats that I've watched in my building.  There are a few other cats I've watched only once, or who have moved away.  It's been a great learning experience for me, as I can see what products (food, litter, toys) other people use for their cats, observe different cat behaviors, and develop relationships with cats other than my own.  It's also interesting, as Curry mentioned, how my cats become accustomed to the scents of the cats I watch the most.  They really do know when I've been around "strange" animals.  This just confirms for me how smart and observant the feline species can be.