I know some of these photos today are a bit blurry, but I wanted to share them anyway because this is so Alfred’s personality.
Freddy loves to cuddle between us when we’re sitting on the sofa watching television.
He especially likes to lay up against my bare legs when I’m wearing a skirt. It’s kind of sweet to see him next to Jacoby.
It’s not the most fun when it’s almost 30°C, but it is cute.
For some reason, he also likes to touch peets.
I am not sure what this is, however.
The other day, I was reading whilst lying on the bed, and Alfred came to cuddle with me.
He curled up next to me and laid a paw on my arm.
Look how loooonnngg Freddy’s toes are! He has really big feet, even at four years old. Do you think he’ll ever grow into them?
We have a daily ritual where we watch reruns of Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. This is how Izaak likes to sit on me.
For some reason, Zak prefers to sit on my bare legs. Especially my knees.
It really doesn’t seem that comfortable of a way to cuddle, but he likes it. And he’s sound asleep, in case you were wondering.
Yesterday, I was sitting on the sofa watching something on my laptop, when Izaak decided to sit on me.
I was a little bit entranced by the way the sunshine highlighted his colours. In some ways the sepia ticking is so much prettier than the Abyssinian ticking…I think it’s that ivory undercoat.
Singapuras love to sleep under blankets, and Izaak is no different. He also likes to sleep touching skin, and most nights he sleeps either on my legs or next to my feet.
Björn captured this scene last night when he came to bed. Thank goodness I recently got a pedicure!
Alfred is the most cuddly cat I have ever known.
He’s like a living, purring (and occasionally drooling) teddy bear.
This is Freddy cuddling on the sofa with Björn the other night while we we watching television.
It’s hard to tell, but he’s wedged between us, with his hands on my leg, soaking up all Björn’s pets.
He may be our “extra” cat, but I love him and his purr.
I always think about Alfred and his “Brother from Another Mother,” Logan.
These photos are from July 2017, a month after we introduced Logan to Freddy.
They bonded after only a couple of days.
But their bond was deep. I called them “Brothers from Another Mother.” But they really were.
I mean, just look at them!
Logan and Freddy were so attached to each other.
They were so in sync with each other, too. You can see how bonded they were from these photos, taken only a month after we introduced them.
One thing Freddy liked to do was hold Logan down to groom him.
Whilst Izaak is not Logan, and it’s taken Freddy some time to accept Zak…
…it seems that Freddy needs a Singapura brother to take care of and look after.
It’s not the extreme “brothers from another mother” love that Freddy had with Logan, but…
…Zak seems to be an acceptable surrogate for Freddy’s Singapura fixation.
At least, until Zak has had enough of Freddy’s “brotherly” love.
I guess that’s the difference between Logan and Zak…Logan grew up with Big Brother Freddy, and Zak…didn’t. But he tolerates Freddy’s attention well. Enough.
Jacoby has been a very snuggly, cuddly boy lately.
He’s been sleeping with me almost every night.
Although, sometimes, he’ll settle in an…shall we say…awkward spot.
And then…boom!
Erm…Jake? You realise that…oh, I can’t even.
Sometimes, when the alarm goes off, this happens.
Jacoby comes and cuddles with me.
And by “cuddle,” I mean “he lies on top of me with his full weight.”
And you can’t tell from the photos, but Jake is purring like crazy.
Did I say, “like crazy”? Make that “diabolically.” He lies on me with his full weight and purrs like a diabolical madman.
He does not want me to get up and go to work. And let’s face it…I don’t disagree with him.
I returned to Boston yesterday after a wonderful time with Björn in Sweden.
I didn’t want to leave, and I’m not going back to work until Monday, because I know that I’ll need a few days to mope and cry recover.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Jacoby is thrilled that I am home.
He’s been cuddling with me nonstop.
This is what happens when I say his name.
I’m not even touching him! Just talking to him makes him roll around in glee.
Big, goofy yawn…
Oh, he’s definitely glad I’m home. Look at that Aby smile.
And he knows I’m upset, too…he’s such a good boy.
I just had to share these photos of our friend Dante Mooner that Marsha Zapp Ammons posted on Facebook last week. They are the perfect embodiment of the concept of “Father’s Day.”
Marsha wrote: “Dante Mooner to one of his Humans, John: You’re mine, you’re mine, you are ALL MINE!”
Marsha also explained that “Dante loves to go walking, but he often ‘asks’ us to hold him, like John is doing in these photos.”
Awww…look how much Dante loves his human dad!
One of the best thing about Abyssinians is that they are always happy to see you when you come home after a hard day at work.
Jacoby generally is at the door to greet me when I get home.
If I’m preoccupied with something, he’s so excited to see me, he’ll pet himself by rubbing on anything that’s handy.
He’s usually just woken up from a nap when I get home, so he’s still a little sleepy.
Look at that face! That is one cat who’s happy his human is home at last!
Jacoby is always ready for his close-up.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a phone camera, or an actual camera. He’s learned that cameras = attention.
And attention is a good thing.
To a point. Okay, you’re dismissed.
This week’s Photo Hunt subject is “Cherished.”
No question who is cherished in our house.
I do believe it’s a two-way street, though. I think Jacoby cherishes me, too. He’s always by my side, helping.
A recent article in The Huffington Post about the way felines and humans interact says, among other things, that the dynamics of cat-human relationships are very much like human-human bonds.
“Researchers concluded cats do indeed attach to humans — especially women — as social partners, and not just because they want to keep their food bowls full.”
One part of the article I really liked: “The researchers established that cats and their owners heavily influence one another, often to the extent that they control each other’s behaviors. Extroverted women with young, active cats seem to be the most in tune with each other. The kitties in these pairings only have to give subtle cues – for example, a single upright movement of the tail — to let their owners know they’re looking for friendly attention…cats also seem to remember human kindness and return the favor later. If an owner fulfills her feline’s wish to interact, the cat will often comply with the owner’s desire for contact at other times.”
This right here, I believe, is why Jake is so good-natured about dressing up and posing for photos. I always tell people he does these things “because I ask him to” and, apparently, I was dead-on correct. He’s indulging me because I indulge him. Quid pro quo.
I’ve always thought that interacting with a cat was like interacting with a small, non-verbal human. Seems I was onto something.
We already know that cats recognise certain words (my Siamese Harri knew “Go on the bed and lie down” among other things), and that they invented meowing as a way to try to communicate with us on our terms.
Cats also chose to live with us as opposed to humans deciding to domesticate them. Cats alone of all domesticated animals, researchers think, chose to enter into a partnership with humans.
Dogs may be man’s best friend, but man is cat’s best friend.
One of the best thing about taking a few days off from work is napping!
Especially when every time you feel like taking a nap, you have a loyal napping buddy who is all too willing to join you.
Sometimes, Jacoby is already napping on the bed, and I have to kind of curl up around him.
He doesn’t mind when I join him. This nap-buddy gig is a two-way street.
And it actually isn’t just naps.
Jake also cuddles up with me like this when I go to bed at night.
Granted, he does it more during winter naps than he does for summer naps…but that’s okay.
It’s funny that he doesn’t want to sleep under the covers. He just wants to sleep up against my stomach, on top of the comforter.
He slept with me like that on his second day home…and five and a half years later, he still sleeps in the same place!
