Author: Lastech

Kitties always let you know how much force and speed is appropriate while you pet them. That is if you pay the least bit of attention, because distraction might make you bleed. Tito likes a Swedish massage with both hands on, one palm cupping his forehead, the other raking his fur from shoulder to the base of the tail. He prefers to lay in your lap, and it’s best if you happen to sit on the edge of the bathtub, since that’s where he stores his toys… He likes being close to them.

The way he lets you know to slow things down a bit is by digging his claws in your kneecaps. Once he goes from digging to pulling, you went too far… Amazingly, he sometimes enjoys belly rubs and getting his fur ruffled a little bit. Countless times a day he throws himself on our feet and rolls back and forth meowing and purring loudly. I sometimes pick him up so he can rub his face against mine while admiring the paint on the ceiling.

Titanescu enjoys fingers raking the fur between his ears and above his eyes. He also appreciates the occasional scritches at the corners of his mouth and chin, so long as you don’t go too far down his neck. And it’s always best to let him smell your fingers before touching him. And you gotta keep it light, without dragging it out too long. One pinkie for one minute is just about right.

Miss Jenny prefers to start out slow, fingers lightly raking from chin to tail, until she starts purring and stretching. Her favorite spot is the top of the cat tower, where she can push her arched back against the rim. You can then pet her more heavily, at which point it’s guaranteed she will fart. She looks at you as if to say she’s been brewing that methane just for you. Do you like it? Do you? She’s also been known to reach out and grab the glasses off my face, running scared when they clatter on the floor…

Now it’s time for another Shorty and Kodi video. We can relate to this. We just put up new drapes. The sheers are shredded and the drapes are now wearing a fur fringe. Be sure to visit their Youtube page or Facebook page.

Life in JBoD’s Zooniverse looks like one big feline slumber party. All our cats have at some point learned to cuddle and sleep with one another, and we have the cute photos to prove it. Nurse Jenny loves to sleep on Tito for instance. A couple of licks on his head and she flops on top of him. Even though their occasional sessions of mutual grooming degenerate into a Klingon ritual with tufts of fur flying, none of them has ever been that much upset or worse from wear.

Tito and Miss Jenny wrestle and peck at each other until only one remains in the basket to sleep, but there are no hard feelings, even after some pretty brutal bouts.

Which brings us to Titanus Grumpicus, that old gulag heavyweight…

Against her better judgment, which was sadly never that great to begin with, Miss Jenny continues her efforts in R&D, Rapprochement and Détente. She even managed to rest her head against Titanescu’s rump while he dozed off the other day, until he turned to glare at her. We suspect he has tattoos of onion-domed towers on his back, hidden under his fur, along with Russian iconography all done in black ink.

Titanescu doesn’t really know how to play, although there are signs he might like to: he will stretch at the bottom of the cat tower and sharpen his claws on it, prompting either Tito or Jenny to go into stalking mode. But when he’s at rest is not the time to come goad him. While not ferocious, he’ll swiftly throw the younger cat down and maybe swallow a tuft of fur for good measure. As the expression goes, Titanescu is not violent, he is competent. He doesn’t go overboard: a quick toss, maybe a push of the teeth, enough to have Jenny cry “uncle”.

Until her next social experiment in R&D…

Now, for a musical interlude with Shorty and Kodi. Be sure to visit their Youtube page or Facebook page.

Even sitting by the window, he gazes inward. He pays no attention to traffic or birds in flight, he just appears absorbed in thought.

Maybe about his new life, maybe about the younger cats still trying to figure him out… Like kids throwing rocks through the windows of a dilapidated house, they pursue him to shove their nose under his nub.

“It is the nature of youth to play, with their foolish lack of purpose, but to suffer their nose up my tuchus? If two swats do not suffice, a quick bite on the neck shall have them running to their mother’s lap with a yowl.”

Of course, Jenny yelps more from surprise than pain: Titanescu doesn’t bite so much as push on you with his teeth. No, the real protest comes from catching a whiff of halitosis from Grumps. Irony for you, coming from the blue eyed little ball of gas.

But even if he knew his fetid breath for what it actually is, there’s no sign this mild indignity would bother the old hero. He lives each day, each hour as a separate life, spending many hours in contemplation.

He’s a cat who’ll go round and round (slowly) over a spot like a dog before settling down, resting his head against an arm or a leg. We’ve not heard him growl or purr, although he’s inflicted the occasional breathy hiss. We’ve learned his ears tell the story: it is time to stop messing him about when they start twitching. Next will be either a push of the teeth or a punch. I’ll take the teeth thing over the paws, at least they don’t bruise, and I can wipe off the excess spit…

Titanescu is I think the only cat I’ve ever known who would not recoil after hissing or hitting a human. He sits very calmly with a stoic look, not even a hint of feeling, ready to hit again if pushed. No sign of fear whatsoever.

In our defense, I think we’re getting trained faster than either Tito or Jenny, although the giddy temptation to “throw rocks” remains.