Cat Follies

At the beginning of the month, my father and I picked out a pair of kittens of mixed breed. At the time we and the people who had them thought the yellow and white one was female. Well three weeks later it turns out Toph was a late bloomer and is actually a boy.

To be fair, this was a hard kitten to sex until the past week. A large growth spurt has revealed all beyond a shadow of a doubt. It helps that he has developed into a lap cat and can finally be examined without it being considered a call to wrestle.

From now on, Toph is hearby named Top, short for Top Cat. In addition to being something of a whirling dervish, he’s quietly asserting dominance over the household mainly through natural charm. Amazingly, he’s gotten the older and not terribly cat friendly Snooky to play with him when she thinks we aren’t looking.

However, Baron doesn’t get along terribly well with our resident feline queen of all she surveys. At issue are her public displays consisting of growling, spitting, and the occasional slap of the paw. Being more sensitive, he takes it personally. Fortunately, Snooks isn’t really serious, but he doesn’t understand that like Top does.

Several times I’ve found myself holding Snooky in my arms with the two boys settled on my lap. It is hard to get anything done when so heavily catted especially with her having gotten so fat as shown above. I haven’t weighed her, but she’s got to be near sixteen pounds. Thanks to the youngsters, she’s become much more active and cheerful despite her protestations.

And that’s why we got the furballs in the first place.

They are very affectionate with Baron being extremely so. He’s a hand and nose tip washer which is taking some getting used to. The ragdoll genetics seem to be kicking in and the brothers get carried around quite a bit. One drawback is that when they get relaxed they get too relaxed resulting in them falling off the lap or arms. Midair kitten catching is a needed reflex in dealing with Top and Baron

Baron was snapped shortly after being treated with earmite killer which he did not enjoy. Within two minutes he was back to wanting attention, which has to be a record for any cat that we’ve had. Most have resented treatment for a good hour or more.

His hair is not growing much longer but does have a double coat of very fine fur of varying lengths giving him a slightly raggedy appearance. Stroking the kitten is like petting a cloud as my father describes it. He’s already quite a looker.

That little varmint scared us a two weekends ago by getting really ill for several days. Thankfully the little tiger responded well to antibiotics so he’s booming and zooming around again.

During the mini crisis, Top became really subdued over his brother being sick. Showing some tenderness after realizing the tiger wouldn’t play, he washed him and kept near him at night. Along with us humans, Top brightened up considerably when Baron recovered. That just added to the positive impresson the easy going soul had made.

Meanwhile, our oldest cat Tessa continues to be antisocial with all felines, which is nothing new. Even Top can’t make any inroads with the old girl despite them bein lookalikes. Age has deprived her of what little spark she had in the first place and she’s slowly finishing out her days on Dad’s bed.