Oh kitty

We have three cats- Contessa, Valentine & Johnny. Robbie loves them all. The cats do not always return his affections.

Johnny mostly just stays out of Robbie's way. If Johnny is sleeping and Robbie pets him, he tolerates that pretty, but for the most part, he gives Robbie a wide berth. Robbie is pretty good about petting Johnny nicely. He went through a phase of fur pulling, but we finally seemed to get through to him how to pet nicely.

Valentine does not like Robbie.

It wasn't always that way. When Robbie first came home from the hospital, Valentine would get upset when Robbie cried. She would often beat us to his bedside and knead the area closest to him and pace nervously as though she was concerned we weren't tending him well enough.

These days, however, she sees him coming and growls. One of the most amusing and surprising moments we had when Robbie was very small was when Valentine hissed him and he burst into tears. He was only a few months old at that time. We didn't expect him to even understand that it was an unhappy noise, but he most certainly did. He was hysterical- his feelings were clearly hurt.

Robbie has learned to keep his distance. Often, she's laying on the couch and he makes happy noises and just stares at her. You can just see the wish in his face. He wants to pet her. But if he dares get to close, she'll smack and run. She doesn't have her front claws, so she doesn't do any damage, but her feelings are quite clear. GO AWAY.

Then there is Contessa. I occasionally, jokingly refer to her as my first born occasionally because she is so affectionate with me, she may as well be a child. She's a pretty precocious cat, pretty set in her ways. We were worried there would be jealousy issues with Robbie, but she's really done okay. You can sometimes tell she's not happy to have to share my lap with that.... boy.. but she handles it pretty well. And she tolerates Robbie the best of the bunch.

As for Robbie? He loves him some fluffy kitty! (Contessa is a long hair.) Often he'll catch sight of her laying about and he grins like a fool and makes a bee line for her. He has this happy noise that is reserved just for the kitties and sometimes he'll even say "oh kitty" or "hi kitty." And then he pounces. It's not so much petting as a full body hug. He'll bury his face into her fur and give her a sloppy, open mouthed kiss. She just squeaks and looks around for help.

Of course, we always encourage "gentle" pets and rescue the kitty. She'll usually wiggle free and move over a few feet. He'll chase her down and we do it all again. After 2 or 3 full body hugs Contessa usually heads for higher ground.

This whole encounter is difficult to get pictures of because it tends to happen so quickly and I'm usually busy trying to rescue the kitty w/o upsetting Robbie, so I can't get the camera. This afternoon, though, I sacrificed Contessa's dignity for a few shots.

Oh Kitty.



I love you



I just want to hug you and squeeze you and love you..



Come back kitty, come back!




--Trish