(cat)hartic

 

In one of my favorite books, the devastatingly sad protagonist (who had just lost his bond-animal) has a mental conversation with a cat: 

"Make a lap by the fire.…Hold the cat, you’ll feel better. Fennel the cat said.
I don’t think so.
He rubbed against my leg insistently. Hold the cat.
I don’t want to hold the cat.
Don’t talk back, pick up the cat!
…he leapt to my shoulder…He landed, not heavily, but as if someone had put a large, friendly hand on my shoulder. Hold the cat, you’ll feel better. "
(—Fool’s Errand, Robin Hobb) 

The cat is right.

playing is very tiring

Meet Wesley. Full name: Ensign Wesley Crusher (of Star Trek: The Next Generation)

 

Telling me the whole tale of how he caught the fish-bird.

helping

He came into our home in the middle of May, I just hadn’t gotten around to an introduction. He orbits me like a small, furry satellite expecting attention, pets, hugs, laps, toys, attention, anything. He runs around like a crazy, whirling dervish, skidding across the floor and up the 8-foot cat tower, all carrying his favorite fish-bird toy. He is deadly to any paper bag, box or laundry basket. 

am I interrupting boys?

He and the older cat Jack have come to some agreement, and wrestle time is every evening. He is just over a year old, and Jack is 15.

But he seeks me out when I am sitting quietly, probably thinking too much, and wants to sit ON me, in any way possible. Hold the cat, you'll feel better.

Hanging in the catio: Jack (in the box) and Wesley on a shelf perch

My SO built and awesome “catio” accessed off our bedroom, both cats love it. I join them to sit out there in the morning, cup of tea, trying NOT to be the crazy cat lady in a custom catio with her cats…I think I’ll just have to embrace it.

 Thank you Wesley for being a bright (orange) spot in my life.