Making Time for the Cat

This is true but the problem is figuring out what they are trying to say!

Welcome to another in a series of adjusting to life with a cat stories. The stereotype is that cats are aloof and standoffish and that may be true for some cats but not for our Tigger. He has moments when he wants to be alone but there are other times when he definitely wants attention. And a lot of moments when he wants food but that’s always easy to figure out.

And Tigger is most active in the morning which is also when I tend to be the only one up and also when I liked to do a lot of my stuff for the day. I’m having to change my routine around quite a bit because when he walks into my office, I know he wants something. When we first brought him in the house, he was happy just sleeping next to me while I mess around on the computer. But I think he’s over that now. There are still times when he comes in to just nap but those are the rare events now.

At first, he starts just rubbing around my legs and spreading his fur everywhere. Then, he’s nuzzling against anything and everything he can find. For awhile, I just thought this was him being happy but it is really a sign that he wants something because, if I don’t get up to do something, he’ll give me a little bite to tell me not to ignore him.

I’ve read a lot about this because I certainly don’t want to get to the point where he learns that biting is good and gets him what he wants. There is also something about being told what to do by a cat. But I’ve also read that cats aren’t really as anti-social as we think. They do enjoy bonding time with the people in the house and so if he’s asking for it, I should stop and give him some time. I mean I’m not doing anything that couldn’t wait or is on a deadline so, if he wants to play, why not indulge him?

After all, he does spend a significant portion of the day sleeping so the afternoons are generally cat free because he’s off somewhere napping. And he really seems to enjoy play time.

He will play on his own from time to time. That mostly involves finding a toy and then batting it around the room and chasing it to bat it again and again. We have to take inventory every so often because we’ll notice certain toys have vanished. Usually, that means they are under the couch or tucked away in some corner where he can’t get them out. So we just move the couch and see what we can find.

I did discover that I can rub some dried catnip into a toy and that really makes him happy. Most of the toys are catnip but I think they lose some potency over time so this just kind of refreshes them.

At the very least, life with a cat isn’t boring.