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| Look how little he was!! |
He can be a bit of a toot sometimes....
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| "I have no idea how this lamp fell on the ground since I've been sleeping the whole time" |
...he's a great hunter...
....and the best place in the house to sleep is the place that is not intended for cats!
Other things we've learned about him in the year that we've had him:
1. He's not a lap cat, and really never has been. He likes to be in the area that his people are in - if Michel's in his man cave, Ninja's on his cat tree; if I'm in the living room, Ninja is laying somewhere within view of me.
2. If he doesn't get to go outside, he will drive you crazy!! Luckily, the house we bought had a small pet door installed in our back door that Ninja fits through very well, so when the weather is nice, we're at home, and it's daylight outside the cat door is open for him to come and go as he pleases. The 3 days this week that it rained, I kept the door shut and he drove me crazy because he had so much energy pent up. I played with him some, but it wasn't enough for him.
3. He's a sweet, loyal cat. When I was pregnant, Michel and I would go for a walk several mornings a week. Ninja would go out the front door with us, walk with us until we passed the neighbor's yard, then he would turn around and go back to our house where he laid on the front porch until we got home. Once we got home, he would walk with us to the front door. He wouldn't always go back in the house, but it's like he wanted to make sure we got in safely (at least that's what I tell myself!).
4. He's most affectionate at night! During the day, he's a you-can-pet-me-if-you-want-but-I-don't-really-care-either-way kind of cat. In the middle of the night, though, he demands that you pet him, scratch his chin, etc. I've perfected the art of feeding Audrey a bottle with one hand so that I can pet him with the other. The middle of the night is also about the only time we hear him purr. He gets loud!
5. I always tell Michel that 95% of the time he is the sweetest cat ever; the other 5% he's a big toot! Just recently, he learned how to open the kitchen cabinets. I went to small group on Wednesday night, and when I came home 2 of the kitchen cabinets were open....someone got bored and mischievous while home alone :)
6. He sees feet as play toys! I don't really consider him to be a "biter", but if he hasn't had enough play time, or enough time outside he will nip at your feet. Most of the time he never bites hard enough to break the skin, and definitely not enough to make you bleed, but there have been a few times where he's just got so much energy that he does bite harder than usual and will draw blood. It's never out of meanness, though, and I've never seen him do it to anyone besides Michel or me.
7. He doesn't really care one way or another about Audrey. When she's on the floor he'll come and sniff her, but isn't too interested in her. Maybe when she gets older and can interact with him he'll care, but it doesn't bother me that he's not interested in her. I'm just glad he doesn't view her as a threat.
8. He's a big sissy! If another cat comes in our yard, or the neighbor's dog is barking in their yard (and their dog is about Ninja's same size, if not smaller!) he comes running through the cat door - usually with his tail all fluffy.
9. He's not vocal at all. My 2 cats I had growing up always meowed at us when they wanted something; we hear Ninja meow maybe once a day.
10. Without meaning to, we've put him on a schedule! He knows when it's his dinner time (we leave dry food out for him all day, but usually around 5 or 6 we put out a plate of wet food for him, and he LOVES the wet cat food, so around 4:30 he starts hovering around the kitchen. Even if you walk in the kitchen to get a glass of water and it's close to time he normally gets fed, he'll start weaving himself in between your legs, rubbing his head all over you, and trying to be cute in hopes that he'll get some food out of it. :)
I'm glad we picked him from the shelter! We hadn't intended on getting a kitten (he was about 3-4 months old when we adopted him) because kittens are so energetic, and we went looking for a grown cat, but we saw him, played with him for a bit, and just decided he was the cat we wanted, and I'm so glad. He's really a great fit for our family!!
