|
|---|
|
| Click below for: |
|
|
| Our Cats |
| Jon The Patron |
|
|
| Return to Frontierland Home Page |
| Return to Home Page |
Hugo and Daphne
Jon and Jeanne's pet cats
On May 27, 2004, we adopted two four-year-old cats.
|
| Daphne & Hugo (It's a black and white photo: they're black and white cats!) |
Like all pet owners, we're just a little too obsessed with our cats. We think they're the “best cats in the world” and love to share stories about them. So allow us to indulge, and read about them here.
Hugo and Daphne are brother and sister, and they've lived together their whole lives. They've only lived with us, though, since we adopted them from Kitty Cottage in May of 2004, when they were four years old. They're white with large black splotches, kind of like Holstein cows, but please don't call them “cow cats.”
Daphne
Daphne is a love slut. She's not just affectionate, she's downright wanton. She'll happily sit on our laps and insist on being petted. She, literally, walks all over us, especially when we're in our bed. But what's really weird is when she starts licking our hands. Especially Jon's. Maybe she was weaned too soon. But if given a chance, she'll lick his hands incessantly, almost obsessively, with loud slurping noises. It sounds a lot like "kitty" porn. One of these days, we'll write it all down: "Dear Penthouse, I never thought I'd be writing a letter like this, but…"
Jeanne fears that if Daphne ever develops opposable thumbs, Daphne will kill her in her sleep.
We usually call her "Piglet," since she'll eat anything at anytime, and has even been caught begging -- like a dog -- for table scraps.
Hugo
Hugo is not a lap cat.
He needs his personal space, but he does deign to allow us to shower him with love when he is on his bed. But he really loves getting brushed and will gladly forget he's supposed to be aloof if it means a chance to get brushed and stroked. He likes to greet Jon when he steps out of the shower and help him to dry his legs by rubbing his fur against them. Like all cats, he has more than one name. Sometimes we call him "Monkey Boy" because of the chirping noises he makes when he wants to play. More often than not, we just call him "Dude!"
Cat Games
Slowly, gradually, the cats became accustomed to their new home and began to relax and enjoy themselves. At first, we couldn't get them to move a lot. Heck, we could barely get them to come out from under their bed. They showed little interest in the pair of cat trees we got for them. But as time goes by, they become more outgoing, and more playful. Now we watch them as they invent new games to play.
At first, the only thing they'd pay attention to was the "feather on a stick." Daphne would catch it and sit down with all four paws firmly pinning the feather to the ground. Her expression said "I was told I could have my feather" (like Stephen Root
talking about his stapler
in the movie Office Space).
Eventually, they began to show interest in small wads of crumbled up paper. Sometimes they'll bat them around and chase them. Hugo will practice his swing by picking one up in his mouth and dropping it so he can bat it away with his paw before it hits the ground. Daphne, on the other hand, likes to drop the paper into shoes so she can dig them out again. Of course, sometimes she just leaves them in the shoes for us to find later. Pipe cleaners are also very popular toys for them now. They also like small fuzzy mice. And of course, Cat Dancer ("for the kitty that displays the habits of a sloth and the girth of a hippo") gets them so riled up they sometimes growl, or at least pant audibly.
