It's good to be home with Ella and Bubba. Ella alternated between wanting to be let into her private room (the library) and wanting to come back out here with me for the first half hour, then settled on the cat bed next to my keyboard for a few hours. She is in her library now, though. Bubba was over-the-top, happy to have us home, although he has finally settled at his normal place on top of the stand-alone freezer, which is warm from the electronics and has a cat pad. The friend who cared for them while we were gone did a great job. She sits here with them for a while each time and gives them treats after they have eaten, but she's not like having us here 24/7. She said that Bubba would greet her at the door every time, meowing like a kitten and purring. For such a big cat, he does have a meow like a kitten that he uses most often, although he can also make other sounds.
I've been sick for the past four or five days; nothing serious, I don't think - just congestion and sneezing. Not wanting to give it to my wife, which is strange, since she is usually the one bringing stuff home, given that she's out and about every day, and insists on hugging anyone she hasn't seen for the last fifteen minutes, I've been sleeping downstairs on a futon, which isn't the most comfortable thing in the world; I'm not sure whose idea futons were. Anyhow, neither of my cats is comfortable on the futon, largely, I think, because they want more room, but they don't want to lose their place in my affections, so they've been splitting their time between us. Actually, as it started out, that first night, Ella was there until the first time I turned over, then she called it quits and went to sleep on a cat bed in the same room. That lasted until Bubba decided he'd come up on the bed. Ella wasn't having any of that, so she was back until Bubba got the message that he had to leave, after which Ella left too, and I imagine they both went to sleep upstairs, Ella on the bed and Bubba on my chair in the living room. They were back checking on me off and on, but I didn't have any of them on my futon the rest of the night. The next night, Bubba got to the futon first and stayed through half the night, until I had to roll over, and then he had enough of that, too. I don't think I saw Ella on the futon at all that night. The third night, Ella got to the futon first but gave up on it before I had even gotten to sleep. Bubba was on the futon for a short time, then retreated to a "fort" that I had made for them by duct-taping two large boxes together and stacking one on top of the other, cutting entrance holes and some smaller holes that they could use to slap whoever might be walking by. That must have been a good solution for him because he was next to me, but not on the futon. Ella was up and down all night but was under the covers in the upstairs bed when I got up the next morning. Last night, they both spent the first half of the night in the room with me, sometimes on the bed, but otherwise nearby. There are two other cat beds in the windows next to the bed. Then they spent the last half of the night upstairs. Ella was again under the covers (she sneaks under the covers at every opportunity, although we don't let her do that knowingly because of the cat hair she leaves on the sheets. Bubba was on my chair. I think maybe there will be one more night on the futon, but I'm feeling pretty much better now. Still some sneezing, though.
We've been trying to get over something for the last two weeks. In-between taking Sudafed, Cold/Flu OTC and Hall's Cough Drops (sore throat) we are finally getting better. We think we picked up something being around a lot of folks during rodeo stuff here. We are also noticing more and more people, older and somewhat younger, wearing masks again. Even though we don't go into Walmart that much, have seen a number of Walmart employees wearing them.
We've actually considered something like that. Better yet, would be one of those fences designed to keep cats from crossing, but that's way more expensive than a catio would be. Still, it would be great to be able to give them access to the backyard.
Cats' ears are amazing. We live in a reasonably good-sized house; it was a three-unit apartment building when we bought it. Yet, I can have a television on downstairs, and my wife can have a TV on upstairs, yet I can't open a treat pouch or container for one of the cats downstairs without the other one, upstairs, hearing it immediately. It doesn't matter where they are or what's going on, they both know about it. Ella might be in the library with the door closed, yet if I try to give a treat to Bubba without immediately bringing one to her, she will be scratching on the door. I can't imagine having ears like that.
Without even looking out the window, they can also tell our cars apart from others by the sound they make. We have three cars, and Ella will run to the door when Michelle pulls into the driveway but hide if it's another car or truck. Bubba probably recognizes them, too, but he couldn't care less. He's not afraid if it's a stranger and is not particularly interested in Michelle being home. Since I'm a much nicer person, however, they are both at the door when I come home.
On the other hand, when we are away on vacation, when we return, they are both eagerly waiting, but, rather than wanting hugs, they both lead me to the room where I keep the treats. It's like, "Oh, we're so happy to have you home; we missed you so much, now give us treats."
I have a ten-pound weight that I sometimes use while sitting at the desk, switching from one hand to the other. I was lifting the weight today, without looking at it when, all of a sudden, it became a twenty-five-pound weight. As I had lowered it, Bubba grabbed onto it so that I lifted him up into the air.
So, I am trying to work here while sitting on the edge of my chair. When I got up to go to the bathroom an hour ago, Bubba took my chair, and he has had more chair space than I have ever since. It's not comfortable, but this is the kind of thing that brings you close to your cat. Or, maybe it just clarified what he already knew, which is that he's in charge.