Jake and Jenny finally seem to be adjusting to the end of Daylight Saving Time. There's a bit more harmony... a lot less fighting, hissing, and chasing. On the contrary, they actually seem to be fine with each other.

When I checked in on them yesterday afternoon, THEY WERE GIVING EACH OTHER BATHS AND SLEEPING ON MY BED NEXT TO EACH OTHER! I stopped making my bed ages ago because Jake likes having a berm to rest up against, and now I know that Jenny does as well...

Jenny has also stopped running off with Mufasa (as often), which makes me a lot less worried about leaving for work. It's more than a little heartbreaking looking at the security cameras and seeing Jake wandering around crying because he can't find his toy lion.

Lately I've been setting Mufasa at the bottom of the stairs when I run across him so that when Jake wants it, he will have a place to start looking...

Because if I were to just give it to him every time I find it, he'll just set it down and forget where he put it... so this seems a smarter way to go.

Though, as with most things to do with cats, being smarter isn't always the advantage you'd think it would be.

The last week has been very hard.

I was giving the cats a small treat at 6:00am... then 6:10am... then 6:20am... and so on until they got over Daylight Saving Time ending and were adjusted to their new one-hour-later feeding schedule. It's had mediocre success... or failure, I guess... which has resulted in Jake and Jenny getting violent with each other. Hissing, clawing, biting, chasing, and the whole deal. Same as it's been for the past four years. When they think that they aren't going to be fed, they take out their frustration on each other, which is SO difficult for me to take since they are usually so good with each other. This photo was taken the week before DST ended, and it's awful that it's not going to possible for a while until they are fully adjusted...

Rather than patiently looking around Jenny to see what's going on outisde in the catio... Jake would visciously attack her if it's anywhere near where his feeding time used to be.

For the past couple of mornings Jenny has come in at 5:55am and meowed for a while because she still wants her 6:55am breakfast at DST 6:55am, dammit!

If I didn't have a strict medication schedule which dictates when I can eat... then I would just forget about DST ending and keep the cats on DST permanently (LIKE WASHINGTON STATE HAS ALREADY VOTED TO DO, BUT FUCKING CONGRESS HAS TO APPROVE IT AND WE KNOW THAT THEY DON'T DO SHIT, SO I'M NOT HOLDING MY FUCKING BREATH!). But my eating times have to sync with the cats eating times so they don't want my food, and so it is what it is.

I'm just terrified that their violent behavior will "stick" one year and they won't go back to being the sweet brother and sister they've been to each other from the start.

Saturdays aren't just Caturday on my blog... they're Caturday at home too. It's the day that I steam-clean the cat feeding station... wash down and fill the automated feeders... soak and scrub the water fountain... empty and wipe down the Litter-Robots... and wash the covers of the warming pads. It's nice to have a routine so I know that everything is ship-shape and clean for Jake and Jenny for the coming week.

Not that I could ever forget to take care of them. Whenever I'm home they are always with me. Since hot air rises, I spend much of my time upstairs where it's warmer. The cats never pass up a shot to sleep while I'm working or reading in bed...

They're not always sleeping though. The other day Jenny was trying to give herself a pedicure, but her foot kept slipping away. So I decided to give her a hand and hold it up for her...

And now I have to deal with the worst night of the year for pet owners... the end of Daylight Saving Time, when tomorrow Jake and Jenny will not understand (or care) why their breakfast is an hour late. Lord how I hate dicking with the clocks twice a year. It's so senseless.

And so I finally put the warming pads out for the cats. Jake and Jenny complain if it gets too cold, but they settle right down if they have a warm spot to lay on. And it's cheaper than turning the heat on.

Jake took to it immediately. I barely got the thing plugged in...

Jenny ignored it. But eventually I lured her onto one and now you'd have to light a stick of dynamite under her furry butt before she'd vacate the thing...

And so... heating crisis averted.

For now.

Jenny is incredibly stealthy. She can slink into a room and I rarely hear her. One minute there's not cats, I look away for a second and... BLAM!... there's Jenny.

Jake is a different animal entirely. His nails click on the hardwood floors when he's walking, so I always know where he's at... so long as he's mobile.

As you may remember, I builts a shelf for on top of the stairwell after Jake fell and sprained his leg...

To make it more comfortable for him, I put carpet on the top. And he loves it. Many nights he will sleep on it because he can stretch out and be comfortable...

But the thing about carpet is... Jake makes no noise when walking on it.

This morning I was working at my desk even though I'm more comfortable working on the couch or in bed (my new, low-level iMac with Apple's M1 chip is far faster than my top-of-the-line MacBook Pro with an Intel chip). I was so absorbed in what I was doing that I had no idea Jake was sitting on the stairwell tray... just staring at me while I work! I was thrown into shock when I noticed and nearly fell out of my chair. But Jake just continued to stare at me...

It's like when we're racing downstairs because it's breakfast time. Sometimes Jake will be barreling down the stairs ahead of me and all of a sudden just... stop and sit down. I very nearly trip down the stairs trying to halt my downward momentum, and I just don't understand why he would be doing this. Am I going to slow and he wants to mock me by resting half-way down or something?

My cats will be the death of me. It's just a matter of timing.

My cats have decided that the colder weather should come with a renewed sense of pandemonium. They are acting totally nuts in a way I haven't seen since they were kittens. Which I'm guessing is a good thing? Running around the house at top speed for no reason. Chasing each other around the catio at all hours.

a perfect example is Jenny catching a praying mantis out in the catio... bringing it inside... losing it... then spending the next hour-and-a-half chasing it down so she can murder it (the corpse was on my floor the next morning...

If you look carefully, you can see the poor think fly across the top of the screen at 0:05. Which means she was running into the guest bedroom and tearing through my dirty laundry piles in the entirely wrong place!

All this kitten-like behavior results in my cats sleeping really, really hard. Things that used to wake them up all serious-like (such as my iPhone ringing) now barely makes a dent.

Jake still wants to sleep on me (usauly my legs still)...

Where Jenny seems to want to spend time in my laundry basket lately...

Oh well. They're apparently happy and healthy in their craziness, so I guess it's all good?

And... my cats are now with me any time I'm home, hoping to sponge off my body heat because it's starting to get cold.

And because it's cold, most of the time when I'm working at home I'm in bed. The mattress heating pad is cheaper to run than the HVAC, so it's more budget-friendly to go with that. The fact that I get to spend a lot more time in bed is just a bonus. And my cats are all too happy to take advantage of the heat as well...

What's funny is that they both get upset when I'm at home but not in bed. Jenny will sit by my bed and meow. Jake will come butt his head against me on the couch letting me know he wants the mattress pad turned on. And if I'm at my destop iMac? Jenny frets at my feet meowing and Jake will legit just hop up on my desk and sit in front of the display...

Now, I realize that this is something other cats do a lot... but my cats don't really do this. When I am working, they will largely leave me alone. Except when the house is cold. And they want me in bed so that the mattress pad will be turned on.

Not that I can blame them... but holy crap. They have fur coats on!

Whenever I feed my cats, Jake just lunges for the bowl and starts chomping away. Jenny does not do this. Instead she rubs up against my legs first, as if she's saying "Thank you," THEN starts chomping away.

And there's a lot of differences like that.

Jenny contorts to where she wants to be petted, getting up and moving if she has to. Jake will just let out a soft cry when you are petting him in the wrong place and you have to figure out where he wants to be petted.

Jake will lay on top of me if he's in the mood. Jenny never will...

But many things are the exact same between them. Most things are the same.

Like the scratcher lounge.

Whenever one of them spots something interesting happening in the catio or the back yard, they'll dash to the scratcher lounger to have a look. Then the other one will follow. And whomever gets there first is who gets to lay down... the second one to arrive only has room to sit...

But only Jenny looks a little resentful when she's not the one laying down.

And you really can't blame her. That cardboard looks SO comfortable!

Jenny is pretty much back to normal after my leaving for a week.

Jake, on the other hand, is still stuck to me like glue whenever I'm home. The only thing that will pull him away is if he wants to eat or poop. Or his sister distracts him enough.

When Jake hears the door open, he comes running down the stairs at top speed to say hello. And sometimes he brings me a gift... like Peeps Bunny...

Jenny will just stay put and wait for me to come to her. She's a princess like that...

Surprisingly, Jake never gets bored hanging with me. He'll find a way to keep himself occupied... usually giving himself a bath... but sometimes chewing on my clothes or whatnot...

And occasionally doing his best to get his head stuck in my Cheetos bag...

Because some things never change.

My cats have never been okay with my traveling. They are barely agreeable for me to go to work. So it will come as no surprise that they were most unhappy for me to leave for a week.

But I really had no idea just how unhappy they would be.

Turns out that after having me home for two years, my leaving would end up being a Very Bad Thing.

Both cats have been glued to me since I got back... even going so far as to share the bed, which is something they do rarely...

Jenny is probably the most upset by my time away. Jake is usually the one who wanders the house crying when he can't find his toy lion, Mufasa, or can't figure out where I am. But lately it's Jenny who's been wandering the house crying. Jake simply never leaves my side except to go to the bathroom or eat...

I guess it's nice to have somebody who misses you while you're gone and is happy when you're back... but having Jenny wake you up at 2:30am because she wants attention is something I hope she gets over real quick!