When Jake wants to be petted, it'd dealer's choice. He flops down next to you and is happy to take whatever he gets. Not so with Jenny.

She is very particular. You can never start anywhere near her head at the beginning. Only her back. She will let you know when you can proceed to the top of her head. Then she will let you know when you can move to the sides of her face. Then under her chin. Then her belly. And the process... which never changes... can take a while. Which is fine when I have time. But not so fine when I don't.

And speaking of Jake flopping down anywhere... he really does. He can sleep anywhere low or high...

Oh how I envy him. I have a tough time sleeping in a comfy bed.

From the moment I got home yesterday, Jenny was following me around the house. Up to and including when I went to the bathroom.She is, of course, too much of a little lady to actually follow me inside, but she was not at all above waiting outside for me to leave...

Don't worry... she followed me back downstairs.

Jenny is quite the little princess, and expects me to wait on her hand and foot. And she's getting more demanding with each passing day.

This past week I had to get out of bed for my early morning Zoom call and she hissed at me because I stopped petting her! I had to push sheets against her and pet her a bit so she would calm down...

So spicy.

Jake isn't quite so demanding. But, then again, he's been sleeping with his foot in his face lately...

In other Caturday news... my cats are thieves!

This past week I heard shenanigans downstairs after I had already gone to bed. I took a look at the security cameras to see if I needed to intervene and saw that Jake was attempting to steal cat treats up on the counter... WHILE JENNY KEPT WATCH DOWN BELOW! Seriously, she kept looking up the stairs to make sure I wasn't coming!

I didn't bother to go downstairs. I figured that if they managed to get the bag open, they deserved to have the treats...

On Friday night Jake walked up and informed me it's his dinner time. I informed him that it's 15 minutes until dinner time. He did not like this. He proceeded to jump up next to me on the couch and squawk and squawk and squawk. It's times like this I am happy that he can't meow. Usually I feel sorry for him, but I would go bonkers if he was able to meow at me every time he was upset about something.

Eventually Jake's shenanigans caused Jenny to think that it's dinner time so she woke up and came down. When she found out that it wasn't, she sat and stared at me like it's my fault that Jake can't tell time!

And maybe it is. But, in my defense, Jake doesn't really listen when I try to teach him stuff.

Jake is going through a phase of some kind. He wants all my attention the minute I get home from work... then decides that he's had enough after ten minutes or so... then avoids me until bedtime. He'll literally go out of his way to avoid me. This is strange. But it gets stranger.

He's gone from being obsessed with his toy lion, Mufasa, to being outright hostile twords the thing. He no longer carries it around like it's his baby... but instead throws Mufasa around and pounces on it so he can bite bite bite it.

I don't know how much more poor Mufasa can take of this. I've already has to repair him twice. If he ends up in shreds, I have no idea what will happen. I've tried to find a replacement for years to no avail.

Meanwhile, Jenny is all about setting traps for me.

This may look for an invitation for belly rubs...

But I assure you it is NOT. At least usually it's not. You have to attempt pets in order to find out.

Which is just the way it goes with her now-a-days...

Sassy little minx.

It's a Caturday kinda day.

Yesterday morning after my Zoom meeting, I went to check on my cats. I do not know what it is about my awesome "Jungalow by Justina Blakeney" bed cover... but my cats love it. A lot. They would fight over getting to lay on it after I fold it up at night, so finally I just started folding it in two sections so they can both lay on it...

Though sometimes they do like to snuggle on it together...

The other day I dropped some papers on the floor. Jake comes sprinting up and sat on them before I could pick them up. Which meant I ended up having to sit and wait for him to move before I was able to finish my work for the day...

Apparently this is Jake's way of "helping."

I've mentioned how Jenny can never decide what she wants, but now it's happening with increasing regularity. RUB MY BELLY!!

10 seconds later... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? NO! NO! NO! NO!!!!

But if I don't rub her belly on demand, she gets even more upset.

Cats.

Wow... my Friday yesterday was like Monday.

I forgot my glasses downstairs (easy to do when I'm starting with contact lenses again) so OF COURSE this is the day that Jake decided to puke up a hairball in the hall. Fortunately, he was like a seeing eye cat who walked around it when I was heading down to make them breakfast, and I followed him because I couldn't see it.

BUT IT GETS WORSE!

When Jenny doesn't have a clean litter box, she will hold it for as long as she can, then find a spot when she can't hold it any more. Little did I know that both Litter-Robots didn't cycle for some reason, so when I saw the blurry blob on the floor while making the cats their breakfast, I assumed that it was a mouse.

I get my glasses and... NOPE! Jenny took a dump on the kitchen floor.

This is only the second time she's done this, and I feel so bad for her that I can't be even a little upset. She likes a clean place to do her business, and I failed her. Albeit unintentionally.

I am upset for me, because this meant I had to haul out the Pine-Sol and steam cleaner to make sure the floor was fully disinfected!

I looked up the security footage, and poor Jenny looked so ashamed afterwards...

My poor little girl. I promise to check the Litter-Robots each night to make sure they're emptied and clean!

I have been working minimum 15 hour days, 7 days a week, for at least three months.

Jenny looks how I feel this morning...

   
And now I'm off to work for a few hours before meeting up with a friend to go on a drive. Finally something to look forward to!

For some reason, Jenny has regressed to when she was a kitten and was terrified of me. If I walk into a room she's in, she runs away. If I approach her, she scampers and hides. And even when she comes in to hop on the bed with me, the slightest move will send her running. Any interaction has to happen very much on her terms.

I guess this is revenge for my working late?

But once she's actually on the bed, everything is back to normal. Kinda. She's a bit reserved at first... looking like a little loaf of bread, and if I touch her at this point, she will run off...

Eventually, she'll turn around and allow some butt scratches...

Then, if she deems it acceptable, she'll allow you to scratch her face, but she doesn't look all that happy about it...

But then, if I'm patient, she'll be all "RUB MY BELLY! RUB MY BELLLLLYYYYY!

The little goofball.

Jake, on the other hand, is just Jake. Though he is getting to the point where he wants to smoosh his face up against something when he sleeps. Like my legs...

Though he is happy to sleep absolutely anywhere...

Though right now the both of them are more interested in checking out the new quilt I got for my bed. I think that Jenny is scared of it (though I see her sleeping on it when I'm not home), but Jake doesn't know what to make of things...

Cats. What can you do?

Nothing quite like really needing to go to the bathroom when your cats have fallen asleep on (or around) you.

This has been happening a lot with both Jake and Jenny lately, because I've turned the heater off for the season to save money. They've got fur coats and I can put on a hoodie, so it should be all good.

Except it really isn't, because my body heat is a big draw. This past week Jake was intent on warming up his ass against me...

I thought that I was getting a break when Jake got up to leave, but he decided to trade me in for his sister...

And of course I can't disturb that cuteness, and so I had to hold it a while longer.

Jenny just keeps getting more finicky.

It took a very long time... months... before she allowed me to touch her. Then months more before she was comfortable being touched. Then months after that before anything but petting her back were on the table. After a couple years, she started liking belly rubs.

And belly rubs are a big deal, yo.

You must start with her back. Then give her butt scratches for a while. Then maybe some chin scratches. Then she will flop over on her back, at which time you're then allowed to rub her belly.

At least that's how it was.

Now, there are times that she flops down on her back... but changes her mind for some reason. At which point she will use her back foot to force your hand out of the way...

And if you try to continue on after being denied? She will switch to pushing my hand away with both back feet...

And if you dare to press onward. Things get very serious. That belly closes off real quick...

So... lesson learned. I will be sure that what Jenny thinks she wants is what she actually want.

And I'll try to not be offended if she changes her mind.