Fur Ball Habits

Simon's Cat - If you Love Cats - You gotta know who Simon's Cat is

From the previous two posts about how Will and Grace came to share my apartment with me I mentioned that both cats had their different habits that identified their unique characters ... here is a short list of the most quirky ones 

Eating Habits

Will and Grace eat from a twin food tray, it has two sectioned off bowls, I noticed almost immediately since they were kittens each cat always ate from one side of the bowl - from the first time I got them home. Will to the left and Grace to the right.  This goes on until one is fed up and the other one turns to finish off whatever is left.  That's usually Grace task to clean up the food dish. 

Litter Habits

While Will makes a project about using the litter tray and has been trying to dig a tunnel to Australia for the past six years, proceeding to covering his business over and over again until all the litter pearls are in one heap in a corner or all over the floor.


Grace can't be bothered she hops into the tray, does her business and is out of their before you can bat an eyelash - it's like she wants to disassociate herself with the task at hand.

Neither one of them will use the tray if for some God-forsaken moment mum is busy and hasn't replaced the contents of the tray with a fresh pack punctually every two and a half weeks.

Grooming

Will adores being brushed, he loved it from day one and never looked back, he used to trot to the bathroom when he was tiny and I'd carry him on the washing machine and he could sit there for as long as the brush kept on grooming him - he still is - however now he rushes from whatever he is doing as soon as I say "Brush" - he leaps on the washing machine and I'm not allowed to stop brushing him until he's had enough.  He walks around the square area to make sure all of him is brushed, being short coat cats neither of them need a lot of grooming but Will does like the one on one attention with the Brush!  Grace gets her moment once or twice a weak but it's her call ... she turns up at the washing machine and when she does ... she get brushed!!!

Nail trimming is a different story, I encounter a different side to both cats, they forget they are gentle loving furballs when they see the special scissors - I have to wear my winter dressing gown to protect my limbs from being shredded - eventually after all is done and I shower them with kisses and treats the trauma is quickly forgotten and they get back to our normal lives - sleep - eat - sleep - groom - sleep - nag - sleep nibble. 

Photo courtesy of NASA

Morning Habits

Will & Grace grew into adorable cats and loving companions, they both have but one terrible habit which over the years I have not managed to get them to stop doing.

When young cats they would remain asleep until they heard me walk out of the bedroom in the morning or heard my pottering about in the flat.  However one year in particular when we change the clocks for daylight saving time something clicked in both of them and they started waking up before the sun was up and most importantly before I was up, expecting breakfast, although I would have left some dry food out overnight they demand breakfast to be served.  I cannot explain in words what goes on in my bedroom so I will leave you to enjoy Simon's Cat its very close to what happens to me - but I don't keep a baseball bat under my bed !  I must point out that the mastermind mind is always Grace, Will is usually nagging for food from the end of the bed or the carpet near the bed but Grace she puts her heart and soul into making sure I'm up ...

Link to Simon's Cat

The Balls of Fur take over the Apartment

It took very little time for the three of us to get used to each other - the first days that Will & Grace moved into the apartment where part of a bridge long weekend, so I spent all my time at home with them.

I remember the first night as if it was yesterday, I kissed their little heads good night and settled them on their little bed with their new blanket.  As I made my way to my bed room, Grace started to follow keeping her distance - I doubt that she had ventured as far as the bedroom yet!  As I was getting ready for bed I heard a tiny squeak and I found her at the door looking at me quizzically as if to say - "where are you going, I hope you're not planning to leave us out in the front room ALONE?"  A few moments later she was joined by her brother, timid little Will ... as they both sat at the threshold of my room I told myself I couldn't let them sleep alone.

So I brought their bed and blanket into the bedroom and placed them just by my bed on a rug ... Will was trying to see what was beyond the bed so I carried him and put him gently on my quilt, in a flash Grace had jumped up on the bed, walked the perimeter and settled nicely in the gap between the two pillows.  That would remain Grace's spot and hiding place for many months to come ... and the bed - well let's say it became shared territory.

My Our bed ... Grace is at the far end snoring while Will is in a slumber

A few days after adoption day, I started to realise what creatures of habit cats really are!  I had read about it but seeing these two little creatures performing their little habits was fascinating - I will be writing about their quirks in the coming days.  Before picking up the kittens, I had  scheduled an appointment with a VET to have them checked out, he was going to be pleasantly surprised that now there where two!  I put Will & Grace in their travel box with their fluffy blanket and ventured out into the elevator and to the garage, all was fine until we got to the car and I started the engine ... Grace wasn't at all keen on this new experience.  On their first trip home they must have been to engulfed in their little world to realise what was going on.  Let's just say that no matter how slow or fast I drove, if I had the music on or off, if the travel box was covered or not, if the windows where up or down, Grace was kicking a hell of a fuss - Will did a little whimpering but certainly not striking the cords his sister was!  After the torturous drive that took 30 minutes we arrived at the VET's clinic and once out of the moving car and into the clinic Grace was well behaved compared to the other cats which where hissing and dogs barking their faces off.  

The doctor examined them both and told me that they were healthy, that Will needed a bit more nutrition to catch up with his sister and that they where infested with flees .... OH MY GOD ... I was shocked, but he said that after a couple of days of using a special spray we would be rid of these blood sucking pests - I should have expected it really but I was too engulfed in the fluffiness of their fur to look closely!  Lesson number one: check their fur for flees every so often!  We scheduled dates for their next shots and I listened to the advise given by the doctor to consider neutering one or both of them ...   We where out of there, back to my Ka and back to the screaming entertainment from my little drama queen.

Not Will Neither Grace!!!

When I got home I attempted to give the kittens a bath before I applied the pest spray, the car ride was one thing but getting Her Highness wet was a completely different story.  Neither Will or Grace where too keen on getting wet - that was Lesson number two: my kittens hate water - I also realised that nothing was happening with regards to the pests since they remained attached to their fur and the little ones were getting extremely distressed and worked up.  I dried them off in a towel, applied the spray and waited until the next day to groom them with a thin comb and get them Flee Free!  It wasn't an easy tasks since their bodies where still so small and fragile, but with a lot of patience and a pinch of TLC I manage to get the task done. Healthy and bug free Will and Grace continued to explore and get accustomed to their new life with me as their mummy.

Will's appetite started to increase and he had more energy to run around and play with the toys - he was especially fond of a feather hanging off some elastic and stick - he would grab the feather and run all over the apartment with it as if his life depended on it.  Grace was also making sure her baby brother gets better, I would see her fuss over him and lick him - they had really bonded and that made me think of what a mistake it would have been to adopt one kitten alone.  Will and Grace where meant to be a team!

Grace was very fond of playing hide and seek and if nobody noticed she was playing well - she started to scream loud enough that I'de hear her, panic, stop whatever I was doing and go in search of her ... Once she was have discovered she'd wonder off as if nothing had happened - such a snob! Grace still plays at hide and seek to this day although she isn't a young kitten any more.  She normally hides at the opposite end of the apartment so that I can go look for her.

I had to train myself to always look into a cupboard before closing the door since both of them have a knack of getting into the pantry or the wardrobe without me noticing.  There have been times when I spend too much time staring at the open wardrobe trying to decide what to wear and Grace would go in and make herself comfortable on the shelf where I keep my tees ... I would also close the doors after I'm done, not realising she's in there until Will sits himself in front of the door calling me until I come back and check the wardrobe ... Her Highness straddles out as if from a cat walk!  Will always has Graces back when it comes to these things. 

During the early days of the adoption I couldn't wait to get back home after work or after a dive I would be eager to spend time with my babies - they always greeted me at the door ... Grace always doing a turn on her side when she saw me - so cute :)

Will and Grace usually had their first meal of the day while I had breakfast, some soft kitten food followed by a hand full of crushed dry food for them to nibble on during the day, together with a bowl of fresh water.  The Vet had recommended that I start them off on Science Plan food from Hills and they seems to like it - that has been their diet ever since, occasionally I buy different wet food since the Science Plan brand only has Pate here in Malta and they seem to prefer the chunks of food that come in jelly or grave so we alternate tastes and flavours. They are very fond of their treats which I give them for being the well behaved little companions that they are.

Grace playing hide & seek

....the habits of Will & Grace will follow....