It’s been almost nine months since I brought Eloise home and seven months since Lila entered our lives. Before adopting my girls, I had zero experience with cats. (My family was more into dogs than cats, especially considering my grandma was super-duper allergic to cats.) I really had no idea what I was getting into. (Thank god for Kim, who I relied on so much. She sent me a long list of items to buy for cats and patiently answered all of my questions, even the really stupid ones. Heh.)
So, it’s been nine months of learning for me and I thought it might be fun to share all the stuff I’ve learned about cats and their behaviors. Let’s dive in!
> Sometimes, they sleep with their heads up. It still kind of weirds me out that they will fall asleep sitting upright because dogs just don’t do that. I had no idea what was happening when I saw Eloise do it for the first time and had to google about it. To better understand their communication, it’s fascinating to learn about the meowing and trilling of a Maine Coon cat.
> I’ve grown way too comfortable with the sight of their buttholes. Honestly, one thing nobody told me was how often I would be up close and personal with one of my cats’ buttholes. Lila’s especially, since she likes to lay right on my chest with her butt in my face.
> Cats love to wrestle! The first time Eloise and Lila fought, I was worried! Was someone going to claw an eye out? Nope – it’s just their way of playing! It’s always fun and playful with them. They just love to tussle and mess with each other, like all siblings do. It’s grown to be one of my favorite things because it’s just so funny to watch them wrestle!
> A tiny scrap of paper, bottle cap, hair tie, or other silly object brings them the most joy. Forget about regular cat toys. These girls just want silly inanimate objects to play with. They can keep themselves entertained for a long time by pushing these objects around the floor or throwing it up in the air or biting it. Speaking of…
> Nothing of mine is safe anymore. Whether it’s a hair tie on the floor, a necklace on my bathroom counter, or a marker on my kitchen island, if they find it, it’s for them to play with. The same is true with dogs (let’s talk about how Chip will sometimes run around with my mom’s glasses in his mouth), but the difference is, Chip can’t climb up on my bathroom counter or kitchen island or dresser. The cats can.
> Their pupils change sizes! Chalk this up to something else I didn’t know about cats. Sometimes, their pupils are as big as saucers and sometimes as small as slits. I think it has something to do with light and darkness? I read up on it a while ago because I was so interested in learning why their pupils can be such massively different sizes. Speaking of which…
> I can make their pupils dilate! Ah, it’s so funny to see this happen. I’ll do it just for fun when one of the girls is sitting on me. I’ll make a silly sound and watch their pupils get really big… and then return to normal when I stop making the sound. It’s the little things, sometimes.
> They eat insects! I did not realize this was going to be one of the benefits of having cats. (Or maybe I just had a really lazy dog, haha.) But the moment they spot an insect in the house, they are off to the races to kill it. Which works for me! One of the worst parts of living alone is having to kill all the bugs myself so it’s nice that I can let them do it for me. (I try not to let them eat the bug, though. I just appreciate that they help me kill the bugs. Team effort!)
> They climb on everything. Oh my goodness, I think the only place they haven’t climbed on is my kitchen counter. They love being on my kitchen island (they use my bar stool to get up there), my TV stand, my bed, and the window ledge in my bedroom. Ellie really loves jumping from my bed to the top of my dresser (and it’s one of those tall six-drawer dressers, so it’s quite the jump!) Lila has taken to jumping onto my bathroom counter when I’m using the toilet (TMI, sorry). They also love jumping on the side of the tub when I’m taking a bath, which freaks me out a bit because I’m worried about them falling in! Oh, and last night, I found Lila just sitting on top of my suitcase. Just because. Ellie will climb onto my new bookshelf from time to time, but usually only the bottom shelf. All this to say, nothing is safe. Everything is free to climb. I really need to get a cat tree but there’s nowhere in my apartment to put it. Definitely something I’ll be getting when I move next year!
> Speaking of climbing on everything, I still cringe every time they jump from a high distance. Sometimes, Ellie will jump right from the top of my dresser to the floor and it freaks me out. Just this week, Lila jumped a good five feet (laterally) from my bathroom counter to the center of my room. I know they’re okay to jump like that (something about a flexible spine?), but as a former dachshund mom who had to be so careful about Dutch’s back (I didn’t even like him jumping off the couch!), it’s this weird dichotomy. Hopefully, one day, it won’t freak me out so much!
> They give love bites! Eloise, especially, gives lots of love bites. She really loves to nip me in the elbow or side of my wrist, especially when I’m sitting down and petting her. Lila’s form of love bites is to just gnaw on one of my fingers, lol. Sometimes, she’ll wake me up in the middle of the night just for gnawing. Ah, silly girls.
> I didn’t realize how much time I would spend petting them. Oh boy, they are very demanding about their pets! They will even paw at me to give them pets if I’m not giving them the attention they feel they deserve. I had no idea how much time I would spend just rubbing and scratching that special spot right below their ears. They go bonkers for pets.
> They are so affectionate! Goodness gracious, I did not get cats that are aloof. My girls are obsessed with their mama. (Which makes me happy because I am just as obsessed with them.) They greet me when I come home, meow loudly for pets, and cuddle up with me at night. I think I definitely got lucky when it comes to having super affectionate cats, but I’d like to think I also had a little to do with it. Like, maybe because I’m so affectionate and loving with them, they reciprocate? Perhaps.
I’m glad you love being a cat mom so much! While Oscar is kind of aloof with me at times, she is very very affectionate with Phil. He calls her his velcro kitty because she’s always by his side. She meets him at the door when he comes home from work, sits outside the bathroom while he goes to the bathroom, and waits for him in the bathroom when he showers, etc etc. She’s not as interested in me, unless Phil isn’t around!
One thing I learned about cats early on is how hard it is to tell their gender when they are kittens. When we got Oscar, they told us she was a boy, so we named her Oscar. Then Phil started to suspect Oscar was a girl. When we took her to the vet for her first vet appt, the first vet said she was 90% sure it was a boy. Phil asked if another vet could weigh in as he wanted to be 100% sure of her gender. The other vet came in and was like – are you kidding me? This is a girl cat! Who knew it was so hard to tell!!
Cats are so great. I have three of them. So true about all the things. Last night, my old cat, knocked my shake off the table right in front of me. It was hilarious and I watched her do it. My cats love drinking out of the bathroom sink. Sometimes, I leave the sink running a trickle just for them. I don’t leave it on very long, but they joy they get from it, I can’t help it. My cats are fun and playful too. They love the wrestle with each other. I constantly wake up with a cat butt in my face.
I love this post so much! And loved helping you (none of your questions were stupid)!!! And love seeing you grow as a cat mom!
It’s so fun to learn about their personalities, but of course, about cats, in general! We we worried the first time we saw Data and Khali fight – we had no idea it was normal! Our cats rarely fight now but when they do we chant “fight fight fight” and watch them and place bets on the “winner.” Do your cats ever “bless” each other (one puts its paw on the other’s head during a fight)?
The pupils do change due to light, and they get big when they are scared, too 🙂
They are so sweet giving you love bites and affection. I love the middle of the night snugs but they make me so tired the next day!!!
Haha, that was so fun to read. I always wonder what it would be like to have a cat (maybe someday) and that was a good insight! 🙂