Herd your cats here

[mamselle]

Canine teeth in cats--giggle.

Glad everyone's home, safe, warm, and properly medicated.

M.

[Larimar]

Glad everyone's home, safe, warm, and properly medicated.

M.

+1 to this.

[nebo113]

Glad everyone's home, safe, warm, and properly medicated.

M.

+1 to this.

And from me....

[Puget]

Both cats have finally passed Pre-Lap Skills 50 (covering such topics as sleeping snuggled up against legs, laying on feet, and brief lap visits) and moved on to Introduction to Laps 101.

They are each progressing in their own way--Panther Boy has not figured out climbing into laps by himself, but if placed on a lap and petted will fall asleep there sometimes. Little Calico on the other hand is deeply offended by being picked up and placed anywhere, but will claim a lap on her own terms. Both will only do so if I'm sitting in front of the fire with my feet up so they can sprawl out full length on my legs.

How are the other cats doing in their studies this semester?

[smallcleanrat]

Both cats have finally passed Pre-Lap Skills 50 (covering such topics as sleeping snuggled up against legs, laying on feet, and brief lap visits) and moved on to Introduction to Laps 101.

They are each progressing in their own way--Panther Boy has not figured out climbing into laps by himself, but if placed on a lap and petted will fall asleep there sometimes. Little Calico on the other hand is deeply offended by being picked up and placed anywhere, but will claim a lap on her own terms. Both will only do so if I'm sitting in front of the fire with my feet up so they can sprawl out full length on my legs.

How are the other cats doing in their studies this semester?

Always nice to read more exploits of Panther Boy and Little Calico! Although I felt a split-second stab of horror when I read "Both cats have finally passed..."

I'm planning a retrospective post on Maestro's upcoming one year adoption anniversary: The Maestro Matures. We love the older, wiser (sort of), mellower adult Maestro, but I feel some need to write a tribute to the little kitten who is no more.

Hard to believe how nostalgic SO and I can get about Maestro's kittenhood considering it's only been a matter of months... But there are days when we dearly miss baby Maestro. Makes me hanker for a foster kitten or two. Someday...

[mamselle]

They really do grow up suddenly, from the tiny perpetual motion fluff-ball to the lanky adolescent to the filled-out, torporous adult...

Looking forward to the longer Maestro update!

M.

[OneMoreYear]

Both cats have finally passed Pre-Lap Skills 50 (covering such topics as sleeping snuggled up against legs, laying on feet, and brief lap visits) and moved on to Introduction to Laps 101.

They are each progressing in their own way--Panther Boy has not figured out climbing into laps by himself, but if placed on a lap and petted will fall asleep there sometimes. Little Calico on the other hand is deeply offended by being picked up and placed anywhere, but will claim a lap on her own terms. Both will only do so if I'm sitting in front of the fire with my feet up so they can sprawl out full length on my legs.

How are the other cats doing in their studies this semester?

Yay for Panther Boy and Little Calico!

Ninja has graduated from the lap-sitting program, as she is very adept at lap-sitting and spends as much time as possible sitting on her preferred human (my SO, who, unfortunately for her, does not work from home during COVID).  Yesterday, she deigned to sleep on my lap for 2 hours while I was working on a lecture (I think she was cold, but I was thrilled).  We keep trying to draft her as a teaching assistant for the Developmental Laps course Ricochet is enrolled in, but so far, she has declined.

Ricochet has not yet passed Developmental Laps, as she is still not completely sure what might happen if she sits on a lap.  She is still in the standing and jumping off stage, primarily.  Occasionally, she'll flop awkwardly on my lap to get head scritches for a few minutes.  She seems to enjoy it (purrs, butts at my hand with her head), but she does not relax.  When Ninja lapsits, she melds into the person's lap and crashes deeply.   When Ricochet attempts her version of lapsitting, her ears remain poised for any concerning sounds, and her muscles remains taut and ready to jump at any moment.  It's a work in (very slow) progress.

[the_geneticist]

Lady Jane is treating my lap as a "wee beastie-free zone" and will sit on me in the mornings because she knows that Izzy (aka the "wee beastie") will not jump up there too.  I don't think she wants to be on my lap per se, but knows it's a safe location.
Sir Puck had resumed the slobbery purring on my lap.  This requires that I wear loose enough clothes that he can grab a mouthful of cloth to slurp on while happily purring and stomping on me.  Sir Puck approves of skirts, dresses, and tunics.  He does NOT like when I wear pants.

[Puget]

Good to hear the other cats are also progressing through the lap curriculum!

[AvidReader]

Hestia (younger cat) loves lap sitting. Most of the time, if I call her and pat my lap, she will scamper over and leap into it immediately. Our laps usually come covered in towels or sheets to help with allergies, and she will sometimes try to climb up the towel as it is being prepared. She will leave a lap if there is any hint of food elsewhere, or to play or hunt with Artemis, but otherwise will frequently sit (and sleep) for hours if allowed.

Artemis occasionally enjoys laps, but only on her own terms. It is a great treat when it happens.

Both (typically outdoor) cats have been indoors all week because of the weather, except for two short excursions into the backyard on afternoons when the temperature rose a bit above freezing. This has made it much harder to accommodate allergies, and also seems to have lessened the appeal of lap sitting (perhaps because the laps have been so much more available all week). Artemis' new favorite spot is on the front windowsill, intently watching the neighborhood, and Hestia wants to be next to (or on top of) Artemis whenever possible.

AR.

[OneMoreYear]

Awww! Hestia and Artemis (great names/fora monikers!) sound like lovely kitties, and they are lucky that their humans are offering some inside time this winter despite allergies.

Ricochet apparently reads the fora and recognized her moniker. So today, she wanted to demonstrate and she too is progressing through the lap sitting curriculum. She jumped on my lap and sat down!  Without jumping on and off several times!  And while she did not achieve Nina-level cat relaxation on my lap, she did relax enough to give me some slow blinks.  And she stayed for 10 minutes! She wonders if she has now passed the proficiency exam for Developmental Laps (Laps 050) and can now move to Lap Sitting 101.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Youngest evil cat has been taking an elective in "How to Destroy Vinyl Blinds Through Mastication."

[AmLitHist]

Kid #1 has brought Waffles, her barn kitten (who arrived shortly after she rented her farmhouse in the middle of nowhere) in the house this past frigid week. The kit has adjusted well to being in a pet carrier all night and let out in the house periodically and outdoors for short periods in the daytime.

Apparently the time hasn't been wasted.  As Kid was working in her studio last night, out of the corner of her eye she spied Waffles toddling across the living room floor, with the entirely useless GSD watching instead of sounding the alarm or corralling the kitty.  Kid put her back into the carrier and made sure the gate was latched tight. 

Soon after, she heard what she thought was a mousetrap snap and went to look.  There was Waffles, who had figured out the squeeze-spring latch and was happily batting the door back and forth on its hinges.  Gorilla tape has since been applied.  (I told Kid this is her version of having toddlers on snow days.)

[Puget]

Youngest evil cat has been taking an elective in "How to Destroy Vinyl Blinds Through Mastication."

My cats excelled so well in this elective that I no longer have vinyl blinds.

[the_geneticist]

Youngest evil cat has been taking an elective in "How to Destroy Vinyl Blinds Through Mastication."

Our office blinds have a viewing gap chewed in them courtesy of Sir Puck (aka Sir Chomps a Lot)