By popular request:
Tunch has to be the easiest animal on the planet to photograph. All I need to do is turn around, aim the camera in the general direction of the futon, and I will get a picture of him. Bigfoot he isn’t. I don’t know if all cats are this socialized, but whatever room I am in, Tunch will be there. Sometimes I sneak into another room when he is asleep, and within five minutes he will come into the room, yawn and stretch, and look at me as if I have done something wrong. I wonder if this dynamic will change if I get another cat or maybe a dog.
kdaug
Yes.
Volum
My cat knows when I’m coming home. At 6:30 every day, he’s waiting for me outside by the garage.
Then he follows me around all day, and when I’m at the computer work station, he will sit in a chair next to me and sleep for however long I’m there. If I leave to go pee, he’ll wake up, follow me to the bathroom, wait outside the door for me.
valdivia
Thanks John, I love Tunch. And yes my cats are the same, they wait by the door until I am home, follow me around the house. sit by me when I am working at the computer and when I watch tv.
Genine
I’ve said that Tunch always seems to pose. He seems like a great cat! His coat really looks good in that picture.
MikeJ
By popular request:
I went to one of his shows at a little gallery in Belltown. Top notch stuff.
gbear
When I get home from work, both cats come down to meet me and want some attention, but then they instantly start getting in a huff about who’s getting the attention so even though I’m petting both of them, they both wind up in a snit. It’s like No Exit with kitties…
Nick
My Tangerine is rarely more than 10 feet from me, usually three, often ON me. He’s due in my way any second now. Bathroom, couch, bed, kitchen table … any old where. It’s part of a cat’s charm … most times!
DecidedFenceSitter
My Cats – Eris and Gizmo can be in the middle of a loud party of 30-40 people and happy. Eventually they get burned out on the attention, but that’s not until 2AM. Generally, if I’m on WoW, Gizmo is around, and Eris is asleep on my left forearm.
gex
All my animals follow me throughout the house. If I change rooms, so do they. That’s 3 cats and 1 dog (the pooch with the cone from a few days ago).
Josh Hueco
All lame jokes aside, Tunch is really looking good, John.
/gazes at own prodigious gut, figures if a cat can do it so can he
PS – So when do we get John Cole action shots. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pic of John anywhere on the web.
Litlebritdifrnt
My tribe are sort of "wah" about the human thing, they go from completely ignoring me to lying on their back with their bellies exposed to get scritched, go figure. As I speak Misty is lying on my knee, however, in a few minutes she will wake up and bite me on the chin, who knows.
Comrade Stuck
That’s the best photo yet of Tunch. A handsome feline he is.
Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse
YOU’RE A KITTY!
Sorry. He looks good these days, John.
Justin
If you get another cat, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND YOUR OWN SANITY, follow proper cat introduction procedures.
This means you don’t toss the new kitten on the floor and say "meet your roommate". Keep them apart for a week. Exchange their toys so they get used to each other’s scent. After a couple days let them see each other through a cracked open door.
If you do it this way, they’ll probably get along fine. This is seriously something you should read up on if you get another cat–which is a great idea in general. Two cats entertain each other. But if they get off on the wrong foot, you’ve just made all three of your lives miserable.
My girlfriend and I did this, and now our two cats sleep curled up together and groom each other in a way that’s embarassing in front of guests. One cat buries the other’s shit.
Rommie
You didn’t call Tunch a soc ialist, did you? According to not-so-many, you just insulted your kitty to an unforgivable level. Better keep the bedroom door locked – or maybe not.
J. Maynard Gelinas
Cats are weird. Mine likes to hop underneath the tub faucet with a stream of water running down her back while she drinks from the drain right after I shower. She gets her back good and wet, then she runs off under the bed and licks herself clean. It’s as if she wants a shower too. And her coat is always meticulous. She really is using the water to clean. Never seen anything like it with cats before, but she does this daily (sometimes more often).
So… again to the thesis: cats are weird.
Krista
I think that’s the nicest pic of Tunch we’ve seen yet. His fur looks like velvet, and he definitely looks sleeker than before.
Awww….you’re such a good daddy to him.
Sour Kraut
Cat, he’s a kitty cat. And he dance dance dance and he meow meow meow…
Gus
As much as I love the fat jokes, I gotta say he’s looking a little more sleek. Plus he’s cute as a button.
jl
@10 Josh Hueco
"PS – So when do we get John Cole action shots."
—
No offense intended (honest), but I think the Tunch shots will do just fine. Tunch is a handsome cat.
J Cole has made heroic efforts to describe himself, and I think leaving it at that is prolly best for the blog. But maybe Cole is being self deprecating.
PS. This Tunch shot is a little risque compared to the others. Tunch is definitely not a pear in this one. Does Tunch need companionship? Should I show the pic around to my neighborhood cats? Some of them seem to be very nice indeed.
metricpenny
Wow! Did Tunch have liposuction? Followed by time at a spa? Looking sleek.
schrodinger's cat
Thanks a bunch for giving us some Tunch!
zoe kentucky
I have one who does this too. Both of my cats pretty much live in the bathroom– unless they’re hovering around me– not the first cats I’ve had that have a love of the smallest room in the house. I used to have a cat when I was a kid that slept in the bathroom sink, which dripped on him quite a bit.
Cats are lovable weirdos.
Sour Kraut
Dammit, link didn’t work…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpA2tMrQ4RU
rob wolfe
I have 3 Maine Coons and they are always waiting by the door when I come home no matter what time of day or night it is.
Either they love me … or they just are pleased that it means the food dish will be full for at least another day.
I suspect the latter. I just don’t have that many illusions left I guess.
jp2
I didn’t know Science Diet™ made a bacon, cheese and biscuit lard flavor.
gbear
Like the kitty in this Mean Kitty Song?
rob wolfe
@gbear: 2 of my 3 do that. One of those also sits and watches the drain in the sink when water goes down. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer is my Miss Dexter
Tokyokie
Vladimir, the most psychotic kitty in our brood, will always join one of us wherever we are, whether it’s the kitchen, the computer room or when I’m studying in the guest bedroom. (He makes enough of a racket I have to let him in, but then he just flops on the floor nearby and behaves.) Neyle will anticipate when we’re going to use the bathroom sink in the morning and at night and wait for us there. And Keyser, our Balinese, runs to answer the door whenever guests come over, figuring that somebody’s come over to pet him. And Waltrina, the elderly cat we lost last week, would claim the lap of whoever sat in the recliner or on the love seat facing the TV. Sociable with people, but she barely tolerated the other cats. The other three kitties are pretty much scaredy cats though.
Jess
Of course. If he’s not in the same room, how will you notice that’s he’s ignoring you?
Kit Smith
John, my cat always follows me into the room (and will pitch a fit when I’m working right outside the house), but that doesn’t make her easy to photograph… she’s actually quite difficult to take pictures of, usually because in the half second between when I get her to look at me and snap the photo, she’s decided she’s done looking and must go play with something shiny.
Chuck Butcher
You might have better luck with a dog, but I seriously suggest that your parents’ versions would be a bad idea unless endless rounds of chaos and destruction appeal to you.
Chuck Butcher
Goofing around and finding out how the videocam worked with the TV I leaned down and filmed Marlin. She saw the lense cap dangling and swinging and went for it, repeatedly. I plugged the camera into the big screen and she saw this giant cat leaping and clawing at the screen and it scared the hell out of her, onto the couch, back arched growling and eyes saucered. I suppose you had to be there…
She spent awhile pretty pissed, and looking for the interloper.
KRK
Yay, Tunch!
Gus pretty much always wants to be on my lap. I work from home and he’s always with me, at least maintaining visual contact, unless it’s one of our rare sunny days and he feels like basking in a window (or, pre-sickness, when he would go out on his nighttime prowls).
I long ago lost count of the times that Gus has rolled over from whatever awkward nearby perch he could find and hit the ESC key on my keyboard.
Mnemosyne
@Jess:
When our late cat Natasha was mad at us, she would follow us from room to room and then turn her back on us, just to make sure we knew she was ignoring us.
gsp
It’s because Tunch is gay.
Keith G
I have two 3 y.o. sisters. Meredeth is traditionally cat stand-offish, except when she wants belly rubs or a brushing. Izzy is wherever I am. Cooking, shaving, emailing, making the bed – Izzy is there content to watch or delivering a potent head butt when she feels neglected.
At bedtime, lights out in the living room means kitties beat me to the bed. Merry at a corner at the foot; Izzy will wait til I climb in and demand her spot tucked in between my right arm and torso.
cain
@gbear:
haha. nice. Mine meet me at the door (most of the time) and I usually come in a big fanfare with lots of noise (usually involving lot hollering, and singing) and one likes to twist around do a big stretch get petted then wants to go out. *sigh*
cain
Jeremy
My first cat, Hobbes, when completely psychotic when I introduced Linus to him. I have video of it, it really is quite something to watch.
Linus, then only 3 or 4 months old, just sat and watched with a quizzical look on his face as Hobbes growled and spat and hissed and hurled himself bodily against the wire door of his pet carrier. Through all of it, Linus was as calm as a hindu cow. What a dude.
It took a couple of weeks of sniffing each other under the door of the spare bedroom for Hobbes to settle down. Nowadays, they get along fine, although Hobbes tends to contemptuously ignore poor Linus most of the time. Sometimes they groom each other, though, and they have been sleeping next to each other a bit of latel. Time heals all insults, I guess.
mama whiskers
Tunch, you is gaw-jus!! Yes, he is most photogenic! Perhaps you can rent him out for pet commercials, etc. A lil cash on the side, heh.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Sure. Right up until Tunch eats your new pet. He’ll crap in your shoes for a few days then go back to following you around.
Both of my cats are so demanding people who’ve only known them a few minutes compare them to dogs. Many moons ago they would even follow me to the local convenience store and sit outside yowling until I came back out. Unless someone else came in. Then they’d barge in.
Silver Owl
Let’s see, John. You serve him food. You serve him water. You give him treats. You give him toys. You pet him. You give him furniture to make himself comfortable.
Tunch is no fool. He’s making sure you’re not skipping town. lol
Jeffery Faulk
Tunch thinks of you as his territory. What we equate as love is actually a cat’s self interest at work as he carefully observes his property to insure that the "food giver" is in good enough shape to continue providing for him. Silver Owl is right on suggesting that he’s making sure that you’re not skipping town. Any changes in territory are unwelcome,
Roq
My cat is the same. Wherever I am, that’s where he wants to be. My room, on the couch, in the kitchen. If I’m out on the deck, he’s looking at me through the patio doors, sometimes scratching fruitlessly at the glass.
I don’t think it’s universal, though. My roommate has two cats, and they only ever want to be in her room. Most cats I’ve owned in my life are like that. *shrug*
MH
That is a pretty liberal definition of "action shot" you’re using there, Cole!