Just had a friend over for some fajitas, and he was shocked by Boss. Shocked, in the sense that I told him “If you want to meet him, just open the door, walk in, sit on the bed, and say here boss and he will come.”
I have never really witnessed anything like this. Lily took a couple weeks to come out of her shell. Tunch was only close to a year old and kind of skittish. Rosie, was, well, a JRT. ‘Nuff said.
But this guy is the most aggressive lover I have ever met. After dinner, my friend left, I went in to the spare bedroom to take a nap. I keep the door shut most of the time because I don’t want unfettered access for the dogs, even through the grate, and I just want him to have a couple of days of peace before the trauma of his castration, then a couple more days of peace and quiet. After that I will do more to integrate him into the fold. For now, I have just been following this advice from the ASPCA. It’s kind of funny that I instinctively knew to keep Boss in his own room for a few days- Tunch was such an excellent teacher. And I keep slowly letting Lily in to sit on my lap and let them sniff each other. With Rosie I am more cautious, not because I think Rosie is mean, but JRT’s do have a strong prey drive, but Rosie is just an excitable girl. She really wants to smell Boss, and she is smiling at me with a sheepish grin when she looks at me and looks back at Boss, and her tail is wagging sideways in the “I TOTALLY NEED TO SMELL THIS” kinda way that dogs have, but she is just still too intense for Boss. I’m going to have to do this slowly and carefully.
Back to the point of this. I have the Felliway plugged in and sprayed some other feel good stuff in his room, and he hasn’t sprayed or marked anything yet, but hot damn his urine in the litterbox stinks. So after dinner, I just went in and plopped on the bed to take a nap, and within seconds he was on the bed rubbing all over me. We bonded for a while, then he curled up on a pillow next to my neck and put his paws on my chest and started quietly purring. I woke up after a bit, and he schmeared my glasses with his massive jowel protected scent glands (while I was wearing them), put his wet nose on my face and then climbed down, flopped over and basically said “Rub my belly, beeoch.”
Because I am fully aware of where I am on the pecking order in the house (pack leader my ass), I dutifully rubbed his belly, until my favorite thing happened. Love bites.
This cat is going to be fucking awesome. Every time I try to leave the room, he wants to follow me, but I just want him sequestered for a while until he is fixed and part of the pack. I did kind of tear up at one point because he was lying on my chest kneading me with his head six inches from mine, and he winked at me just like Tunch used to.
I love my animals.
Southern Beale
Sounds like my Oscar, who would be a Maine Coon if he weren’t a runt. He does this thing I call the poke-poke-wid-da-nose-nose, just shmearing me with his nose and when he purrs he drooolllllls,
It’s so damn cute.
I missed the story of how Boss came into John’s life …?
Susan
I am so happy for both of you. I wish all animals were as lucky as Boss.
May you enjoy many, many years together.
Cat Hair Everywhere
I am glad everything is working out so well! I have two fluffy boys (one is polydactyl and I think part rag doll because he goes boneless when I pick him up) and they are such affectionate little loverboys. (also whiny and demanding and very spoiled) I am so glad Boss is turning out to be the same way! We had a Maine Coon many years ago, and he was such a sweet, quirky boy.
lamh36
Wow. I refuse to link it to give ’em the click views. I understand some on the left did not like the speech, but this article was straight up trolling.
And no, it’s not okay cause this guy is Black.
Kelly McGee
I keep tuning in to hear about Boss. He is such a lucky guy. I know Tunch is smiling somewhere, happy that he made such a match between you. I always say the animal rescues me, and it sounds like Boss is hard at work with you.
Southern Beale, Boss is a great big kitty therapist, helping John through the grief of Tunch’s death.
Comrade Mary
Boss sounds so lovely but — but — for some reason I can’t remember what he looks like. Uh-uh.
Any visual aids for poor memory me?
Watership
Oh, the love bites. My long-time companion Winston was sort of Maine Coon-ish. He had the green eyes and the head shape, but he was black and white. I couldn’t lie down without him climbing up and just licking me like a dog. Especially the hair, when I had more of it. And he’d get so overcome, using his hands to grab my face, that he’d just latch on and bite. Not hard. He’d squeeze just enough to keep a good tooth grip on my forehead or my eyebrow or whatever, and just hang on. He was with me for 20 years, healthy apart from his last week or so. Here’s hoping Boss is biting you for many years to come.
maryQ
Great to hear thins, John. I have thought of you often this week, and I am happy that you and Boss have found each other. I recently joined the world of animal guardians, or I should say an animal recently joined our family. Lexie, the 5-month old shiba inu, has been keeping the Q family busy and happy for two months now. I am beginning to know what it means to love a furry four-legged friend.
phein39
Lot’s of people don’t know this, but: Cat’s like to fetch. Crumple up an empty cigarette pack, and it’s better than chasing a laser spot on the floor. [This is why no one knows this: Who still smokes anymore?] You can throw something crinkly and chase-able down the hardwood hallway, and cats will chase it until they end up sliding into the wall at the end. They’ll seize that cigarette pack/crinkly object, and bring it back like a dead mouse and put it at your feet.
After they circle the living room for a few victory laps.
Try it!
Mnemosyne
I remember reading a cat behavior book once that claimed that sometimes unfixed male cats will decide they’re tired of living the high life outdoors and just wander into people’s houses to stay. No idea how true it actually is.
Karen in GA (who really needs a better name)
So happy that Boss finally has a beeoch of his very own.
Steeplejack
@Southern Beale:
“Just Got Back from Kitty Prison”
“Say Hello To?”
Mnemosyne
@phein39:
Non-smokers can use those weird coupons they put on Netflix packages — Keaton loves ’em. Charlotte will also fetch, but only a very specific feather toy that she gnawed down to a nubbin.
Steeplejack
@Comrade Mary:
“The Debut of the Boss Cam.”
Mnemosyne
@Southern Beale:
Maine Coons can be small, especially females. We call Annie our Midget Maine Coon (though I suppose Miniature Maine Coon would be more PC these days).
Steeplejack
@phein39:
Crinkled-up Post-It note (adhesive strip in, not out).
WereBear
RJ is a mini Maine Coon; he’s only 16 pounds.
Get a matt splitter, John!
phein39
Mnemosyne and Steeplejack:
Good to see I’m not alone! I’ll try them both.
We’ve always had outdoor cats that had to hunt for themselves sometimes, and I think they like to show off.
Princess Leia
@phein39: Best ever? Knee high nylon stockings, rolled up into a ball, tightly. I think it has the mouth feel of prey, but no other fetching toy worked like that one did for my best fetching cat. You get funny looks at the Walmart, though.
lamh36
I sure wish we had a longer time to be able to delete a comment or edit it.
wasabi gasp
@phein39: I’m a little jealous of that sweet fetch action. My cat will chase anything and everything, but nothing ever gets brought back. Though, strangely, in the morning I often find her favorite toy at the foot of my recliner.
22over7
My old tuxedo cat Johnson loved those mints you get at a restaurant. He’d grab the plastic end and SHAKE! and then throw it up in the air. Oh how I miss him.
raven
@lamh36: I’m sorry I said anything.
Redshirt
This is starting to edge towards Rated R territory. You need to keep it PG13 for Summer big bucks.
thruppence
in Mexico, Top Cat is hugely popular under the name “Don Gato”. Try it out on Boss. Sounds like the Latin Lover overtones might be appropriate.
Comrade Mary
@Steeplejack: SHHHH! I’m trying to get NEW pics. Gawd, it’s been a whole day!
Ella in New Mexico
It’s so crazy to think that one day we can literally be at the point of homicide (well, caninocide) and just a few short days later feel the embrace of a universe (and one’s own heart) full of the kind of love that saves us.
You’re a lucky man, John, because you have allowed this tragedy to flow over you without closing down or shutting out. But we, your readers, are even more lucky to have stumbled across this place, you and all we learn and share here.
Give Boss a hug for me.
Kay (not the front-pager)
If my guy is any indication, Maine Coons are feline JRTs: intense, very physical, driven in the “work” they choose, and devoted to their person (usually just 1 person. Other family members are viewed with either suspicion or contempt). I read that they are quite talkative, but mine rarely speaks, and then only in a soft, whispery voice.
You have chosen your new master well.
gbear
Or it could have been the 20-30 BJ regulars who kept telling you to keep him seperate from the dogs for a week or so.
Mnemosyne
@Kay (not the front-pager):
Keaton loves both of us, but he is very careful to try not to show any favoritism. And, yes, he creates “jobs” for himself — if we don’t go to bed by the time he wants us there, he will herd us towards the bedroom and block us from leaving.
gbear
@Mnemosyne: My new cat Edward wears me out playing catch. He’ll run it back and drop it under my chair until he gets sick of it or something else gets interesting. I usually wake up with two balls and the collar that he doesn’t have to wear either on the bed or on the floor next to the bed, and he NEVER forgets where his toys are. These balls from Petco
are his favorite by far and they’re just big enough that they don’t get stuck under stuff. He can carry one and meow at me at the same time. He’s a smartie.
Mnemosyne
@gbear:
Charlotte’s current favorite toy in THE WHOLE WORLD is those little paper packets full of silicone beads that they put in shoes or purses to keep them dry in transit from China. I started knitting an outer container for one since the beads are a choking hazard, but then I discovered that my local pet store had little cloth pouches that close with velcro that I could use. She is a happy kitteh now.
Violet
So happy for you both.
Ol Froth
My cat Smokie (RIP) was a great fetcher. Throw any object she could get in her mouth and she’d grab it, come back, and drop it at my feet.
Felonius Monk
And they obviously love you, ya big Marshmallow!
Gex
Love the cat stories. Although even the happy ones have me bawling right now. We are about one hour away from the 6 month marker since Kate’s death. I’ve found that I have trouble sleeping and eating and get a little bit manic in the days leading up to the 20th of each month.
To get back to being sort of on theme, I would have been lost without my cat and my dog. Especially the dog. John may have noticed how good a pup can be at sensing your pain and quietly, loyally sitting with you and sending you doggy love to help you heal. Pic of the beasties
Emerald
My long-departed Burmese mix, Winston, when he was a teenager, used to fetch scrunched-up aluminum foil balls. As he’d eagerly wait, I’d throw one across the room, he’d fly to get it, run back to me and would literally drop it back into my hand, and wait for another throw.
He outgrew it, but I’ll never forget that!
YellowJournalism
Lots of baby toys now have that crinkle stuff in them that makes noise and has lots of bumpy texture. I would suggest finding a nice stuffed bug or bird with crinkle wings.
StringOnAStick
I’ve been obsessed with hearing the daily report, so thanks for the update. And good on ya for bringing a new buddy into your life after such a terrible loss. Love heals.