Hug That Cat

Today (Tuesday, June 4) is Hug Your Cat day. 

Jackson wouldn’t like this day. He hates hugs. He was semi-feral, so I suspect every time someone picked him up or tried to hold him close, it was A. Very. Bad. Thing. At least from Jackson’s perspective. Cuddling with his brother is okay. Humans, not so much. (Too bad his brother gets a little grumpy about it.)

Jackson: “Ahhhhh.” Ry: “I wish he’d go somewhere else…”

So for Jackson it will be “Let Your Cat Strop Your Legs” day. He loves doing that, and he loves having a hand trail along his back and tail in the process. He always comes back for more.

Ellie, on the other hand, is all about being held and hugged. She was also semi-feral, but for her, sitting in someone’s lap and being held close is one of the things she likes best. You can find her most evenings sitting in either my lap, or Glenn’s, pretty much whoever happens to sit down first and is the least squirmy. She has a lot of fur, but underneath there’s maybe a 7 pound cat. She’s not very big. When she’s on your lap, though, she weighs about 30 pounds. I don’t know how she does it. Legs fall asleep. She really sinks into the experience.

Ellie: “I can make 7 lbs seem like a lot more.”

Ry is somewhere in the middle. He will allow himself to be picked up, but not for long. and he generally lays on the back of the couch in the evenings. Close but not too close. He likes to cuddle at night (so long as it isn’t too warm - I saw a cartoon on Facebook recently that I’m sure he posed for - totally how he behaves during the seasons.) He also likes to play “kiss”, where I say “Kiss,” and he turns the top of his head toward my face so I can give him a smooch. Thank goodness he doesn’t offer his lips - I’ve seen where that mouth goes.

Best place to “cuddle” in the world.

Have I mentioned that my loyal friend Ry will follow me into the bathroom at night and position himself in the doorway to protect me from “The Dangers”? He’s done that since the night Niko the great big dog made the mistake of wandering in and scaring both of us. What a good kitty!

So if you have a cat, give it the kind of hug it loves, and a few extra on this very special day. They may seem like all they have on their mind is Food, Sleep and Murder, but they are loyal friends, in a way that’s far more subtle than their friends the dogs.