15 lbs of Love

I cannot let his first birthday pass without writing about how much I love my cat, Rasputin. He is smart, funny, and silly. From snout to tail, he's 36 inches long and weighs about 15 lbs.

For his birthday, I got him one of these and took him outside for as long as he wanted. I also fed him as much food as he wanted rather than limiting him to dietary regulations. Us human get cake, so why can't cats similarly splurge? He didn't act like he felt the day was anything special but I did notice some reversion to kitten tendencies. Like wanting extra attention and snugglies.

Now, I understand all those medical studies that say owning a pet improves one's health. I feel a lot less stressed and even in my foulest moods, I can count on Ras doing something cute to snap me out of it. The other night, I was having trouble falling asleep when I heard Rasputin rustling around a lot in my bedroom so I turned on the lights and saw him circling intently between a couple boxes. Intrigued, I came closer and moved one box. Ugh, there was some kind of centipede under it! Instead of completely freaking out, Rasputin became my knight in shining armor. I urged him to kill it unfortunately, it escaped into my closet. Ras kept guard by my closet door so I could fall asleep.

Half the fun of waking up in the morning is to see what is in my bedroom. Sometimes, the entire room is strewn with cat toys and I have occasionally found some in my bed. Ditto for the bathroom. The bathmat is Rasputin's lounge and he drops toys there as well. Or I will find a toy in his water bowl. Always a surprise and always cute in the morning. I do sometimes wake up realizing he had a bout of diarrhea overnight and that is not so cute. Thank goodness for Febreze.

Rasputin also plays fetch. If I'm sitting on the couch and he's playing with rubber bands, he brings me a rubber band, I throw it and he brings it back. He is soo gullible when I fake him out by pretending to throw the band. I have also learned not to take offense when he immediately starts cleaning the patch of fur I had just been petting. Apparently, cats do that because they can taste the owner's smell better that way. I do get ridiculously pleased whenever he shows me his belly. I have read that cats only do that as a sign of complete trust.

I also come up with some amusing ways to play with him. I have this thing that makes him go batshit. If he is peering at me around a corner or over a table, I maintain eye contact and slowly move out of sight. He edges closer, bum wiggling, and looking crazed. I pop up with one final look and pop right back down which causes him to rush me with his signature trill meow. He has also become QUITE a talker. I probably encourage him by having complete conversations with him.