The Progression of the Voids
Mar. 14th, 2020 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Now that we've had a fully integrated cat household with everyone loose together for several weeks, the patterns of the voids are becoming clearer.
Yami was initially very cuddly, but she's grown more aloof and is taking our presence somewhat for granted. She's still sociable, but very much on her terms - she's chatty and loves to be stroked, not so much with the picking up and sitting on laps. Neko is much more persuadable on those fronts.
Both the voids initially tried very hard to be friends with Kuro, but Kuro just seems to prefer Neko, and cuts him a lot more slack. Kuro and Yami sometimes have positive interactions and play together, but at other times they do bat paws at one another and express a desire to be left alone. Neko very occasionally gets a Kuro paw waved at him when he bugs Sleeping Kuro, but Yami would get batted around the ears for many of the things Neko gets away with.
This includes sleeping arrangements. When we got the voids, I expected that as siblings who had always lived together, they would probably curl up and sleep together, but they never do. Instead, Neko has decided he wants to curl up and sleep with Kuro, which Kuro is at best ambivalent about. Neko has the whole bed to choose from, but he always lies down right next to Kuro, and if Kuro moves a bit further away, Neko just wriggles closer again.
Boog used to want to sleep right next to Kuro too, and one of the strategies Kuro developed to counter this was what we called Aggressive Washing. If Boog came and flopped alongside Kuro on the bed, Kuro would wash Boog's head very firmly and pointedly, until Boog got fed up with it and moved away. Unfortunately, when Kuro attempts this strategy with Neko, it backfires spectacularly, because Neko LOVES being washed firmly and just starts purring. At some point, Kuro usually gives up and uses Neko as a pillow instead.
Yami, in her private little way, has no desire to sleep on the bed with the humans and other cats. Instead, she spends the night under the bed, but she does like to let us all know she's there and squeaks and trills happily as she settles into her nest below.
Yami void and Neko void aligning themselves with the heating vents. Kuro-kun is of a much hairier and hardier persuasion.
Although the lure of an empty box cannot long be denied.
In other news, the voids had their first Mouse Experience the other night. I thought it was a bit odd that Neko hadn't come to bed, and when Kuro got up to investigate too, I knew something was afoot. They were both obsessing over a pot plant, which in Neko's case might mean he'd lost a tin foil ball behind it, but Kuro-kun is a tad more discerning. Sure enough, when I shone a light behind the pot, a mouse fled out and hurtled itself down the stairs, hotly pursued, and vanished into the laundry room.
Kuro gave up a while later and came back to bed, but the voids never did, and when I got up in the morning, they were very squeaky and excited and wanted me to know that the last place the mouse had been seen was behind the bookshelves in the pool room. Yami was being a very determined ambush predator and wouldn't even come for breakfast - apparently the potential for a breakfast she could murder was far superior to a mere bowl of cat food - and I ended up feeding her where she was, so she could continue to monitor the bookshelves. She's a very stubborn and determined animal!
There is now a humane mouse trap tucked between the bookshelves and the wall.
Yami was initially very cuddly, but she's grown more aloof and is taking our presence somewhat for granted. She's still sociable, but very much on her terms - she's chatty and loves to be stroked, not so much with the picking up and sitting on laps. Neko is much more persuadable on those fronts.
Both the voids initially tried very hard to be friends with Kuro, but Kuro just seems to prefer Neko, and cuts him a lot more slack. Kuro and Yami sometimes have positive interactions and play together, but at other times they do bat paws at one another and express a desire to be left alone. Neko very occasionally gets a Kuro paw waved at him when he bugs Sleeping Kuro, but Yami would get batted around the ears for many of the things Neko gets away with.
This includes sleeping arrangements. When we got the voids, I expected that as siblings who had always lived together, they would probably curl up and sleep together, but they never do. Instead, Neko has decided he wants to curl up and sleep with Kuro, which Kuro is at best ambivalent about. Neko has the whole bed to choose from, but he always lies down right next to Kuro, and if Kuro moves a bit further away, Neko just wriggles closer again.
Boog used to want to sleep right next to Kuro too, and one of the strategies Kuro developed to counter this was what we called Aggressive Washing. If Boog came and flopped alongside Kuro on the bed, Kuro would wash Boog's head very firmly and pointedly, until Boog got fed up with it and moved away. Unfortunately, when Kuro attempts this strategy with Neko, it backfires spectacularly, because Neko LOVES being washed firmly and just starts purring. At some point, Kuro usually gives up and uses Neko as a pillow instead.
Yami, in her private little way, has no desire to sleep on the bed with the humans and other cats. Instead, she spends the night under the bed, but she does like to let us all know she's there and squeaks and trills happily as she settles into her nest below.
Yami void and Neko void aligning themselves with the heating vents. Kuro-kun is of a much hairier and hardier persuasion.
Although the lure of an empty box cannot long be denied.
In other news, the voids had their first Mouse Experience the other night. I thought it was a bit odd that Neko hadn't come to bed, and when Kuro got up to investigate too, I knew something was afoot. They were both obsessing over a pot plant, which in Neko's case might mean he'd lost a tin foil ball behind it, but Kuro-kun is a tad more discerning. Sure enough, when I shone a light behind the pot, a mouse fled out and hurtled itself down the stairs, hotly pursued, and vanished into the laundry room.
Kuro gave up a while later and came back to bed, but the voids never did, and when I got up in the morning, they were very squeaky and excited and wanted me to know that the last place the mouse had been seen was behind the bookshelves in the pool room. Yami was being a very determined ambush predator and wouldn't even come for breakfast - apparently the potential for a breakfast she could murder was far superior to a mere bowl of cat food - and I ended up feeding her where she was, so she could continue to monitor the bookshelves. She's a very stubborn and determined animal!
There is now a humane mouse trap tucked between the bookshelves and the wall.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-14 09:28 pm (UTC)We don't have mice (living on the second floor in a four room flat), but two flies found their way into our home today. Paula and Lily (who got lazy over fall/winter) went totally crazy. It took them some time to get used back to living prey instead of toys, but in the end they killed and ate the flies. Of course I praised them like good huntresses deserve. :))
no subject
Date: 2020-03-15 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-14 10:15 pm (UTC)They all sound so wonderful, and entertaining. You chose well.
no subject
Date: 2020-03-15 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-16 04:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-16 08:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-03-18 02:45 pm (UTC)