Keep Good Company

“Oo Hoo Oo Hoo
Take care of those you call your own
And keep Good Company”
–from ‘Good Company’ by Brian May (Queen)

We simians often have romantic notions when it comes to our pets. We are wont to ascribe behaviour and thoughts to our animals that are too human and maybe not at all being done or felt by said pets. Yet you can’t deny that animals do seem to have feelings and they do exhibit behaviour that we can understand. It’s just that we attribute too much to our furry friends and they cannot explain to us how exactly they do and do not behave. But undeniably the feline denizens of the House of Chaos must have picked up some simian behaviour during the years they’ve spent here. And I think there is ample proof for that.

The strongest proof of all was brought along by the saddest of occasions: when woofie Critter finally succumbed to the frailty of old age her Bestest Furriend Zorro spent countless hours at her side. Whenever you saw Critter snoring someplace you would find Zorro staunchly but snugly lying close. And during her final night he would not be elsewhere. I had ample opportunity to take as much pictures as I wanted because EL Grumpy Severus Maxiumus wouldn’t budge from her side and even gently groomed her face and ears. It was all he could do in order to comfort the ailing exhausted canine and I can’t talk often enough about it because it speaks volumes of his love for her. He did love her and cared for her as best he could. Not many humans would do that. He even spent many months in severe mourning, losing hair and health, literally grooming himself to the point of bleeding, because he no longer had the comforting presence of his Big Buddy to find succour with.

Cats can make friends and become very loyal to them. Zorro proved that. And even though he has always been hostile towards other cats, him being extremely partial towards dogs, the entry of the kitten Hrimnir into the House of Chaos has somehow opened that gruffy heart of his and he tentatively became friends with the kitten. Hrimnir is in fact the only feline who can dare to approach Zorro and not be punished severely for the sheer audacity of it. In fact, I caught Zorro doing nosey-nosey with Hrimnir, which in his case amounts to fierce passionate friendship !

Zorro has injured himself last week, probably during a fight – most likely even because he has always been très grumpy and this does not exactly endear him to the rest of the feline community in the neighbourhood- on his left fore-paw. He has ugly slashes all over his paw and wrist and on Monday he sported a huge abscess on his leg. He is perfectly capable of taking care of it himself and I do tend to let Nature run its course (keeping a close eye on things though). But healing takes a lot of energy and so Zorro spent more time than normal sleeping on the Couch of Chaos. The other feline denizens are careful to leave him alone there, but not young Hrimnir. No. In what is clearly an endearing show of feline loyalty he too settled on the Couch, not for a nap, but for simply being there. Cats know the force of simple presence. Young as he is Hrimnir chose to keep Zorro company.

Both Bean Sidhe and Hrimnir are more socially inclined than the Brothers. No doubt some genetic inheritance is involved here because both are descendants of Gentle Giants (Bannikins is part Maine Coon whilst Hrimnir is part Norwegian Forest Cat) and you clearly see the difference of attitude when you compare them with the Brothers who are full-blooded European Shorthairs. They are more wont to seek out the others and form bonds of friendship. With both felines and simians. (Not canines because there are none in the House of Chaos.) Yet the twain do have their personal preferences: where Bean Sidhe is more the “close-proximity-cat” Hrimnir is a full-fledged close-contact lap-cat. Bannikins is content to just sit or lie there close to you, whereas Hrimnir craves physical contact.

As I am typing this Hrimnir is sitting on one of the arm-rests of my desk and were I not typing he would have been laying with his front paws over my left arm – the one that is not moving when I surf. Since I am typing and hence my hands are moving only his tail is draped over my left hand. Yet he sits as close to me as he can because the keyboard is in the way of my lap. Sometimes I wonder if he hates the keyboard because of that. But there has been a change for him to rejoice over… I have a new monitor… bigger yet smaller than the old one which was a 19″ CRT whilst the new one is a sleek but enormous 22″ LCD. This allows for more deck space on my desk and that suits Hrimnir mightily fine thankyouohsoverymuchindeed. Not to mention Bannikins who is overjoyed that his 4.5 kilo frame finally has ample room again to lounge at his leisure as close to me as he can without having to resort to -ugh!- my lap. Did I mention Bannikins likes close proximity but no laps ?

They simply like to be there and keep good company. I wish I knew more simians who do. It is nice to have friends who only want to snuggle close and be there.

Picture below: Caught in the act… Zorro lies healing and Hrimnir… just happens to lie there ?

I laid down a cloth in order to protect my lovely plaids from Zorro’s bleeding paw. You can’t see the carnage because he’s laid down his head on it. As every child knows: pushing or rubbing on the hurt makes it go away. 😉

It’s Sunday again and that means we can all go and have some fun at the Carnival of the Cats and forget our worries for a while. It will take place at Strange Ranger‘s whose feline denizens are desperately seeking for a way to ease their boredom of the past days.

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