So, we’ve got two cats.  There’s Tangee (we didn’t change his name when we got him), who we adopted from the Humane Society the August after we got the house.  He’s odd.  He was about twelve when we got him and he made these odd noises at the shelter, so we grabbed him up.  Because anything that makes odd noises is sure to attract us.  He was very timid at first, and he sure didn’t trust us fully for a good six months.  One time, a few months after we brought him home, he bit my nose because I was too close to him for too long.  I’ve still got a little tiny scar to prove it.  But he’s calmed down now.  And only uses his teeth to nibble affectionately.  But he weighs a ton and seems to think that anytime we’re on the couch (or doing anything for that matter) he should be a part of it.  It’s like he believes he’s a human or something. 

And he’s so timid.  We got a couple of cat harnesses to take the cats outside because they both seemed to yearn for that so badly.  So we hooked up the cats and opened the door.  The other cat, Isaac, just loved the idea of being outside.  Tangee, however, does not.  You try to take him outside and he starts to cry like you are killing him or something.  The poor cat.  Before we got him, the cat had been at the shelter twice in the same year.  The people who worked there theorized that the previous owners just kind of kicked him out.  And being in the wild without your front claws has got to suck.

Anyway, Tangee’s highly emotional and can’t stand it if you don’t give him attention.  And he loves it when Jerry plays the acoustic guitar.  He hears Jerry playing and comes over to sit near the sound and (it appears) to bask in it.  I’ve never seen another animal do this when a human is playing an instrument.  I have seen them run or howl, but not enjoy it like that. 

And Tangee’s funny about his food.  He can’t seem o defend his food against a cat half his size.  If Isaac really wants Tangee’s food, all he has to do is take it and Tangee will let him.  So I spent some time today watching Tangee eat and making sure Isaac stayed away from his food.  Tangee sure is a special needs cat.

And then there’s Isaac.  The poor little hyperthyroid guy.  If he could get any smaller, I think I’d cry.  Isaac needs to have some radioactive iodine therapy to cure his hyperthyroidism, and then maybe he can be big and strong like Tangee.  Isaac’s got this cute little high-pitched mew (and I mean “mew”, not “meow”) that’s much more “classic cat” than Tangee’s weird duck-like quacks.  But, for the most part, they get along.  And sometimes I even see them cuddled up together.  That’s when you know they’re like brothers.  They care for each other, yet at times they fight fiercely over stupid things.