Oh, them

The Brothers Grim

The Kittiots, the Furry Ingrates, these are the pre-MZ nicknames that we now feel too guilty to use. How can we make fun of their needs when so few of them are being met these days? When we've introduced countless new soft surfaces where they are not allowed to sleep? When our laps are always occupied and we rarely have the energy for full body pets? When Moki has to actually crawl into the sink to remind us it's time for a bath -- he's so uncomfortably dirty he's actually asking for it?

All things considered, they've been very good. Rather than shredding the furniture or peeing all over the carpets, they've mostly retreated into themselves. Yudi continues to be dumb as a box of rocks (and nearly as heavy), and just as neurotic as ever. I mean that with love, and a fair dose of frustration, since he still runs under furniture whenever one of us approaches, even after 5 YEARS OF NOT EATING HIM.

He does however have an exceedingly annoying habit of meowing loudly at my feet when I'm nursing MZ, and of getting stuck in her room when I've put her down for a nap. You'd think you'd only need to get stuck in a room four, maybe five times before you'd learn to dash from your hiding place and out the door when you see it closing. But no, it seems to take many more times than that.

Moki went through a period of being absolutely morose, but seems to be emerging. He gets that he will receive lots of positive attention if he's nice to MZ, so he can often be found sprawling against one of us and permitting MZ to pet him in exchange for a brief massage. And he even rubs up on MZ occasionally, marking her as part of his domain.

MZ, for her part, is absolutely enthralled with both of them, although she's never gotten close to Yudi. She's too young to learn "Gentle," but she can and does immitate a flat-handed pet, which she does until she just can't stand it anymore and goes for a grab of cat hair. At which point Moki slithers away in disgust. But at least he'll try it again later.