Belly rubs and building trust.

Just saw this on my Facebook page and it made me think about how Duncan and I have been building our relationship for the past year and a half.  He wasn't big on exposing his tummy at all when he first came home with me but it didn't take long before he began to open up and as his comfort zone increased, so did his habit of sprawling out with his tummy exposed.  Of course, as any animal lover knows, tummies are irresistible and remembering how much my Sybil loved her tummy rubs, my instinct was to reach right over and give Duncan a tummy rub!  NOT a good idea!  He might have felt comfortable exposing his tummy but he sure wasn't about to have me touching it and he had no problem letting me know in no uncertain terms that his belly was WAY off limits!  However, over the past month or so, he seems to have decided to trust me one step further and now allows me to give him short little tummy rubs!  He does keep a wary eye on the proceedings and once he's had enough, the tail starts to twitch and if I don't pay attention, I still wind up getting bitten but the simple fact that he lets me give him those short little tummy rubs has me soaring!  He's starting to really trust me and that means the world to me!  I know he loves me -- he makes that clear all the time, climbing up in my lap and demanding attention and loving, head butting for kisses, lots of slow eye blinks and so many other little signs of affection -- but loving and trusting are two completely different things and his trust is something that we're working on and it feels like little miracles whenever we have these breakthroughs!

Crazy damn cat!

Last night Duncan was on a roll!  He was SO silly -- chasing his mice, playing with balls and "hiding" under the rugs!  Just being a total lunatic and making me laugh so hard!  Now he's driving me crazy!  I've gotten up early -- well, early for me, anyway! -- the past couple days so he's gotten breakfast early both days and now he's insisting that he's STARVING!  Breakfast time varies every day depending on when I get up -- most days its around 10:00 a.m. but this morning it was around 9:00 a.m. -- but dinner is always around 5:00 p.m. so why is he making me crazy demanding to be fed NOW?!!!!!!!!!  This has been going on since 4:00 and he's getting more and more frustrated with me telling him its too early.  Of course, he has his crunchy bowls in the kitchen and in the living room AND he ate his fill of my lunch, too, so I'm not buying his "Mama, I'm DYING" bit but he's definitely pulling out all the stops and doing a fine Olivier with all the drama!  Maybe I should start calling him Heathcliffe!?!  Sure wish the birds would come hang out on "his" wires outside the front window to take his mind off his "empty" tummy for a bit!

Such a sweet little boy!

Yesterday was particularly difficult.  Not sure if it was because its the first 9/11 that I wasn't working or because it fell on a Tuesday and was just like that horrible day -- just gorgeous.  Beautiful blue sky, lovely breeze, warm temps.  Or maybe it was just a combination of all those things.  For the first time in several years, I felt compelled to watch the reading of the names of those lost on 9/11, waiting to hear my friend Rosemary Smith's name.  Everything seemed surreal again, as if it was only days, not years, since the Towers came down.

Whatever the reason or reasons, Duncan seemed to sense his mama wasn't her usual self and he attached himself to me like a furry little shadow.  Even to the point where he "accompanied" me in my shower!  He jumped up on to the top of the sliding glass doors and stayed there the whole time, watching my every move!  I went to my folks' house for a bit but when I came home, he was right there again.  He had to be wherever I was.  If I got up and went to another room, he came with me.  When I was sitting on the couch, on the computer or just watching tv, he was right next to me.  Of course, by the end of the day, he seemed to have had enough!  Just before bedtime, I went to pet him and he nipped me!  LOL!  Guess everything was back to normal by then!  But he certainly does seem to love me and I know for sure that I absolutely adore him!  He made a very sad day seem a little less sad.

Mama's EVIL!

Poor little Duncan!  LOL!  He LOVES his treats but he'll eat the whole bag in one sitting if I let him.  I'd much rather he ate his crunchies but he's been out here begging for some -- I've learned the clues:  if the bag is out here, he'll paw at it till I give in; if it isn't, he digs into the tissue box and pulls all the tissues out! -- so I finally relented but buried his treats under his crunchies so that he'll have to work at getting them!  Of course, now he has me picking the treats out one at a time so I'm not really sure who won this battle!  He's just so doggone cute!

The saga of the bag continues!

The bag is currently in the bedroom -- he was rattling it around at 4:00 this morning! -- but it was in the living room the other night and caught these pix of the big guy having fun with it! 

Silly kitty!

Just finished a blanket for Victoria and Duncan had to try it out!  He was showing off for Teresa -- "See how cute I am?"!