Enough said really! We love watching Kato and Ava take care of each other and express their affection. Kato will come and check on Ava - if they are ever apart for a little while. He'll give her a nose kiss, some licks hello, and Ava will reciprocate. From the look on Kato's face, he enjoys her attentions too!He
Kato and Ava are very affectionate cats. This doesn't mean they are cuddly lap-cats. Ava has kitten cuddliness, and lots of it, but she is too much of an energetic cat to be plonked in a lap for a cuddle on demand. Both Kato and Ava are busy cats, and like to have quick moments of loves, very very very frequently! When they do seek out our laps for an extended stay, we are very privileged - because they trust us enough to provide a sleeping place. Kato however, is not keen on full body strokes, so when he comes for a cuddle, it's a 'no hands mum' affair. But cuddling is just one measure of affection (and trust). The gift of presence, the interaction in our affairs, and the constant chaperone, are powerful signs of cat affection. Both Ava and Kato also adore being noticed and talked to, and involved - the same ways they show affection, bestowed back on them. If Ava asks to smell the herbs I've just cut from the garden (she looks intently at them while waiting at the door), then of course I offer them to her to sniff. Just being noticed and included builds trust and affection. The picture above is Ava coming as close to me as she can, without being on me - I had no lap at the time as I was crouched with my camera. Why did she express her affection by coming over to me? I was noticing her in her box and went and talked to her, and blinked at her, and generally showed my love in my face...all done with 'no hands mum' even though Ava is more than receptive to petting (works well when you are holding a camera or have no hands). Ava bestowed love back - through looks and blinks, and then trumped it all by getting up from her lovely box, coming over to me, and settling to sleep close by my foot! Here's the series of how that went - it's easy to see the looks of love on Ava's little face! I really have to keep reminding myself to listen to my cats. I'm pretty good by habit, but when something unexpected happens, I can slip into that default thinking of 'what are you doing? I dunno' and leave it there as a mystery of Cat-land. Except, I COULD be thinking 'what are you doing? There must be a reason for this...let's find out what it is'.
Case in point this morning when Ava came slinking around the couch at our feet with a bushy tail, and slipped behind the toy-box. I waited for her to come out and she didn't. I looked to the hall from whence she'd come expecting to see Kato in the midst of one of their games - no Kato. A few minutes later, Ava was sitting up on the TV cabinet, staring intently toward the hall, and generally acting a bit spooked. I went over to her and put my head close to hers to try and see what she was seeing...again, I expected Kato, but there was nothing. And the next thought was the 'I dunno...mystery in Cat-land' thought, partly because I needed to go and get ready to leave on errands. So off I went to the bedroom, down the hall, to the opposite side as the lounge room. And that's when my puny human ears heard it. Cat yowling. I climbed up to our window, and there below me was the neighbourhood arch-enemy, Ginger, sitting on our fence! 'Oh, sorry Ava, NOW I understand!' Almost. Both Husband-man and I went downstairs to our netted-in courtyard. Ginger couldn't get in - and neither could Kato get past the net to get at Ginger on the fence! The source of that cat-yowling was KATO. And he was VERY upset. Even when we had encouraged Ginger to go on his way, Kato kept staring up at that spot on the fence uttering the most fearsome and outraged noises. It took a couple minutes for him to calm down and come inside. And a few more before he could leave the glass door and come upstairs with us. I'm sure poor Ava couldn't quite work out what was happening...and maybe if Kato was mad with her. She gingerly came half-way down the stairs to meet Kato, with her tail bushy and slightly kinked. Once they had kissed noses, she scampered up the stairs and happily whisked away on her business. So, I will try and remember - there is ALWAYS a reason. And with a little effort, we can often find out what! |
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