Change of pace: our new boarders

Sometimes we just need a break from all the seriousness and pain around us. It's pouring rain in Southern California today; I'm glad it's a holiday as I always feel that I should tuck up at home on stormy days. Southern Californians don't handle rain at all well (as a native Northern Californian, I feel safe sneering about this.)

Our friend D. is between houses right now, and asked us a couple of months ago if we could look after his two indoor-outdoor (mostly outdoor) cats. We agreed, with some trepidation.

One cat, Nani, is a tuxedo cat, very lithe and elegant in black and white. I call him Psycho-kitty as he is prone to attack without warning, and I don't mean playfully. He's not very affectionate, he never says a word, and on the rare occasions he purrs you can only hear it if you put your head right on his ribs (which can be dangerous.) Nani likes to spend the day outside patrolling the neighborhood against rodents, and only deigns to come inside for meals and sleeping on a chair, unless it's raining.

The other cat, Bubba, is a fat ginger cat, who made a habit in his old neighborhood of begging food from half the houses on the street. (The picture here is foreshortened, Bubba is actually quite a bit bigger than Nani.) He was of more concern to us because he was known to behave badly in the house. Imagine our surprise to find that Bubba has completely reinvented himself to be the perfect gentleman indoors, becoming the ultimate housecat. He refuses to venture outside even into our protected garden. He sleeps most of the day on the bed while we're at work, but in the evening comes downstairs to sit on the couch with us and watch television. Bubba has a deep reverberating purr, which seems to be running most of the time. He likes to lie on his back and be stroked, which is irresistible as he is very soft.

D. came over the other day and was amazed to find Bubba playing with cat toys. I think everyone had dismissed him as a slow and duddy fat cat, but he's become quite engaging. We've even managed to reduce a few pounds off his generous frame. ("Why Bubba! You have hips!") I admit I'm kind of hoping D. lets us keep Bubba.