Felix, Our Cat

Felix, our cat, at around 3 months old

Aside from the very good weather, our last summer became a lot more pleasant with the arrival of Felix, our cat. I know, we don’t seem to have given much thought about his name (Felix might sound “generic” to some, like “Spot” for dogs or “Bunny” for rabbits) but it’s the first thing that came to our mind when we saw him. Besides, “felix” means lucky and we feel lucky that his cat mother (as opposed to “human mother” of pets) brought him to us.

Felix and his brother grooming each other

Yep, it was the mother cat (which, we think, is abandoned) that brought him right on our doorstep. When we first we saw her (mother cat) last year, she was foraging for food in our compost pile. So from then on, we would always leave food for her. We tried to make her stay with us but she remained wary (although she comes regularly to sit on our kitchen window sill). And maybe because of this, she brought Felix and his brother to us when they are about a month old (their eyes still had a bluish tinge but they were already running and jumping around when they came to see us).

the mother cat grooming her kitten

The queen (a mother cat) and her kittens would come to eat, play and sleep in our garden during the day. But they would regularly go somewhere for a few hours (most probably the mother showing her kittens the neighborhood). Also, they wouldn’t stay for the night even when we provided them with a box to sleep on our terrace. (Most probably they prefer the security of the relatively thick hedges on one side of our garden. Many neighborhood cats pass by our yard and I think the mother feels unsafe having her kittens “exposed” to them).

Felix (the one with the white paw), playing with his brother

Then after a month, we didn’t see Felix’s brother. We didn’t think he died because he was never sickly and after a week or so, Felix and his mother brought him to us again. But maybe he found a new home because he left by the end of the day and never came back. Well, Felix's brother is the bolder and the more independent of the two, hence a neighbor of ours must have seen him on one of their "tours" and adopted him. Felix has always been the cautious, wary kitten - he wouldn’t eat unless his brother and mother are already eating the food and whenever he hears someone coming, he would hide and only show himself when it’s us. (And this even needed a lot of coaxing for some time until he got used to us).

Felix, at around 2 months old

So we were left with only Felix. We thought he would also leave and find another home when he’s old or independent enough. But he stayed with us after his mother thought him big enough to fend for his own: she refused to play, nurse or let Felix get close to her. She didn't even allow Felix to follow her anymore (Felix was like his mother's shadow). So Felix stayed with us and we’re very happy to have him.

Felix sleeping after playing

Even at around 5 months now, he’s still as playful as when he was small, actually even more than before. I thought he would mellow down now as he doesn’t anymore have his brother or mother to play with. But it became the opposite. He rarely stays still for more than a minute or so (except when he’s sleeping), and when we’re outside he would remind us to play with him by grabbing our legs with his front paws (without the claws, thank goodness!) and then sprinting away. When we’re too busy to play with him and he’s bored with his toys and games, he would chase his own tail. He follows us everywhere except when he knows we’re leaving for work or do some errands (he doesn’t go beyond our gate… well, not yet). And when we come back, he would be at the door waiting for us.

Would you like to play with me?

He loves catching things and would jump high in the air to catch whatever you throw at him (unless he’s not in the mood). And one of his favorite games is to climb trunks and vertically growing branches (I think he finds branches growing horizontally boring). He likes to be petted but wouldn’t sit still on our lap or lay quietly next to us when we’re watching something on TV. And he loves to snuggle close to us in bed at night. He would even wedge his way between me and my husband, with his head on our pillow and his body under the covers.

Felix climbing for his toy at around 5 months old

Now, if only if he would stop chewing on anything that resembles a string. (He even tried to chew the temple arms of my eyeglasses. Good thing he hasn't chewed any electrical cords... yet.)