He’s A Feline.

This is Truman relaxing on our bed yesterday afternoon. I’ve noticed that when he’s in this particular pose he can be a little aggressive. He likes to bite my hand once, and then he doesn’t do it again for a while. It’s not a damaging bite, he just puts his teeth on my skin but doesn’t break the skin. Then he retreats and holds his mouth open like he’s breathing through his mouth for a few moment. I suspect this activity is because he was neutered around two years old and he might have a few hormones dancing around in his system and he really wants to grab a lady cat by the scruff of the neck and do more things, but what do I know.

At least in this photo he was in a calm pose. As I type this entry he’s sitting on the window sill apparently trying to push the sides of the window wider and making screeching noises. He’s only loud when the rest of the family is trying to sleep.

We love him dearly.

Truman typically engages in contact with the humans by going up to them and turning his back. It’s his way of saying “I’m here, now give me some attention so you’re worthy of my gaze”. I love it when he’s so cat like.

Truman occasionally gives me a look when we’re getting settled in to watch TV for the evening. Here we had just finished a couple of episodes of “The Good Wife” and he felt it was now time for treats.

Truman has been hanging out with the family more. I think it’s because I was gone for a week and he didn’t know where the one with the shiny head was and was concerned about the treats dispensing practices. He’s been at my side since I returned and has been making himself comfortable like cats do.

However, in this photo he appears completely unimpressed with the first episode of the final season of “Star Trek: Picard”.

With me back east to help with Mom’s health concerns, Earl and Truman posed for a photo that made me smile and tear up a little.

Truman has always enjoyed building forts in pillows and blankets. He can occasionally be found buried in the blankets of the bed enjoying a nice quiet nap away from the world. I can relate.

This week during lunch he decided to start rearranging the throw pillows on the bench around the kitchen table. When he noticed that we noticed his activity, he decided to start acting innocent and instead join the conversation.

Truman stands next to the food machine, hoping it will start making noise. I’ve shown him in this area before because he’s there a lot, waiting for more food to fall.

This week we celebrated the fourth anniversary of Truman’s gotcha day.

I’m assuming there’s a bird perched near the window out of view in this photo. Truman has been in this position for five minutes, never moving, never wavering. There hasn’t even been a twitch of the tail. He is as still as a statue.

He seems to be in good spirits today, even making a rare appearance on our bed this morning for some scritches and pets. When he does decide to engage in this behavior he starts with a visit on the bed, receives some pets for about 10 seconds and the nips at my hand, steps away for a bit and then comes back for the real thing. I think he gets overwhelmed or overstimulated with the initial scritches and doesn’t know what to do with himself but then decides everything is just fine and comes back for a second round with no nips at my hand.

His purrs are loud.

He had his annual visit to the vet yesterday and for six years old is in great health. I occasional hear comments about him being such a “big kitty” but he actually lost 2.4 pounds since this last visit. He could stand to lose another 1.5 pounds but he’s doing the right things and his adult cat diet kibble seems to be doing his some good. Making his way around the dogs is probably keeping him on his toes as well. The vet had no disparaging things to see, so that was encouraging.