He’s A Feline.

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.

Truman has been wanting to get outside so we occasionally let him out on the roof over the garage for some fresh air. The space is surrounded by a railing that he can’t get through, so I’m not worried about him jumping off the roof.

However, he has discovered he can climb up to a higher roof for a better bird’s eye view. So he does not go outside without human supervision.

Truman has had an active week. I’m blaming this on the full moon. He’s decided to start ripping at the weatherstripping around the door to the garage. He shot out the back door when the dogs were going out to do their thing, and when I went to retrieve him he went running as fast as he could do into the wash behind the house. He was gone for about an hour before I was able to retrieve him from a thicket of brush he had position himself under. I believe he decided to go here after he realized he couldn’t climb a saguaro cactus in the back lawn. He’s been yelling and meowing loudly a lot.

I think he’s found a new sense of adventure or something. Either that or he knows his annual vet visit is this month.

When all is said and done he settles into his favorite cat bed and takes a nap.

Truman has been hanging out in the “public” spaces of our home a little more since our return from back east earlier this month. He’s getting along well with Lucky and Jinx these days. There has been nose-to-nose sniffing without hysterics, though once in a while the dogs will go tearing through the house when Truman decided to jump over the dog gate that separates our upstairs area from the rest of our home.

Here he’s posing in the kitchen, standing next to the shelf that has been deemed as “safe”. The dogs do not bother him when he’s on a cat on a shelf.

Here’s Truman, looking like he’s investigating his shadow on the roof on Friday afternoon.

We had a lot of activity in the house this week. Much of the damage from Monsoon Season 2021 was finally repaired and the house is looking intact again. Last Thursday and Friday the drywall company was here and replaced the missing drywall that was removed due to water damage. On Monday and Tuesday this week, our new exterior doors were replaced. The original doors were never installed correctly and the floor and door framing underneath the exterior doors on the second floor were in really bad shape. The contractors had to remove and rebuild the flooring in our bedroom in front of our door that goes outside.

The contractors made a small hole in the floor to inspect the damage. They went to seal up the hole when they noticed cat hair on the edges of the hole. Truman was missing. They were confident he’d gone down the hole.

We searched around the house, searched around the property, searched the roof (where the second floor doors provide access), no Truman. The contractor said, “I see the insulation mashed down, he’s down there”.

Kitty was almost sealed up in the floor while sniffing the floor joists between the first and second floor.

The contractors ended up taking out a much bigger section of the floor and climbing down in to see what was up. A few moments later we heard the unmistakable sounds of a cat being pulled out of a hiding place by his paws and he was not happy. But he was out of the hole and back up in the house where he belonged.

I raided my casino winnings for a very nice tip for the extra work the contractors did to extract Truman from the floor joists. Truman demanded treats upon his extraction.

Chris found Truman impersonating Christmas ornaments yesterday.

Truman has been very vocal since our return from vacation last night. He wants to be very close to me and he’s been purring very loudly the entire time. He’s generally the most “standoffish” of cats that have adopted me over the years, but he’s showing me his love in his own way.

Apparently he experienced a deficit in treats or something while staying here at home with the rest of the family; he’s been banging on his kibble dispenser with a noticeable intensity. If I give him a treat he purrs while he eats. I get that.

Truman was happy to notice that he was not being packed up with the big suitcases. He’s in the care of the rest of our family as we travel back east this week. I’m sure he will make his demands known.

He enjoys the stools that line the counter between the kitchen and the family room. When the dogs run by he’s gives them a swat on the rear to say, “keep it moving, canine”. No claws are to be found, he’s just giving them his version of a motivational love tap.

Truman and the dogs have continued their bonding to the point that Truman feels comfortable hanging out in the kitchen again. He enjoys watching the world from the window sills.