After more than a month of staying in the same household with two kittens, it has become very obvious that no two kitties are the same.
There was some hissing and sulking when Emi was first brought into the household. She was perfectly fine, had no problems adjusting, but I can’t say the same for Coco. That kitten was livid. It took about two weeks before she would calm down enough not to run away when Emi was near.
Everything’s fine now although there are still times when they would chase and pounce on each other. And it’s very funny to see their individual personalities emerge when they play, eat, sleep and do nothing.
Coco
Ah, my little Coco beans (that’s what I call her). She’s a fine Little Miss Prissy. She sits properly and primly, tucks her tail between her legs when we hold her up and never, never slouches. Between the two, she’s more cautious and guarded. When we first took her in, we kept her in the spare room before coaxing her out slowly. Initially, she was reluctant to come out of her comfort zone but gradually grew used to having the entire house as her playground. And she hates it when we have people over – she doesn’t like crowds and would hide in the room.
Her wariness doesn’t make her less lovable though. Almost every night, she would be sitting by the window in the kitchen (it faces the main corridor) and, when she catches sight of us, would jump onto her feet and start meowing loudly as if to say, You are home! I’ve missed you!
Once or twice, when I was home alone in the mornings, I would open my bedroom door to a seemingly empty house. All it took was a call: “Meow, where are you?” The darling would actually respond with loud meows! I’d find her perched on top of the fridge or curled up in the bedroom by the bay window.
She’s really clever too. If we leave the room and say “bye bye” or “let’s go!”, she would follow us out of the room. If she wanted us to retrieve her toy from under the sofa, she would make a lot of noise and paw at the area. Sometimes, I would find myself having “conversations” with her – it’s quite funny!
Emi
My favourite story of Emi is this: one Sunday morning, I came out of the bedroom door and walked down the corridor with Emi trotting by my feet. Standing at the living room was husband, who said chirpily, “Good morning, Emi!” The cat paused, looked up at him and proceeded to roll on the floor twice. After the act, she got up and walked away, as if nothing had happened, leaving husband and I clutching our sides in mirth.
Emi is really a chill kitten. She had no qualms about coming to a strange place, took to the litter box immediately and was happy to be petted. She quickly claimed the sofa as her bed and sleeps A LOT. Funnily enough, she doesn’t meow but chirps. As in the manner of “brrrp!” And if she wanted to be heard, she would wail. LOUDLY. In the manner of, “Oh Gods of Cats! Hear my plea! I lead a miserable wretched life and hasn’t had a meal in 20 days!”
But she can be quite the attention seeker. She hates it when we go into a room and leave her outside, and she gets annoyed when Coco is obsessed with a toy and ignores her. She would start yelling loudly or, in the case of Coco, pounce on the poor dear and demand to play with her. We’ve had to grab her and pull her away from Coco more than once!
The fun thing about Emi is that she can be like a baby. We’d grab her and cradle her in our arms. She would struggle until we start scratching her head, the sides of her face and on her neck – her eyes will go soft, glaze over and before you know it, they are shut fast. She’s also a most unglamorous sleeper – hind legs sprawled, body twisted in strange ways, legs over her head.
I may just be biased but seriously, aren’t my cats just the cutest?
Yannisms 