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| Name: |
Bertie
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Age: |
Three months old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Exotic shorthair
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| Home: |
Seattle, Washington, USA
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This
is a photo of three-month old Bertie Wooster in the throes of his
first experience with catnip. An extremely amiable fellow just like the
P.G. Wodehouse character who is his namesake, Bertie lives each day with
enthusiasm. He purrs, plays, and sleeps as the spirit moves him, confident
that all practical matters will be well taken care of by his own personal
(human) "Jeeves."
Bertie loves receiving attention. He readily gives up his whole body to
stroking and petting, purring all the while. If two humans are willing to
give him kitty massages, he diplomatically goes back and forth between
them to make it easier for first one, then the other to reach him. He
always acknowledges a good massage with a "thank you" nuzzle.
Similarly, when Bertie wants to leave a lap, he stands up on his back paws
and gives a nose to nose nuzzle as a parting kiss. He gazes fondly into
your eyes before departing.
Bertie has definite tastes in music. For Jason Vieaux playing "Images of
Metheny,' he will position himself in front of the CD player midway
between the speakers, ditto Ricardo Cobo's "Guitar Lullaby." He
especially likes Segovia playing Bach, too.
Judging by when he makes himself scarce, Bertie seems to draws the line at
flamenco. Maybe he just needs a good catnip session first? He wouldn't be
the first the prefer a little intoxication along with certain music...
Here's Bertie stealing a little warmth from Arthur during today's snow
storm. As you can see, Arthur doesn't mind in the least. I wish I had had
the camera in hand when Bertie first jumped up to visit Arthur on the bed.
Bertie nuzzled his little head all over Arthur's neck and cheeks; and
although this woke Arthur up, Arthur was sweet about it and returned the
kisses with some gentle licking of Bertie's ears. Then Bertie settled in
to spoon Arthur.
I think they are getting along pretty well. Bertie is influencing Arthur
to play more and to be more active. Yesterday Arthur played a vigorous
game of bat the bag... when Bertie was in the paper grocery bag on the
floor. Bertie just kept playing and engaging Arthur without being at all
intimidated and Arthur got to act out his aggressions.
Arthur never tries to hurt the little guy but he does like to make a small
show of his superiority sometimes. Bertie usually hunkers down and five
minutes later, he sidles up to Arthur and gives him cheek rubs with his
head. As a result, Arthur may be put out at me but he can't seem to
develop an oppositional relationship with Bertie.
Hope all is harmonious in your multi-cat households this cold day.
Bertie is a year old now. We especially love him for his very gentle
and sociable character.
This week Bertie met his first dog, a small part French/part
Boston bulldog. When she came in the front door, our other two cats
immediately ran for the downstairs. Only Bertie held his ground at a
distance of ten feet. Then he passed one of his jingle ball toys
to her! While she played with it, he put his belly to the floor and
edged ever closer. Suddenly the little bulldog sat down on all fours
with her head up looking at him. Bertie lifted his head and mirrored
her posture. Their eyes-to-eyes encounter continued very peacefully,
with Bertie and the bulldog resting calmly at a distance of only
eighteen inches apart, showing neither fear nor aggression, while their
humans finished chatting.
"That face!" thought Bertie. "She's adorable and very exciting! Part
French, I hear, but maybe they mean Persian? I wonder if she believes
in love at first sight?"
"Not so bad," thought the bulldog. "I do like his face. He certainly
shares his toys. Of course, my heart belongs to Bo and so black labs
are "it" for me. Bo's not right, though, when he tells me Bertie is
nothing but a peeping Tom, always staring out the windows at us when we
play in the back yard, only good for barking at when you have nothing
else to do. Bertie certainly has more social potential than that ... at
least for a special girl like me."
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