Apricot and Thimble

My table, thank you very much.

Apricot and Thimble appear to have a jovial, but very real, rivalry going on. Mostly for my attention, and they are trying to one-up each other by imitating the other one!

For example: Apricot learned that if he came over to me, I would stop, lean down or crouch down, and pet him. No matter what I was doing. He is rather irritated, actually, that the exception to this is when I'm holding another cat and walking with them. (I simply can't kneel down without tipping over slightly, which overbalances the cat in my arms and makes them feel like I'm going to drop them, which makes them want to leave and possibly leave suddenly, and the entire situation goes south from there.

Well, Apricot is still doing the come over and ask for pets, even more than ever.

Now Thimble is learning to do it too. As of right now, he's simply imitating Apricot. If he sees Apricot get up and come over, he'll duplicate the action. Luckily, I have two hands, and Colby's not getting participating, so two hands are sufficient. But I anticipate Thimble's going to start doing it independently of Apricot eventually.

I really have to watch where I'm going these days when I walk through the house!

Well, that's Thimble imitating Apricot.

Thimble in sleepy abandon on my lap
(Yes, I have a blanket on my lap in May)

But Apricot's imitating Thimble, too. He sees Thimble take such great pleasure in leaping onto the kitchen stool and from there to my shoulder. And he thinks, hm.

No, he doesn't want to jump to my shoulder. He's a compact floor cat. But he's jumping to the stool height and asking for kisses like Colby does. (This leaves Colby without a kitchen stool ... perhaps I should get another one.)

So I have been giving him kisses there. He's even done the thing where he sits there as I prepare supper and he's discovered I give random kisses as I move around the kitchen, much to his delight.

However, he's still giving me that look that means "that's not quite what I wanted although it's very nice and please don't stop." I am coming to the conclusion that he wants a ride. He wants me to pick him up, carry him through the house like I do Thimble, and then put him down. This from a cat who has been adamant about his fear of being carried.

I've tried the ride idea a few times now. It seems to really be what he wants. For a short distance (not the entire house) he even purrs the whole time. For the length of the house, he doesn't purr, but he doesn't tense up and get all afraid, either.

I like this kind of cat rivalry. They're learning all good things from each other, even if they are doing it because they're vying for my attention.

And in the middle of all this, I have to remember to make sure I give Colby attention, too, since he's not being front and center about demanding it!