Sir Robert

Sir Robert, more commonly referred to as "Bob" is my sister's newly acquired cat. I went to visit them yesterday, and he's even more cute in person than in the photo's.

He's a tiny thing, although full-grown, he's no larger than a large kitten, barely two kilos if that. He is a classic tabby, with the white bib, tummy and boots, and has the most wonderful spots on his belly near the white part. He is the first whatever-and-white cat I've met where the colouring was absolutely symmetrical, except for one black spot on his leg. The defining line between tabby and white was his mouth, giving him a very dignified, royal appearance, hence his original name, "Sir Robert".

He wasn't going to be affectionate to me, although my sister says he must have known I was his CAunTy because he didn't try to become One with the underneath of the bed like he does when anyone else comes over. I could hold him, but if my sister came close he struggled and tried to jump onto her. He clearly had a very strong bond to his one human. Naturally, I approved of the new addition to her family and was promptly treated to the 6 rolls of film she had snapped of her new baby in the last month. You can tell I'm a dedicated cat lover, because I wasn't bored through all 144-odd shots.

The weirdest thing, though, is the way he smurgles. I have never seen a cat smurgle before and didn't know smurgling even existed before I joined this newsgroup. He likes nuzzle into my sister's neck, and lick and lick and lick until my sister eventually pulls him off. He gets that really super-happy goofy kitty look on his face and purrs for all he's worth while he's doing this. Meanwhile, I was doing the "aww… how cute. Isn't that adorable? Oh, how wonderful" thing, until my sister asks me whether I would thing it was cute if it happened to me *all* night long, every night. She also said that the hives have gone down now that she's used to it, but for the first week, Bob licked her neck so red-raw, she was a swollen bunch of itchy hives (she, like me, being allergic to our favourite critters).

She now has to sleep completely under the covers, because any exposed skin is used for serious smurgling through the night, which is fine through winter, but what about summer? Not that she would ever consider getting rid of him, however, because they've bonded so closely. It seems that Steve (Sister's SO) is starting to feel a little jealous and ol' Bob is doing the alpha male thing of stealing Steve's seat and hissing when he tries to get to close (in Bob's opinion) to my sister. Perhaps my sister and I have more in common than we first thought...

Copyright © Vicky Chapman
April 18, 1999