The shy cat Haff

You would never guess that this cat was writhing around wanting his tummy rubbed a second before this photo was taken. As soon as the camera appears he gets all shy. Yes, he likes his tummy rubbed; he is almost a doggy in that way. He see’s you, does a bit of a rub up against your leg, as cats do, jumps up onto the chair, moves this way and that way-getting the most out of the fondling that you’re giving him and then he flips over onto his back and offers his belly up to you. He’ll endure the rubbing of the belly for almost as long as you are prepared to stay there and do it. I have heard that some cats do this, and it shows their trust in you, as the belly is one of their most vulnerable parts.

Of course, as he’s a ginger cat, he’s a very affectionate cat anyway. He is even more affectionate since he got the snip.
For years, he was The Man about the place, and then we started noticing Haff-like kittens appearing all around the place. When he started fighting left right and centre with other cats, we decided that perhaps it was time to do the dirty deed.
I was given this responsibility, as my Mum didn’t want him to associate this particular trip to the vets with her. As I was sitting in the vets waiting room, with a very disgruntled Haff in the cat basket, the woman sitting beside me, who had a young cat held by the scruff of her neck on her lap (not in a basket) said to her young daughter “Oh doesn’t that cat look very like the cat that comes around our place a lot” and then as I was making small talk with her, discovered that she lived on the total opposite side of the town where I live, and she was in with her cat to get the job done on her also…. but she thought she was pregnant…oh oh, warning bells started in my head, I was glad when the vet called us in!

Well his offspring is coming back to haunt him. There is a ginger cat, almost identical to Haff, who keeps trying to steal his territory and Haff gets very affronted by this intrusion. There are many catfights, and Haff defends his kingdom with gusto. He looks worse off at times, battered, bruised and bleeding occasionally, but he’s the boss, and I wonder how the other cat fares?

posted by tangelled angel @ Thursday, February 16, 2006