Bruno, 2014 adopted cat

Bruno has become Alex’s cat. Oh, Bruno is fine coming and sitting next to me, and now that we know it’s what he wants, Alex and I try to sit together on the couch for a bit after dinner, with Bruno between us, so he can get some attention.

But what Bruno REALLY likes is sitting on/with Alex. On weeknights, it’s after Alex stops working, and sits in his chair – there will be Bruno on his lap. And sometimes on weekends, when Alex decides to catch up on TV, there’s Alex in the TV room, and there’s Bruno, completely blissed out next to him for hours.

It’s funny – Bruno will totally accept affection from me, but I think he’s a man’s cat. And a man watching TV – oh, that is JUST what Bruno wants. I’ll hear Alex in there talking to Bruno, explaining how Bruno shouldn’t claw him. But if Alex goes in there and Bruno doesn’t follow right away, Alex will come check to see where Bruno is. I’m on to the both of them .

Today was a red letter day. While Alex was eating his dinner (he came home later), I sat on the floor and played “hug me / hug me not” with Ziggy.

I sit on the floor. Ziggy barrels over to me, and gets a hug. I am allowed to hug Ziggy and massage him for about 30 seconds, at which point he has to prance over to where Alex is, to make sure he hasn’t moved. Then he prances back over to me for a hug/massage, then… <repeat until we go for a walk>

Bruno often lays next to me on the floor when I’m doing this because, hey, a human on the floor ready to pay attention to pets is a human on the floor ready to pay attention to Bruno.

But tonight, Bruno didn’t lay next to me. He climbed up on my lap, put his paw on my upper arm, and demanded UP!. He wanted to be held and cuddled. (!!?!?). When Ziggy ran back, Bruno just stayed being held, so Z had to flop on my legs and put up with being massaged by my feet. Which was fine by him.

Bruno has always made it clear that he sits next to me, and I am not supposed to carry him, unless it’s strictly necessary, and he doesn’t like it, but if there’s food where I’m taking him he will tolerate it.

Bruno is doing great. Last night, I realized how far we’d come: I was sacked out on the couch last night, holding Bruno, who had laid down on top of me and caused me to re-arrange the blanket so just his head peeped out. He was PURRING to beat the band, and didn’t even mind when Fender climbed up and laid on my legs outside of the blanket.

Bruno is still not super-psyched about being picked up and carried – he tolerates it. But he is like a bullet train when you sit down anywhere in the house – you sit, and *there* is Bruno, cuddled up next to you. He’s happy. We’re happy.

Just giving you a quick update on Bruno. What a love - he *adores* sitting with either Alex or I, and has gotten in the habit of spending the early evenings with me, and then going with Alex to sit up and watch TV (or wait for Alex to come watch TV). We have a woobie-soft blanket that is piled up next to where Alex sits, and there they are many evenings: Bruno on top of his poof, sitting right next to Alex, listening to music or catching up on some TV.

My big update is that (knock wood) everything seems to have settled down amongst the boys. Bruno is integrated more and more each day with my other two boys, and I think it's been weeks since I've seen a major squabble involving Bruno. Of course the two brothers have their nightly wrestling match/chase your brother round the house, but that's all in good fun.

Bruno and Fender have discovered a mutual passion for wand toys - Bruno's not a fan of the red dot, but my goodness he loves anything fluttering on the end of a string, as does Fen. Perhaps this is how they've bonded.

Either that, or Bruno knows he's staying, and how has made his peace with my two idiots.

4/10/14 - Bruno is a "foster failure" - his foster mom can't imagine him going anywhere else, so he is home to stay (along with FMNAS alum Ziggy the dog, and his new "brothers" Skip and Fenster). YAY!

Skip & Fen are less aggrieved when Bruno is on their personal levels of the cat tree. And Bruno has accepted that he goes on the 3rd tier of the cat tree when it’s treat time. Bruno will still swat at Fen about once a day, but he doesn’t pursue it as much, and Fen is learning that it’s just Bruno, and if he ignores it it stops (Bruno and Fen also have discovered a mutual passion for the wand toy, which tends to interrupt and stop any aggression).

And Bruno and Ziggy are hilarious. Ziggy accepted Skip and Fen as magic superior beings, who he occasionally accidentally whaps with his tail but in general has to walk around and allow to do whatever they want. Bruno on the other hand…. Bruno likes to lick out Ziggy’s dish when Ziggy is done – apparently there is still flavor left, although since Ziggy is still on a diet, I think Ziggy licks it out pretty clean, taking a layer of pottery glaze with him. Bruno waits patiently while Ziggy eats, because he’s learned if he anticipates and goes too fast, Ziggy will go

No emphasis. Just I saw that. But then when Ziggy is done, he will sit back, Bruno moves in, and Ziggy will cheerfully watch Bruno lick out the empty bowl.

I also SWEAR that I see Bruno and Ziggy occasionally rolling their eyes at each other when Fen or Skip act like the entitled idiots they are. Yes, they do seem right together.

And Bruno is a big love muffin. Bruno has told me where he wants blankies arranged, and we’ve learned to pull the blanket up over your leg a bit when sitting with him, because a happy Bruno is a Bruno waving two paws of razor blade-like claws around looking for something to push against as he rolls around in ecstasy ( scratch my chest please [waves claws around]

A couple of photos of Bruno. This first one is of Bruno’s favorite morning and late-afternoon spot. He hangs out here while I shower in the morning, and then returns back here to watch the sunset. He likes that green sweater that he’s sitting on, so I have to leave it there.

Skip and Bruno are getting along really well. Skip occasionally gets vexed when Bruno is on one of HIS favorite spots, but Skip’s response is just to come yelling for me for attention. Bruno’s not picking on Fen so much – I have to say more because Fen has learned to give Bruno his space, and in part because Bruno acts like he’s getting bored with picking on Fen. The *really* hilarious pair is Bruno and Ziggy.

Bruno and Ziggy basically get along well. They occasionally are allies when they cannot BELIEVE how spoiled the other two cats are. Bruno sits next to Ziggy when Ziggy eats, and when Ziggy is done, Bruno licks out the bowl (not that Ziggy has left anything other than fumes, but at least there must be *some* flavor left). When Bruno tries to eat along with Ziggy, Ziggy calmly gives a little “urrrrrr” without emphasis, while continuing to eat, which Bruno correctly interprets as, “oh, I guess I’ll wait…”

Ziggy puts Bruno in a different category than the other two cats, which is what is really funny. Skip and Fen can go where they please, climb all over me, etc. Bruno on the other hand – Ziggy will give that little “urr” when Bruno comes into the study at night for attention. When we first noticed that, we were really concerned that Ziggy was showing aggression towards a cat, blah blah blah, but over time we’ve just realized that Ziggy is not sure that Bruno is supposed to be in the study. So he gives that little “urrr” sound to let me know Bruno is there, but that’s it.

Now Ziggy will give me looks if disbelief, hurt, and outrage when, as sometimes happens, Bruno lays in one of Ziggy’s beds. But it’s funny – Ziggy doesn’t have the same response when Skip does it. So there’s some “those two cats were here, so they’re OK, but I’m not sure about this new guy” thing in Ziggy’s head. But as I’ve said, we’ve watched it very carefully, and Ziggy does seem to like Bruno, possibly better than the other two – Bruno joins us when Ziggy gets his most-every-night-brushing, and will roll around, rub against Ziggy while we’re brushing him, etc, and Ziggy’s fine with it.

And this is Bruno on the pile of blankets that Skip demands I leave on the chest in the family room. Bruno had been napping in front of the fire, but apparently decided to come sit a little further away for a bit. That paw of possession he has out front is typical for Bruno:

Anyway, Bruno and the gang are all doing well. Bruno’s health continues to be fine – he’s on normal wet food (never dry), and his diabetes seems to still be under control. The vet has suggested some test strips I can put in the litterbox, rather than bringing Bruno in – we’ll give that a try, but so far all good.