Post pictures of your precious Blue / Gray / Maltese cats here!

From what I've read, the only sure fire way to figure out if a cat is a purebred Russian Blue is to bred them with a purebred RB and then look at the kittens. Since Tiger is neutered, I guess that route won't work. 

I sometimes wish that Tiger could talk and tell me where he came from. I sometimes think about the fact that if he was owned, his owner would've gotten him returned, if he had been chipped. I scanned him for a microchip before deciding to adopt him.

He surely is microchipped now though. I took him in this past March and got it done. Our information is current and registered and will always stay current. I would hate to ever lose him and I would make a huge journey to bring him home if he ever ended up in some strange place.

That is why I'm forcing him to be an indoor cat, even though he'd rather be outside. I love him so much that it would break my heart into pieces if he got hit by a car or eaten by a coyote.

As is, though, we still haven't figured out how to completely prevent him from escaping sometimes, but at least he's indoors most of the time. I'm still working with the kids to close the doors better and teaching them how to thwart his escape attempts.

Is the RB a courageous breed? When Tiger was outside more (before I learned about the hazards of outdoor cats, it's been a learning experience), he would climb roofs, climb straight up tree trunks, and all sorts of things. 

MServant said:

 

   Poor Tiger, it looks like even the top of his tree isn't safe from invading humans wanting to snuggle his fur.  

   (Mouse isn't either 

 )

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Yes, LOL! 

Mouse looks like such an absolute sweetheart. Does he come and cuddle with you at night?

I've noticed that Tiger either wants to sleep curled up on my pillow behind my head or down at my feet. Either that or in random spots around the house. My kids made a kitty house out of an Amazon box and he loves sleeping there also. Or his nocturnal instinct kicks in and he paces around the house. LOL!

In the morning, if I'm not awake and getting out his can of food quickly enough, he comes and starts nipping/gnawing on me until I get up and feed him. Not really hard, but just enough to where I can't ignore him.   

Crazy4Strays said:

 
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Is the RB a courageous breed? When Tiger was outside more (before I learned about the hazards of outdoor cats, it's been a learning experience), he would climb roofs, climb straight up tree trunks, and all sorts of things. 

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Ha ha.  They are reputed to be very timid, prone to bolting when startled, and very quiet....  

Mouse can be deadly quiet if he wants to be but makes a a total racket when he feels like it:  he doesn't make any cat swearing noises like hissing, spitting or growling though, just squeaks, meows and chirrupy noises and occasional audible purrs.  He's an expert with non verbal communication so he doesn't really need to vocalize much, but when he does it's hilarious because he is so expressive.  

As for the courageous or timid bit - the only times I've seen Mouse scared is when he's been outside the apartment with me and then he is very much on guard.  I have him on a harness so he can't bolt and he refuses to go outside the stairway entrance to the apartment in to the big outdoors....   and once when he had been in on his own.   We came home to find him very out of sorts and clingy.  Something had obviously happened but we have no idea what, and it must have been bad as he took more than a day to settle back to his usual self.  He has coped with drum playing neighbours, thunder and lightening, fireworks,  builders and scaffolders immediately outside his windows, and all sorts of strangers coming in to his home, and never been phased at all.   If he is in his own territory Mouse is definitely not the shy, retiring sort but I am led to believe they are often pretty shy of anyone other than their immediate human servants - whom they train very efficiently.  Mouse will go check out any new people that come in to his home and once he's decided they are safe he will immediately start to train them (where his fish snacks are, where the tap is that he likes people to turn on, when he wants his belly scritched, and which seat he will permit them to sit on - if he really likes the person he will then climb up and snuggle in beside or behind them).  He does the same whether it is a friend here for a chat or a workman repairing something like my gas boiler.     If there's a suitcase or tool box that gets checked out too and anything interesting removed for closer inspection and chewing.  I have often asked his breeder if she is sure he is really as Russian Blue - if he wasn't the spitting image of his fur parents and I didn't know the breeder really well I could be very worried!

Tiger is very good at using boxes that are big enough for him;  Mouse seems to have this thing for boxes that his backside doesn't quite fit in to.      It doesn't matter too much because yes, he does mostly sleep on the bed, though I am not convinced he thinks it's my bed...  mostly at my feet but occasionally I am honoured with him moving up to the head end on a memory foam pillow that I have but rarely use my self.  Last night he stayed up most of the night though as it was pretty windy and he was supervising the leaves that were blowing about outside.   

Tiger's favorite box is the Amazon box, for sure. Once my order from Amazon was so large that it came in a huge box. My kids decided that it needed to be made into a cat house, so now it sits in the girls' room and multiple cats have enjoyed it. 

Dropping by to share a Conan update pictures. These were taken on October 10th.

In the first one he's cuddling up to his man-human   

This is him sitting in the kitchen chair. He got very heavy! You can confirm that by the way he's weighing down on the thick vinyl on the chair with his paws.     

This is him waiting for his man-human to come out of the bathroom  

MagiksGirl said:

 

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I think your kitty looks a lot like Horatio when he was younger back in the day.

What sweet kitty pictures!

Very true @Horatiothecat  !   I think it is the look of anticipation that their human is going to give them something lovely (if they keep looking at them that way).      It's a sort of cute, 'notice me' pose and looking up at you so there's no way to doubt they are waiting for you to oblige them.  

That string - bean ears are bigger than cat stage is so cute.       Who could deny their little faces anything when they are like that? 

Tiger eating his breakfast.

Is there a reason why he is on the counter eating his breakfast? You'll have a hard time breaking him from counter surfing.

I really don't care if the cats jump on the counters and don't plan to make them stay down. I could probably put his dish on the floor though.

The cat hates being kept indoors, so I like to allow him a little freedom to jump around.

Crazy4Strays said:

I really don't care if the cats jump on the counters and don't plan to make them stay down. I could probably put his dish on the floor though.

The cat hates being kept indoors, so I like to allow him a little freedom to jump around.

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I do the same and have always allowed my cats to every area unless there is a specific risk for them (like the cooker hob).  With food preparing areas I use a chopping board or similar to work on.  I know a lot of people prefer their cats to stay off kitchen work tops but I am not in often enough to supervise and stop consistently plus living in a small apartment I don't want to limit the cat access areas at all levels up down and around any more than I have to.  I just try to keep all areas safe for me and my cat/s so not leaving sharp things lying about etc, not putting food on the work top without a plate or chopping board, and no breakable things where cats cat get to them.   The last point has been the most challenging as occasionally Mouse has managed to get to places I would never have thought possible.     

Tiger's coat is lovely and shiny.    

I'm glad that I'm not the only one! I live in an 858 square foot house with 3 children, a husband, 2 permanent resident cats, a foster cat, and 2 goldfish. Some things are best let go, for my sanity.

With so little space, I prefer to allow the cats to jump on things. Outdoors, Tiger would scale up tree trunks and climb roofs. I figure that it's better for his mental health if I let him climb indoors.

Thanks for the coat compliment! It's always good to know that my feeding regimen is working.

MServant, what do you feed Mouse? He looks so healthy and his coat looks good too.

Crazy4Strays said:

MServant, what do you feed Mouse? He looks so healthy and his coat looks good too.

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Thank you:  Mouse's coat is probably the most special thing about him (along side his very silly pursonality).   I have quite a lot of posts around the site about Mouse and his diet - he developed a very sore mouth when he was about 7 months old and which the vets later concluded was probably down to feline Herpes Virus.  As a result of his gums being prone to inflammation and his teeth building up plaque very rapidly he has been fed almost entirely on prescription TD dental food since then - it is a dry, very crunchy diet.  Thankfully is seems to suit him well and he absolutely loves it (maybe a little too much).  I'd love him to be on a higher protein diet but he gets a small daily ration of 100% freeze dried white fish treats for a little extra protein.  I tried him on little bits of  numerous wet foods, sardines and stuff but he turns his nose up - possibly because he associates them with when he was sick and in a lot of pain.  He is very good at drinking water thankfully, though he likes it straight from the tap or my current glass thank you very much, oh, and today's special drinks menu choice is licking the condensation off my sitting room window...           He is one strange and fickle cat.   

Wow, sorry that Mouse has had oral trouble.

Have you tried cat dental spray? I use that along with toothbrushing for Tiger and my other kitty.

Oh my, seems my simple inquiry hit a nerve with some people. To each his own, I just know  that once you allow cats on the counters it is difficult to train them to stay off. I do not allow my cats on the counters or on the dining table, and I don't keep stuff on the counters or in the sink that they might want. Otherwise they can go wherever they want. They are indoor only but in my present apartment they also have an enclosed patio where the cat tree is. The apartment is large, over 1200  square feet, which is probably palatial to some of you but having raised 4 children I am used to elbow room, particularly in the living room. I also like a big kitchen as I still like to cook and entertain. No, I am not rich, living on Social Security and a small pension, but as I stay home a lot I want my surroundings where I do not feel the need to go out a lot and space is something that I do need. Some people can live in tiny apartments and are happy, I would get claustrophobic. So apologies to anyone who lets their cats on the counters, I did not mean to offend.