Cairo is a pretty chill cat. He’s very large, for starters, tipping the scales at about 16 lbs, and he kind of just picks a place to loaf up and tuck his feet under, which for him and his size, looks more like a top-heavy pancake, or the puddling of heavy drapes.
Smidge, my second-adopted and slightly misshapen Chihuahua, is about half his size but about twice or more of his belligerence. She reminds me of the kids that would go hang out on the edges of city parks with a boombox and cause a small ruckus.
Maybe those are too specific. But basically, Cairo = the big chill and Smidge = the big thrill.
Cairo will and has given Smidge practically everything she could ever want since she came home with me. She wants to it in my lap? Alright. She want the toy I literally just bought for him? Take it. You want the treat Mommy gave me? Here you go.
This absolutely baffles me. Why is the Big Chill giving this wonky little dog who can’t control her snappy mouth gifts or his own personal toys!? And I mean it – ANYTHING Smidge wants that Cairo has, he will just hand it over with no fight. Sometimes he meows first, but typically… no fight at all.
I try to allow Cairo special time overnight with me by just having us sleep in the bed, and Smidgey sleeping in her own special beanbag chair, which, you guessed it, was Cairo’s before she took it. He now has a new bed on the floor that she rejected. Sometimes, they each peacefully sleep next to each other and I can keep an eye on them at the same time.
But sometimes Smidge wants to burrow and snuggle and I also kind of want her to snuggle with me, so I let her on the bed. Cairo often doesn’t realize she’s under the covers and she pops out and surprises him. It’s like pop goes the weasel.
Actually, it really is like pop goes the weasel. He’ll kind of approach her and meow a little, and then she’ll go nuts and start chasing him. They tear around the house like Indy Cars and sometimes play tag.
I think the the Big Chill secretly has a big thrill side, and he is just letting the Big Thrill instigate it.
His tail is never puffy, his back never arches or gets ridgey, he never hisses and his ears are never back… I think that cat actually LIKES his little sister and playing rough and tumble with her.
I can’t believe my cat, whom I surprised with a baby DOG sister of all things two years ago, actually likes playing rough and tumble with her.
Well, maybe I can believe it. Sometimes when they’re not chasing or running or tumbling or batting, they’ll curl up on each side of me – or sometimes even next to each other! – or even on my lap and at my feet, sufficiently trapping me from ever moving again. But I know that’s not a game, I think it’s just the way they’ve plotted to make sure I feel that fluffy, fuzzy feeling in everything from dog hairs to purrs. Especially when I wake up just a little too early and I catch them as close to me and as close to each other as possibly, snoring away.
Now, we don't need to compare the size of the chill, we just need to acknowledge that waking up to that preciousness is my preferred way to chill. So I guess I'll let them have their preferred thrills... as long as the living room stays standing in the end.
