Let's play it cool

The new family member is equally excited to have Stepan in his life...

"I'll just keep going my way and hope there's no closer contact today. Just a few more steps..."

Inconvenient moment

He was just having his morning toilet when the little one noticed him and made one of those enthusiastic voices. That moved Stepan's attention away from grooming, towards the source of the noise.

"Cannot a gentleman gentlecat enjoy his morning grooming undisturbed these days?"

From a safe distance...

On one hand he wants to be part of the family life, on the other he's just not comfortable with the enthusiasm the little one shows every time he appears. So (as it is usual with British Shorthairs) he prefers to watch everything from a safe distance...

Vigilant eyes

...continuing from the previous post


"...must not sleep... must watch baby... zzz..."

Clash of his many natures: easily afraid (he's especially careful with the little one), likes our company (even a bit jealous when we don't pay enough attention) and still a British Shorthair (needs lots of rest)...

Can you spot the Cat?

Just a baby photo? If you look closer you'll spot somebody else there, too...

While we were... (ahem) busy...

Long time without posts (sorry!), so I'll try to catch up... Here are some things we did with Stepan all this time:

We sipped the warmth of the first Spring sun


Enjoyed the new season green

Listened to some music. Funny, Stepan seems to like Classical music. That time it was Bach, Suite no.1 for solo cello! He moved near the CD player and stayed there the whole time. Much longer than some people would.

Then we got some more morning sun

"...And with a child in the house it's hard to get some real rest..."

"...except when I'm hiding" (and the little one is sleeping too..)

Who is teaching whom?

Is the little one in control?

Or perhaps Stepan shows the way...

"Just hold it right there and I'll get it, it's not that hard, even you can do it..."

...emm... wonder why I have a funny feeling about the health of this vase...

Offering some help

It's funny and very heartwarming to see Stepan trying to take part in everything happening in our home. It's his own unique way to participate in our life but still do it by choice, ...HIS choice.

A minor adjustment to the little one's crib is a great opportunity to play




Or just look at the world from a different perspective.

"How I became a photo opportunity..."

"It seems they all want their picture with me. I'll just stay calm"

"What's there?"

Some more good intended curiosity...

...at the baby crib...

"Hey, why they have you behind bars?"

Perhaps he tries to show us something?

For example that he's still the most interesting pet in the house?

P.S. Stepan you're sooo jealous...!

Some cooling off time

So... Why is Stepan staying out with this sad - OK, perhaps a bit stupid :-) look on his face?

This morning he was quite restless at the exact same time the little one tried to get some zzzs. Food, petting, his toys, nothing seemed to work... And then it dawned on me: why not "help" him see what a beautiful (even a bit warm) morning it was outside.

In the beginning even he liked the idea but after some minutes changed his mind and wanted back in. But... the obligatory cooling off period was still running...

To add insult to injury I thought that his frustrated face would make a nice picture, so there he is!

Strangers in the same house

They don't care about each other but live happily under the same roof...

"Baby or not, this is interesting stuff..."

Oops! I didn't expect such interest for the utensils of the little one... Now I'll just have to wash this one.

P.S. Perhaps he was just looking for the remote?

Knowing his place

The carry section of the baby's carriage. The perfect place for a nap, as long as we don't decide to take the little one outside on a walk.

Gentle introductions

Stepan is usually cautious and the baby rarely pays any attention to him. There are some times however, when I encourage them to get to know each other better. Actually, I.N.* gets rather surprised when he encounters Stepan because he's used to our human faces. In the face of Stepan he sees two eyes, a nose, a mouth, but it's still something different.

As I've written before, I believe that the child will grow up happier and learn a few things more (like respect and care for other lives) with Stepan.

I suppose the next big "step" will be in a few months, when the baby will start crawling/walking and getting more and more interested in Stepan... I think I must get him a safe haven somewhere in our home...

P.S. Of course we've had those familiar warnings "the cat will get jealous and hurt the baby", or "a baby cannot be with a cat - cats have this terrible illness, don't they?" ...I would answer that some care and a lot of attention is all it takes for a happy and harmonic household.

Since our new family member arrived we took particular care not to alienate Stepan. Perhaps he even got some extra attention. And when he does get jealous all he asks is some more petting; it's not personal with the baby. Perhaps the situation even helped him become just a bit more extrovert and playful, to show that he's also well worth our attention.

As for the "illness", people of course refer to toxoplasmosis, particularly dangerous during pregnancy too. However, (especially for an indoor cat like Stepan) all it takes to be calm is a cat blood test (which in our case was negative) and some hygienic precautions any normal person takes anyway...

*My apologies for not showing full names.

Tender encounters

As I wrote in a previous post Stepan is not all alone in the family. We're also the happy parents of a 4 month old baby boy. Generally, Stepan has adapted very well to the new situation at home (it helps that the baby is very calm and quiet.) Still, he's usually cautious towards the newcomer...

There are times however when he just doesn't want to be left out. When he was standing on my desk yesterday afternoon he didn't try avoid the baby. A little bite of jealousy perhaps?

So, we just helped little I.-N. reach out and touch the soft velvet pelt. And Stepan seemed to like it, purring, accepting the touch and himself reaching out for the small hand.

Little I.-N. is having his first real life experiences and Stepan is one of them. I really wonder if later he'll remember anything from these encounters. In any case, it will be part of the synapses he builds fast during this stage in life. Hopefully it will be a positive effect...

Carpet fever

It's a amazing how much a carpet can inspire a cat!

He becomes 100% alert and tries to catch whatever may be living inside the folds. Of course nothing is there but if there was, he would own it!

Is it the smells? The softness of the material? Perhaps the washing liquid we used? What can possibly bring a mature and usually placid cat to such cat-heaven?

Momentarily he gets into "trance", his body a loaded spring, his claws fully in "seize and keep it" mode! But there is nothing there... I tend to think that he gets excited by the feeling of the wool under his paws.

P.S. And yes, this is a baby on the edge of the picture, but that's another part of our common life and a story we'll tell another time. Just for those of you worried, I was there the whole time keeping an eye on both of them (baby and cat)!