Bruthas From Anotha Mutha

After over a month with a third kitty in the house, distinct personalities are coming out - and not just in Jasper. The entire cat relationship has shifted, which is to be expected whenever you introduce a newbie. In our case, clear similarities and oh-so-blatant differences have arisen.

We're lucky to have three very different personalities. It definitely makes for an interesting life. :-) We also, literally, have three different cats. Beardslee is a liger - lion/tiger. He's meaty. He's orange. His paws are like chunky fists of "me-so-strong". When I pick him up, he puts his front paws on me and it HURTS - so much strength! He's got soulful eyes. All a combination of tigerhood and lion-ness (not to be confused with "lionness"; he's all man. Boy, is he.).

Winston is a panther. His dark "Halloween cat" coloring. His sleekness, length, and general sexiness. He's got a fabulous model walk. He's tall with a long tail. He's bony, even when overeating (hides it well). He's quick. He's got a mean, moody streak, for better or for worse. That man's a panther, hands down.

Newbie Jasper is a bobcat/wildcat (shout out, ODY!). His coloring is the biggest giveaway; he's got almost every color, from brown to tan to gray to black. His ears and appendages have black tips. His eyes are sweet but with a wildness about them. He's relatively short-bodied but has broad shoulders and wide-set front legs. Whatchya think? See? Even a cute pink nose!

Personality-wise, the similarities are interesting. Winston and Jasper are both really fast (literally and in their thinking); Beardslee, not so much. Beardslee and Jasper are uber food-oriented; Winston, not so much. Winston and Beardslee are just as friendly as they ever were, I think because Winston feels threatens and wants to make allies wherever he can get them (he's quite the little conniver). Beardslee and Jasper could sleep all day long, easily; Winston seems to need maaaaybe an hour of sleep each day. They all like windows (of course). Winston and Jasper like soft toys, but for different reasons. Oh, and they're all on diets (the doctor has actually said that Beardslee's just meant to be heavy, it's his body type, but he can't gain anymore weight; Winston doesn't LOOK it, but he can't gain anymore, either; Jasper was used to grazing at the humane society that he'll have to get used to having distinct meal times).

The differences are interesting and reminds us that, well, personalities are like that. Jasper almost never covers his, um, "potty", which bothers Mr. OCD Beardslee, who is known to get in and cover it FOR him. Winston seems to be fighting a war that doesn't exist, loving to remind Beardslee of his dominance and letting Jasper know from the first moment that HE was boss.

I guess their love of different types of toys explains it best. Beardslee has always loved playing with balls. They roll easily and if there's a human around, he doesn't have to do much (we roll it to him, he whacks it back, etc) - so he exerts lots of energy at one time and then crashes. He's lazy, but sweet. All he wants is a head bump from one of his brothers...who, 99% of the time, don't return it.

Winston's a hunter. He has a mouse toy that he has torn apart twice already. He has a Kickeroo ("Screwy Louie" - Screwy Louie Kickerooey...yeah, each toy has a name), but he prefers it because he can pretend it's dead pray, biting and kicking the oh-snap out of it. He tries to do that to Beardslee's head, but not often (because I loudly punish him). Sneaky, sneaky boy.

Jasper likes anything SOFT. We bought him a miniature Kickeroo, but he just tends to lick it, use it as a pillow, and rub his face on it. From day one, he adored cuddles and chin scratching. He hardly ever uses the "fun toys", and would much rather spend time with the humans than the other cats. His heart is as gold as Beardslee's, but he doesn't show it the same way.

So, that's an update on our little guys. Sweet, sassy, silly. We're lucky to have them in our lives. Now, if we could just get rid of Jasper's upper-respiratory infection. It's hard to get snot off of...well, everything. :-D