He's very big.

Sometimes we forget Smokey is a big cat. He can appear slim on occasion.

Our neighbors across the way have two cats, Angel and Scamp, and when we first saw them, we thought they were big. Their owner, too, described Scamp as a bigger cat.

Then we got Smokey. Since we didn't know how Smokey would interact with other cats, we did not introduce him to Angel and Scamp. As such, we never really thought about the differences in size. Every so often we would see Angel and Scamp out on a walk and the other half would come home saying they were big cats.

One day, on a whim, I asked Angel and Scamp's owner about their weights. Angel was, oh, 9 pounds, and Scamp, probably 11 pounds. 

Smokey at his first weigh-in was about 13 1/2 pounds. 13 1/2 pounds. On his recent visit to the vet, he weighed 15 pounds. This is when the vet instructed me to put Smokey on a diet. 

To underscore how much of a fatso we have made our cat (yes, it is our fault for feeding him too much and not exercising him enough), we encountered a slim black cat on our walk home the night before. 

After two weeks of reduced food, I can feel Smokey's spine again. Yet his thick limbs, wide girth, and jowly face remain. Even if Smokey weren't so fat, however, he is pretty large scale. That is just the way his body is built. So, people meet Smokey with the impression that he is BIG.

I can't help but think of Maru's situation. I'm sure Smokey is thinking the same thing whenever we call him a chubster, fatso, or truck.

In case you worry we hurt Smokey's feelings by calling him names, Smokey can hold his own. He casts us a hearty glare to let us know how rude we are.

Roll!

Post-walk

     

Post-walk, Smokey still wants to go outside. 

"Dammit. Why did you carry me back inside."

Can you walk a cat? Out and about

Smokey looks skinnier from above...

Peeking around the bush:

Contemplating heading back to the apartment:

Okay, we can go.

Waiting for people to pass:

Wants to drag me into the parking lot through the bushes:

Displeased at not getting his way:

Okay let's go elsewhere:

Forges ahead:

What has caught your attention, Smokey? 

Like a baby

Good morning

"Myawrrrr."

"Time to get up."

Actually, we never see Smokey in his bed in the morning. Mostly at night and sometimes in the afternoon. 

Shleepy

Bunny

 For whatever reason, I like to call Smokey is a bunny. Don't you see the resemblance?

But then it doesn't look like Smokey is amused that I call him that.

"I'm not a bunny. I am a cat."

Open sesame

Scene 1: Smokey relentlessly bites toes. I chase him out of the room and close the door on him.

Scene 2: Smokey bumps against the door. I dread the possibility of Smokey doing this until we open the door again. We are fortunate that he stops.

Scene 3: All quiet on the western front.

Scene 4: Smokey jumps on the bed. How did he get in?! Both of us are still in bed and have not opened the door.

In my drowsiness did I neglect to close the door properly? Or can Smokey now open doors by himself?!

"I will never tell."

A peaceful night

Yesterday morning my other half was so sleepy, he could not be bothered to give Smokey his allotted half can of wet food for breakfast. All Smokey had for breakfast was a 1/8 cup of dry food.

When dinnertime came around at 6pm, I gave him a whole can of wet food. I wasn't sure it was a good idea because there was a chance he would scarf it all down and immediately puke it out from eating too fast. I hoped that the 1/8 cup of dry food mixed in would slow him down. 

Amazingly, Smokey did not puke. Even more amazingly, we let him sleep with us and he did not bite any toes in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe we should make a permanent switch in his feeding schedule? 

With a vengeance

This is an update on Smokey and biting. Smokey does not bite me but he consistently bites my other half in the morning.

For a while, we kept Smokey out of our bedroom because he would take to biting my other half's toes when he was ready to eat breakfast. But then, he would bump the door until my other half got up (somehow I lucked out in being able to sleep more heavily; I don't even hear the bumping half the time). Energized by his morning meal, he would be ready to play...by biting toes...at which point he would be locked out of the room again. All this was done with much frustration but without any physical altercation with Smokey.

The last few days, we've been leaving the door open. We went away for one night and Smokey seemed to miss us, so we gave him the option of sleeping with us. He was good the first night but the next night he started biting toes again. The other half responded by decisively kicking him off the bed. He said he heard Smokey hit the chair just beyond the foot of our bed. Smokey went away for the rest of the morning, probably licking his wounds.

The following morning, however, when the other half kicked him off the bed, Smokey returned immediately and bit harder, probably with much satisfaction with exacting his revenge.

No bananas

We believe in providing Smokey a proper diet of wet and dry cat food. 

But, er, he doesn't seem to like other kinds of food anyway. 

Home

Finally, after a couple months with us, Smokey found his bed.

He arrived in our home with his bed, he just never slept in it. We even physically placed him in the bed but he would immediately get out. Perhaps he slept in the bed without us knowing?

Then one day a month after, he went in all by himself. He slipped behind the bookshelf, then behind the television stand next to it, entered his bed at the end, and proceeded to "make bread." Shortly thereafter, he curled up to nap. 

It was a delight to watch him look so comfortable. I felt bad that we were going away that weekend, knowing that it would take him another few weeks to get comfortable again. 

But, he did get comfortable again. Now he regularly takes naps in his bed. I hope this means he knows he's at home.