I'm so cute

Meeeeeeeeeeee

Rub his jowly cheeks!

He got skillz

In case you were wondering what other kind of super cat skills Smokey possesses to help him survive three weeks out in the wild, I think I have figured them out.

Smokey is a scaredy cat.

A worker came by to do some additional work in the bathroom. After making sure the worker knew what he needed to do, I went out to the living room to find Smokey in the window in cautious mode.

But he relaxed after a bit.

"What? I wasn't scared at all."

Smokey a killer?!?!

We are housing a former "friendly neighborhood serial killer." I suppose we should take solace in sparing birds' lives (and reptiles/amphibians, other mammals, and invertebrates, according to University of Georgia research) since we keep Smokey locked up in our apartment. I wonder if Smokey was good at killing birds. He certainly loves his birdy toy. It's his favorite.

Well, Smokey's dark past shouldn't surprise us. After all, he barely lost any weight during his time in the wild. And then, he may be playing with a toy, but sometimes I see the torture come out of him.

Quiet

Quiet is very important to Smokey. We had a mini disaster in our bathroom where the plumbing apparently had been leaking for at least a month and a half. We just didn't know before because the vanity was holding in all the water and the rest flowed into the boiler room below. (We are directly above the boiler room which explains why the hot water comes so hot and fast!) Finally the vanity just couldn't hold the water in anymore and water flooded all over the bathroom floor. Everything is fixed now, thank goodness, without too much damage, but the plumber recommended that we run the fan for at least a day or two to prevent mold. So, our tiny apartment was filled with the loud whirring of the heater and a fan set on full blast for two days.

Even before the plumber arrived, we noticed Smokey was in a restless mood. He kept whining pitifully to get out of the house. After the plumber left, Smokey was in an even weirder mood. We could tell he just wasn't his normal self. He wasn't as playful. He only wanted to get out of the house. He stopped his usual ritual of waiting outside the bathroom while one of us was in the shower. He did not sleep in our bed but worse he didn't even bother going into our room. Even worse, he did not get into his own bed either. We turned off the fan at night but he just seemed disturbed.

I turned off the heater earlier on the second day because the weather warmed up. I almost immediately saw a difference in Smokey. He was almost back to normal when I turned off the fan for the night. I found him waiting for me outside the bathroom as before. And then, as I sat writing this entry, soaking in the lovely quiet that had returned, Smokey contentedly made bread in his bed.

Fat man returns...

Sometimes Smokey is super obliging and stays in his pose so that I can grab a couple shots of him. 

 

Big boy

We've been disappointed that Smokey has not slept with us the last two weeks or so. Did we do something to make him hate us?

But maybe it has nothing to do with US at all. Perhaps Smokey is letting us know that he can sleep on his own.

"I'm a big boy now. I don't need to sleep with you."

No cats were harmed

No, Smokey did not have any beer even though in cat years he is of age (26!).

How considerate

At first Smokey cuddled into the space not covered by my jacket.

But later he decided that my jacket serves as a pretty comfortable pillow.

"Mmmmm. Fluffy."

I guess Smokey is sometimes considerate.

Rude!

Smokey took to our Christmas guest very warmly. He even snuggled up to her at night.

Even so, Smokey is very clear about what is his. Lately he has claimed the poang chair as his and he wasn't too thrilled about our guest sitting in his chair. He stared at her. He meowed at her. He pawed at her legs. He did not quite climb into her lap.

 We admonished him. Smokey should be kind and well-mannered to our guests! But, um, like Smokey cared. Tszzzzzz....

"This is my chair." 

Couch potato 2

Smokey watched a Chinese vampire/werewolf/zombie movie (they were, ahem, mixing genres...)! I wonder what about it appealed to him? Is he expressing a preference for crappy, slapstick starring 1980s, 1990s Hong Kong stars over today's apocalyptic vision?

Bye bye, bye bye

AKA "where's Smokey?" 

The day came for our Christmas guest to return to warmer climates. By now Smokey has seen enough of suitcases to know something was up. 

Photos by KYH

Smokey, would you like to go on the airplane, too?

Party animal

Smokey got all dressed up in his tuxedo and bow tie for a fun night out on New Year's Eve. 

Smokey! You look so handsome.

"Thank you."

"Ok, now open the door. I'm ready to go."