I received one of the best 'kitten emails' I've ever gotten a few days ago, and just want to share it with everyone, as it perfectly describes a Birman. Beth has been generous enough to allow me to share her email and pictures of Justin (BumbleBe Just In Time). Justin lives with Beth and Keagan in the Denver, Colorado area. Thanks to Beth for allowing me to share Justin's antics, and especially for giving him a great home!
Justin
"Hi
Leslie,
Just
thought I'd give you some Justin news and pictures - feel free to share them
around if you'd like.
Justin
is growing like a weed (8.25 lbs now) and is really starting to develop his own
unique and funny personality. He is probably the smartest cat I've ever
had. He took to walking on the harness in less than 2 tries, and apart
from wriggling a bit when we first put it on, he now goes instantly to the door
for a walk as soon as we show him the harness. He walks just like a
well-trained puppy, and learned within a week what our various command words
were: come, wait, leave it, etc. (I use a big goose feather as a target when
clicker training them; they zero in on it like nothing else).
He's made instant friends with our neighbors, the Sawyers- they have
a 5 year old little boy Sawyer who is especially fond of kitties (they also
have a big friendly orange tabby cat). Justin is especially fascinated
with Sawyer, and if he sees him outside in the yard, he will "mrrowl"
loudly to announce to us that he'd like to go say hi. We only ever let
him outside of our cat-fenced enclosure when he's in the harness, and he's very
good about being picked up / carried and not panicking if we see a dog or
something. He is becoming a pretty good shoulder rider, but his favorite
way to be carried is upside-down cradled like a baby (no, really, he is super
crazy about it and will purr and go limp and beg for a belly rub as soon as you
flip him over).
He's
also quite the entertainer. He loves to play with mylar crinkle balls,
feather teasers or sparkle teasers, and those little cheap fuzzy mice with the
feather tails (he likes any toy that sparkles and/or rattles, basically) but
his special favorite toy is a champagne cork cage that he "won" from
a guest at a party (by basically being super cute and vocal, and reaching for
it with a paw until we figured out what he was "asking" for).
We made sure it doesn't have any ends sticking out, but otherwise he'll
chase and bat and carry it all over the place. We have a "toy
box" for both of the boys where we pitch all the dozens of not-in-service
toy mice and soforth, and Justin is a pro at climbing up into the toy box, and
selecting a toy (usually his champagne cage) to carry around and play with.
Keagan taught him to play "fetch" with a feather mousie within
3 or 4 sessions, although being a typical cat, he will only play "fetch"
when the mood strikes him.
Oh
and talking. Justin is a champion talker. He definitely has a large
vocabulary of his own unique and endless repertoire of different
"words" and noises. One of his signature tricks is to
"ask" for something (food, a toy, something interesting on the TV,
whatever.) He will point a paw and trill / mrowl at whatever he wants
until we either give it to him, or say "no, Justin, not for kitty!".
The TV is an endless source of fascination for him, with his 2 favorite
subjects being football and Top Gear (UK car show), which just goes to show,
you can take the cat out of Texas, but not the Texas out of the cat.
Something about the noise and motion really gets him worked up, and he
will stand on the media stack batting at the players / cars or "talking"
to them for as long as the show is on.
He
and Marlowe are fast friends and love to chase, play-wrestle and play soccer /
stalk with toys together. As you can see by the photos they also sleep
curled up together in/on whatever bed, box, perch or surface they can stuff or
otherwise contort themselves into together. The intro has been especially
good for Marlowe, who has definitely become more active and engaged in play and
less shy around guests owing to Justin's gregarious personality.
Justin and Marlowe snuggled up.
Justin
had his follow up booster at the vet awhile back, and was a super good patient.
He goes right in the carrier with no fuss, doesn't say a word in the car,
and even though he's been to 2 checkups at the vet now (one for initial exam,
one for booster) he has no fear of the vet, and even gives her the "happy
cat" greeting of the quivering upright tail and cheek rub- something I
have never seen any cat tell a vet until now! Of course we still have to
get him chipped and neutered, so he might change his mind, but I'm waiting for
him to get a little more mature first.
They
both sleep together curled up on our feet every night (although occasionally
Justin decides he'd rather sleep curled up in my armpit or something). I
want you to know that Justin is really a wonderful cat and a real credit to the
breed and to the time and work you put into raising your kittens.
I'm including an extra picture I took yesterday of Justin
"begging" for me to take him for a walk, the little comedian.
He does this (as you can see) by jumping up onto the shoe rack next to
the door (we keep all our spare keys/gloves/hats/shoes and the cats' walking
harnesses on it), "mrrowling" and playing with the harness. I
half expect that he'll start retrieving the harness to us soon; he has already
started bringing us toys he wants us to throw for him.
Justin waiting by the door for his walk.
I'll
keep you updated on Facebook as well (Keagan posts a LOT of snapshots of the
boys on his timeline) but for now, best of luck with the kitty clan, and enjoy
the photos!
Cheers
Beth & Keagan "
I was just blown away - what a perfect little guy Justin is, and how well Beth captured his antics.
Thanks again Beth and Keagan!
Smiles,
Leslie
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