>> stood there looking at me with a mouse tail sticking out of her mouth. ...
>> only to be captured by Toby because it was his mouse.
Both great stories! I think there has to be a lot of love on both sides, for us to go to such lengths to take care of them (insulated cat house!) and for them to put up with our limitations and presumptions.
My brother-in-law set up a heated corner (light bulb) in their unheated porch for their cats. There's a lot of glass in that porch, so it met with their approval.
I think cats also like for their perches to be up high. Luckily, I have a LOT of boxes full of books lining my walls, so I have some pillows and blankets here and there for His Majesty Toby. He's getting older, so I'll rework "the stacks" so that he can make 2-3 small jumps instead of one big one.
I think I see what you mean about "retired". Toby sounds 10-20 times more active than Gabby.
>> I called him a "roof cat" because he would go out the balcony door upstairs and over the roofs of the condos to go out hunting.
My previous cat, Gideon (named after the captain in the TV series "Crusade") was very fond of John, a guy in the chimney-cleaning crew that used a garage for storage, located next to us on the same large driveway that served a couple of buildings. Gideon talked a lot, which delighted John.
Every morning, the crew would show up to load up on ladders and chimney-cleaning gear, but they had to wait for John to talk with Gideon and pet him for 5-10 minutes, which John called "giving him his lovin's".
Gideon became fonder and fonder of John, so that the morning chat was not enough.
After the chat wound down, he would make a beeline for the roof of that garage, and then meow. Good-hearted John thought that meant that Gideon couldn't get down, so he would set up ladders, climb up, and hand-carry Gideon back to the ground each day. Gideon liked that and told him so.
Well, of course Gideon COULD get down from the roof JUST as easily as he got up, which he did freely all day when John was not around.
I'm kind of sad that I finally told John "you know, Gideon CAN get down fine, all by himself". John was amazed at Gideon's conniving, but it didn't come between them.
They had both enjoyed their ritual, no matter how much it delayed the rest of the chimney-cleaning crew. They fell back to their usual 5-10 minutes of conversation and mutual lovings, which I guess left Gideon still wanting more.
