18 July 2011

Let me introduce our fur-kids

I recently read about Carlia's fur-babies over at The Stork Drop Zone. They are beautiful kitties with sweet personalities! It got me to thinking that I haven't really mentioned, much less introduced my fur-babies in the 3 years I've had this blog. So, without further ado, here are my 2 kitties. The light and joy of my life.

Rusty is 11 years old and 100% a mama's boy.

We got Rusty (and his brother, ^^Kantti^^) when they were about 4 months old (2000). Hubby and I fell in love with them instantly. So much personality and 100% sweet! Rusty took a bit longer to open up to us, but once he figured out humans gave wuv (love), he was all over it. Especially with his mama, me. He follows me around the house, herds me to bed at the appropriate time, tells me all about his day when I come home after work and scolds me if I stay out too late. He loves to snuggle with me and most mornings is found laying right next to me. Rusty will snuggle with hubby, when I'm not around or if I'm too wiggly.

Rusty loves: snuggles, Treat time (yes, he knows the word 'treats'), salmon, avocado, brushing, the Cat Dancer interactive toy, strings, hairbands and being too darn cute (his mama taught him well)! Rusty also knows how to open cupboard doors. He hates traveling in the carrier, but doesn't mind sleeping in it before or after the trip.


Mansi aka Mansikki is ~1.5 years old and our spaz kitty.

About 3 months after the loss of ^^Kantti^^, we adopted Mansi from a foster home. She came to us with the name Basted (Bastet - a feline goddess of Ancient Egyptian religion) where we changed it to Mansikki (daily name Mansi), which is a common name for cows in Finland. It means Strawberry. So, this little girl went from worshiped goddess to a cow. Sorry, girl! Her personality is still developing, but she has definitely become much more comfortable with us. Mansi doesn't automatically run if you take a step in her direction anymore, unless she's in a mood to play, which is almost always. This little girl is full of energy. She tears through the house at an amazing speed, careening off walls, corners and human legs if they are in the way. We've accidentally kicked her and spun her around as we've walked from one place to another and she runs between our feet. She doesn't seem phased by it though. She definitely likes her older brother (but we don't always think the same is true the other way around). We're glad we found her, spaz and all!

Mansi loves to play with her cow, play with the Cat Dancer, play with shoe strings, hunt bugs, play with the piece of whatever she found on the floor, play with my Puff the magic Dragon (which I have hidden from her and hubby wants me to give back to her. I say no!) and she loves snuggle time on her own terms. She has also learned that licking hubby gets her attention (he hates it!).


Brother and sister spending time together.
This was only 13 days after we got Mansi. I'm not sure who was in the chair first, but I have a feeling that it was Rusty. Mansi doesn't understand personal space or boundaries, but they didn't seem to mind too much sharing the chair this day. Mansi loves to walk up next to Rusty and flop on or very close to him. Sometimes he will bite her a bit and other times he tolerates his younger sister.
We love our kitties so much. They give us endless hours of entertainment, unconditional love and kittie bonks or nose nudges. I know our lives wouldn't be as complete without them.