Apr 10th, 2024 Wednesday Sunny
Our two kittens, Yuuki and Sesame, are both growing up quickly. According to cat-human age convertor, they are no longer children, but teenagers. Like adolescents, they also start to develop different personality, much to the amusement and dismay of their cat parents 😛
Yuuki has the look of a typical barn cat, with orange, gray, white, and black mixed into a random pattern all over her body. However, she has quite some wildness in her character. When we first brought her home, while she was brave enough to start exploring the space as soon as the carrier door was opened, she seemed uncomfortable with human interaction, particularly with being held. If she was in a good mood, she let me pet her head gently for a few minutes, then turned away. If she did not feel like being social and we tried to approach her, we would be lucky to leave without any injury as she was quick to attack. For this reason, I was afraid to let her sit around me because an unexpected scratch/bite on my foot would not be very pleasant.
Sesame, on the other hand, looks like the mini-version of a tiger or leopard that you might see in a zoo, with pretty clearly marked stripes and dots covering everywhere, including his belly (though the color there is lighter). Despite the astonishing resemblance to his wild ancestor, Sesame is totally a domestic cat boy. He was shy at first, not courageous enough to wander on his own, yet felt completely relaxed whenever I held him in my hands/arms and he would always give out purrs of satisfaction. He learned to play and hunt from Yuuki, and it did not take long for him to master many naughty tricks too. Yet, his energy battery runs out faster, and there are plenty of times when Yuuki still wants to cause trouble but Sesame has already used up his power quota and just wants to nap. He loves following me around, and as soon as I sit down, he jumps onto my lap (or my back if I am crawling on the floor) and soon drifts into dreamland.
A week ago, after being swatted by Yuuki’s paw when trying to remove her from the counter the tenth time, I could not help complaining, “I wish Yuuki could be as sweet as Sesame! You know, Sesame never hurts me or gets upset with me – he is so laid-back!”
My husband laughed, “but they are different cats, just like sugar and spice! Yuuki has lots of attitude, so she is the spice, and Sesame is the sugar baby.”
Ha! I have never thought about it that way. I guess since they are like different people with unique styles, all I can do is to accept and love them as who they are.
Typically, I like desserts (especially the delicate and cute ones), and my husband is a BIG fan of anything hot, so you can probably guess which kitty is my favorite, and which is his 😉
Over time, this pair observes each other, and adopts bits of characteristics from their “sibling” as well.
Yuuki has become more tolerant of physical affection from us, and she seems to enjoy “hugging” my husband (i.e. jumping onto his shoulder with his hands supporting her butt) when he returns home from work. I interpret that as Yuuki using him as an easy elevator to get to higher places, but my husband firmly believes it to be a hug ?
Sesame has gained considerable amount of boldness and is eager to sneak into the master bedroom whenever he gets a chance. Nevertheless, he cannot resist the temptation of a rolling ball toy and often walks out to me willingly when I call him ?
Do you like the sugar, or do you prefer the spice?