FELIX
Age: Nine Months
Felix is Rhiannon's cat. Or, again, Rhiannon is Felix's go-to staff. She picked him out of a litter of five cats, a situation that came about when Rhi's friend Katie's cat, Jade, got out of the house and was gone for a couple days, and yep, right before she was supposed to be "fixed". The neighbor's cat worked fast and before you can say "Spay and neuter your pets", Jade was in the family way.
Rhi had picked out Felix while Spooky was still alive. This is significant, because Spooky, the Dowager Empress of the House Of Terra, would tolerate NO other cats before her. Sure, we could visit other people's homes and pet their cats. But bringing in another cat? Inconceivable! Blasphemy! Impudence!
Carol gave Rhi permission to pick out a kitten, with the understanding that she couldn't bring it home until the day Spooky was no longer with us. While that could be weeks or months, Carol knew deep down that Spooky was not long for this world.
As it turned out, her instincts were good. Spooky passed the day before Halloween, and Felix turned eight weeks, the optimal time, around Thanksgiving. Rhiannon decided to name the kitten Felix.
"Oh cool," I noted. "You named him after Felix the Cat!"
"No," she replied. "I named him after Felix Kjellberg; PewdiePie."
Of course! What was I thinking? Pardon me while I shuffle to the old age home, along with my ancient cultural references!
Kyrian was already well situated here at the House Of Terra, so naturally there was a concern about how the cats would get along. Sure enough, Kyrian growled and hissed at the new kitten, which was actually kept in Rhiannon's room. We did a slow assimilation process, letting Kyrian smell Felix through the door, petting him after we pet Felix so that he could get acclimated to the smell, things like that.
A big breakthrough happened when the cats played together with feather dancers and other toys like that. While they played, Kyrian forgot to assert his alpha-male status and instead played along with Felix. Gradually, the two cats got along, but every once in a while, Kyrian would get a little fed up with Felix, and walk away, giving a little explosive sigh that we called a "Chuff!" It was hysterical, because Kyrian sounded so human when he did that; like an exasperated rush of air when faced with a frustrating situation.
Felix is a kitten who happens to also have a medical condition that's known as "being a dimwit". He's a loveable cat and totally devoted to Rhi, but wow...he is one dippy kitten. He bounces around the house, usually engaged in the endless, Captain Ahab-like pursuit of that elusive creature known as "Felix's tail". On any given afternoon, Felix can be found tearing around the house, leaping into the air with his inexhaustible kitten energy, then suddenly indulging in a spirited pursuit of his tail.
Felix also eats like a pig. Whereas Kyrian usually waits his turn for getting a hand-fed treat, Felix will barge on in and even try to take the food away from the other cats, even if said food piece is hanging out of the cat's mouth. And naturally, in order to wash down that stolen food, Felix bounds into the bathroom and drinks from the toilet.
Hey wait....dimwit, loveable, chases his tail, grabs greedily at all food, drinks from the toilet...
Good Lord...Felix is a closet dog!
These days, Felix is a much-loved member of the House of Terra, and even Kyrian likes him. While it's been noted that if all three of our cats were the hyenas from The Lion King then Felix would be Crazy Ed, he's an entertaining and loveable ball of kitten energy.
So, two cats living at the House of Terra, and they get along. All done, right? Nope. The House of Terra isn't complete without a black cat, and there was a little one on the horizon...
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