Conference misery::feline_v1

    And here I thought Cosette and Fantine were pretty unique!
    
    I guess I also thought that their intense mutual affection was
    because they were sisters who have been together since birth
    (that's one reason why I decided to get 2 more last fall -- 
    another pair of siblings).
    
    C and F also sleep with their "arms" wrapped around each other!
    And they very frequently simultaneously wash each other's face.
    I can understand how visitors are struck by the sight, but after
    almost 9 years, I still am amazed by their "kitty love."  I really
    do get an overwhelming sense of warmth.  If only all of humankind
    could be so kind...well, not mutual licking of faces perhaps...
    
    Mary, how long did it take for them to get into Kitty Love Mode?
    
    Thanks for brightening my evening! 
    
    	Penelope

    I've seen Kitty Love too...
    
    The pair I have are Male/Female, and not littermates.  Bleu and
    Desi saw each other and fell in love.  I unfortunately no longer
    have this incredible pair, but when I placed the cats, I knew they
    couldn't be separated.  They continue to be in love, and now live
    in a  household with one other cat.  Desi gets extremely jealous
    if Bleu pays any attention to the other cat, and she will then swat
    Bleu and act stuck up and like she doesn't want to be bothered.
    Then Bleu will come over and give her kisses and they will sleep
    curled up together.  If either cat is confined or removed the other
    won't eat and walks around aimlessly searching for the missing lover.
    
    In all the cats I've had, this is the only time I have ever seen
    real kitty love, but it was obvious, and I knew they were lifemates.
    
    cin
    

    My twins, Eirene and Panther, go into a couple of grooming frenzies a
    day that I have seen last for a half hour at a time. When they are done,
    they are usually so exhausted that the just fall asleep hugging
    each other. 
    
    Argus seems to have a special relationship with the twins, especially
    Eirene. Argus kind of adopted them as tiny kittens (litter box trained
    and housebroke them, too). To this day, every morning he and the
    twins go thru this groomming ritual where he checks their ears and
    if they don't meet with his satisfatcion, he growls while he cleans
    them. Later in the day, when Argus is snoozing in his bed, it is
    no unusual to see Eirene come in and join him (and you should hear
    the the stereo purring). I didn't think too much about this until
    last fall when Argus was very sick and in and out of the hospital.
    All the while Argus was gone, Eirene wouldn't stop howling. And
    everytime she looked at me I got the feeling she hated me for taking
    her "Daddy" away. When Argus came home, the yowling stopped and
    they were inseperatable for weeks (even though none of the others
    would go near him while he still "smelled like the vet".
    
    Deb

    Glad to hear all of these other love stories!  It really is
    heartwarming to see these little critters so devoted to each other
    and obviously so in love.  Honey and Chauncey fell in love within
    a couple days of Chauncey arriving in the house.  Because he was
    just a little kitten who hadn't spent much time in human company,
    Chauncey much preferred Honey to me, and Honey seemed to love having
    a baby brother to take care of.
    
    Re .3, still smelling like the vets...the first time I took Chauncey
    to the vet, Honey was so upset that he pinned Chauncey down and
    licked him from head to tail to get the smell off him.  Chauncey
    looked like he had gone thru the wash and spin cycle!
    
    Mary

    re: -1
    
    That's exactly what happened! Eirene "helped" Argus clean himself
    up (and it took a lot of baths to get rid of a three and a helf
    week vet smell).
    
    Deb

    my youngest 2 seal point brothers are inseperable - they've always
    chewed on eachother's ears and pile up together - i may state in my
    will that they must stay together ...

    but the attachment my 4 year old rudi has to 16.5 year old meagan
    is something i've never seen before - when i first got rudi and he
    stayed hidden under the bed, before he'd even accept me, he bonded
    with meagan - and to this day he absolutely adores her - at times he
    gets a bit over-excited and innocently attacks her (meaning no harm)
    and in general snuggling with her just isn't enough - he sits a bit
    top of her - this all, btw is totally one-sided!  miss meagan 
    tolerates him when she's in a good mood!  pooooor rudi ... and he often
    tries to melt her by squirming around on his back being terminally cute
    - it CERTAINLY melts me - i can hardly stand it - when he sneakes up
    to her and snuggles while she's asleep, the look on his face is truly
    one of extacy...i could go on & on...!

    karen

    


    This entry is a lot later than the others but, being relatively
    new to the file, I'm just going through some of the earlier notes.
    
    My SO got me Melody last January for my birthday.  She became 
    "mommy's girl" right away.
    
    In an effort to save the plants of the house, we got two kittens
    in June as companions to Melody.  (It started off being one kitten
    for us and one for a friend, but we couldn't part with either.)
    
    Both kittens, Brittany and Melissa came from the same farm--either
    sisters or cousins and were best buddies and snugglers to each
    other right from the start.  Melody stayed in the cellar for about
    2 days when they arrived, purring frantically for me whenever I
    came down to her.  (I tried not to pay too much attention to the
    kittens for the first couple of days.)
    
    After a while, curiousity got the better of her and she had to
    investigate.  She would growl and hiss at the kittens who were
    fascinated by her.  Then she would get close and take a tenative
    swipe at them.  Well, one morning, Melissa had a hairball or some
    food that didn't agree and got sick.  While she was coughing, Melody
    ran over to her to make sure she was ok.
    
    That was it--they then became HER kittens to be washed, played with,
    mothered, snuggled, etc.  In fact, I had to take Melody to the vet
    to have some wounds treated--she lets the kittens beat her up but
    never does it back to them!
    
    I never thought they would love each other as much as they all do--
    it's precious.  
    
    Now, if only my SO's kids would act that way toward each other!
    
    Barbara

    Did getting the kittens save your plants?  
    
    Getting a kitten for Snuggles didn't.  Now they take turns trying
    to jump onto the hanging asparagus fern.  (My husband told me they
    were doing it.  I wished I had seen it.  I laughed when he told
    me.  Of course, my husband didn't think it was funny.)
    
    Kathy