Okay, not really hacked. But, I know my cat and if he had the ability to dedicate a post to himself, he would. I realize that most people reading this are always aware of how obsessed we are with our fur child and of the amount of personality Morris has. However, most people have never met this little character or even really know all the chapters of his story. So, this post is dedicated to the life story (that we know of) of our baby, Morris.
A whopping three days after we got married and on the day I moved to the north country, we got the deployment bomb dropped on us. So, with that came a whirlwind of two months that were dedicated to spinning up for James leaving the country, me taking care of newly married woman business, and us not nearly spending enough time together. That's how Morris came to be. I got lonely and decided we needed a furry companion to keep me company during the rough time.
Yes, there he is in all his glory the day we got home. Five days after I arrived, little Morris the Mainecoon Armstrong forever joined our newly created family. And, believe it or not, I was not the one who chose him. I am a firm believer in letting the animal choose you, which he did. My rule breaking husband stuck his fingers in the cage and was, from then on, enchanted by this furry, grumpy looking cat that was then named Tony that gently head-butted his hand for loving. We had talked about having a furry, upset looking cat for quite some time, and he just fit the mold perfectly. James then, somehow, talked me out of getting a grey kitten that I had destined to be named Zucchini, and we brought home this little man instead. I'm sure it goes without saying that I'm glad we adopted him, because the bugger has stolen my heart.
We quickly learned that Morris was an explorer. The tile seemed to be his favorite spot, but no inch of our home went unexplored. He could be found anywhere, but his top exploring spots were in bags, on top of suitcases, and under the blinds.
It also became quickly apparent that this cat that appeared to only have "one look," which was angry, actually had many looks. My cat, Bug, back home was easily the most expressive cat I had ever met, but Morris quickly stole that award. Agitation, irritability, unamusement, appalled, happy, excited, crazed, tired, and drunk looking are just a few of his many expressions, all of which amused me to no end during his first few months with us.
Sadly, just a few months after he arrive, his Dad left to do military business in Afghanistan and Morris became very sad. After all, he had bonded with James at the shelter, and this is when I began to see that this little cat who tries so hard to hate everything was actually very attached to us. Soon, this antisocial boy became much more social, and I would find him sleeping in bed with me not too long after James had left. The seed for separation anxiety had been planted, and it full on grew when it was my turn to leave for a little bit. He demonstrated his distaste for this by sitting on top of my suitcase and not letting me pack.
And then, after James got back, we learned that he had even more of a distaste for getting groomed. Not only did he shun us after we brought him home, but we heard from the groomer that our gentle little guy was...not so gentle, and didn't hesitate to hiss and try to bite the entire staff. But, he warmed up eventually, and as much as he hates the grooming thing, he likes when he's not carrying around half his body weight in fur. Suddenly, sleeping on padded areas was very, very appealing.
And, since then, he's decided his diva attitude was fun and something to keep up, so he did. Some of his favorite quirks are:
- biting us when he's decided he's had enough pets and loves instead of just leaving
- pushing his kibble out of the bowl to get to the "good" chunks
- leaving a single Morris poop outside of his litter box in protest when he's decided it needs to be cleaned
- pressing his face up to ours when he's declared it's time to wake up
- waving his tail and standing in front of any reading material
- knocking over picture frames sitting on shelves
- beating up any dog he comes in contact with
But, as much of a little punk as he is sometimes, he's also sweeter than we could've imagined. We did not anticipate an animal who would:
- greet us at the door every time we come home from somewhere
- sleep close by our heads at night
- crawl into James's lap every day when he gets home from work
- come for love and pets as soon as we wake up
- sit and cuddle up to us when we're down or ill
- be as good of a companion to me as he is when James is away
- come looking for us when he's scared and wants comfort
Morris has been nothing but perfect for us, and we truly love him as if he were our child. There's a reason I call him my baby and our son. He's bonded to us so much and he hardly ever leaves our sides. As I write this, he's laying right next to me (as close as he can without touching, of course). Low maintenance, but full of spunk and attitude, Mo truly has been given to us by a higher power as he is, literally, a combination of James and I in cat form, and he continues to melt our hearts more every time he head-butts us for some lovin'.
And because of this, and his photogenic little face, we will continue to spam you with his adorable feline self.
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