Spooky Boy
The Spooky Boy
We wanted to get there early when the shelter opened so we
both took off that morning so we could get him. When we got there, we saw a
line and thought we were too late. We found out they would have to do a name
drawing since multiple people wanted him but we didn’t end up getting our name
drawn. We were waiting until it was our turn to see the other cats, since we
didn’t have a second option. We told them we were looking for a black boy cat,
preferably a kitten, and they took us to this young boy cat named Noir. He
wasn’t a kitten but he was very friendly and cute. He kept pawing at us through
the cage. We were in love.
When completing the paperwork for him we decided to change
his name from his shelter name, Noir, to Sirius from the Harry Potter series (since
he was a black cat.. get it?). We name all our animals after characters in book
series we love. We have our Russian blue cat Lissa, short for Vasilisa, from my
favorite series Vampire Academy; Molly was named after Molly Weasley because
she was super sassy; Vaelin from Raven’s Shadow series; and Dresden from the
Dresden files. Can you tell we love books?
When we brought him home, he was yelling really loudly in
the hallway over and over so I thought maybe he was just lost on his first day
or getting to know his surroundings. We soon found out that, no, he just yells
like that. For no reason. Well, sometimes there is a reason. And when I say ‘yell’
I do not mean meow, and I do not mean inside voice either. I mean he yells really
loud. He thinks he is an outside cat and wants to go out there SO BAD that he
sits and yells at the door. And if we don’t pay attention to him in enough time,
he will start pawing (with both paws) at the glass sliding door, over and over
again like he is going to claw his way through the door to the outside. Or he
will just randomly launch himself straight up the door like maybe if he jumps
high enough, he will jump right over it or something to get outside. I do not
know what he thinks he is doing but whatever it is I don’t think it is doing
what he thinks.
He thinks he is very sneaky and tries to dart out when the dog gets let out. Sometimes it seems like our dog is standing there by the open door to let him dart out, to our dismay. We do let him out there sometimes, but only when we are willing to go outside to supervise. At first, we used an old harness and leash we already had but then he grew out of it so I got him his own so I could take him outside, just in time for him to experience snow for the first time in February 2022 (picture below). He seems to enjoy it but was more distracted by our bird feeder that was getting a lot of attention.
Even when he is out there, he is yelling like crazy. Sometime you don’t have to wonder where he is, you will hear him. He wants very much to hunt and kill a bird but I have no idea how he is going to do that. My husband works on the phone from home and some people have asked him if that was his cat after they heard him yelling in the background. That is how loud he is. Sometimes I yell back at him the same way, same tone and flat energy, and he just stares at me. Like, ‘Are you mocking me?’. Then he goes back to yelling. The only time he is not yelling is when he is passed out all cute-like. He is a pretty small cat but boy can he stretch out and take over the whole dog bed. It is a hard job being that spooky. If you are really quiet, that is when you can hear some of the soft sounds he makes in his sleep. About the only time he makes ‘soft’ sounds.
He is already spooky seeing as he is black cat, but he has
many other spooky traits about him. He loves to chase shadows, which I have
never seen a cat do before. When I figured out what he was doing, I was so
giddy with laughter like it is my favorite thing. Sometimes he will chase the
shadow of the toy more than the toy itself. He is drawn the shadows, which is why
I know he is very spooky. He will just start playing with random things like
dirt on the ground or an old dead bug and I love it. I wonder why we have ever
bought him toys and such when all he needs is dirt and dead things.
He is my first experience with owning a boy cat. I have
always heard they spray so we got girl cats before but he has been the most affectionate
cat ever and after asking other boy cat owners it seems like that is correct. He
is also very much your typical cat. You know, the ones you see in those cat
videos being menaces everywhere they go. That fits Sirius so well that my
husband and I joke that we should have named him Dennis because he is such a
menace. They are always either creating chaos by finding something random to
knock off the counter for NO reason or we will catch him hanging upside down on
the bar chair after vigorously rubbing his head on it (proof below). Sometimes I am like,
‘what is this wild creature we have living with us?’ We do not have kids but
sometimes it feels like it. Sometimes if you are really lucky, you might catch
him being extra cute with his little vampire teeth sticking out. I melt every
time I see him like that. Look at that?! How can you not melt?
Watching cats explore and interact with the world is very meditative and Zen to me. It really does help me get out of head sometimes. We once had an empty box that Sirius decided to be very spooky with and I remember laughing so hard all night. I love watching him play. He will ‘parkour’ randomly all over the house, then, when he gets extra spooky, he will get the cat zoomies and run around in wild spurts of energy, then stop abruptly. Then do it again. Watching cats play together is also really fun. We are wanting to eventually get him a friend to rough house with because our other cat thinks he is trying to murder her or something. Sometimes we put him in his place by holding him on his back like he is a baby and add in some baby-talk so he knows he is not the man of the house, even though he thinks he is.
Sometimes we catch him looking at a spot on the wall or on
the ground and we don’t see anything there. He was just super fixated on my
mouse charger a little bit ago and it was so hilarious. I was not sure what he
was seeing so I had to stop and watch him for a minute. So cute. Getting out of
my head in small ways like that help. I imagine sometimes he is seeing or
playing with Molly’s ghost, since we are pretty sure our house is haunted and
that is why his spookiness is so active. Sometimes I think I do not believe in
ghosts of spirits but then he does some weird things like that and I question
that belief. Maybe I am the one that is crazy for not believing what is clearly
spirits?
He is obsessed with sink water. Apparently water specifically from the sink is the God of all waters which he worships. All we have to do is slightly turn on the water just a small amount and he comes running. I love watching him interact with the water and figure out how to angle his head just right. We are not sure why he loves it so much but that is what he prefers to drink from. We got him a cat fountain thinking he would like that instead but no, it is not the same for the spooky boy. He also loves to drink your ice-cold water that you just got from the fridge like he owns the place and we just live in his world. He is lucky he is so cute and spooky. He is the perfect amount of weird to fit into the household. Sometimes I stop and think of all the laughs he has given us and realize how grateful I am that we didn’t end up with the cat we went there to get. Sometimes the things you originally want to happen don’t turn out how you had planned, but end up even better than you thought. I know I wouldn’t trade his spookiness for anything.
What spooks the spooky boy?
- Plastic bags making noises- he starts acting crazy, if he isn’t already. If he already crazy then he just acts crazier the more it rustles around.
- His own tail.. That thing is unpredictable..
- Vaccum.. He says NOPE
- Bicycles.. Something about the clicking..
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