little_miss_monsterkitty birdmad i_got_a_cat_named_tonya Seven years and still going. still likes to wake me up by pacing in circles on my chest to let me know the food dish needs filling and to get a few minutes worth of chin_scratches Rival of Spooky and doting "auntie" to the Wonder Twins (Snowflake and Butterscotch) still says "Hrmf!" when i make her get out of my chair... crazy old-lady-cat 100831 ... unhinged there is a white and ginger patched neighborhood cat; she roams my block. i first noticed her last week stalking something in the bushes of the apartment building across the street. (there seem to be less rabbits around her than there used to be) she has also taken to annoying the restaurant customers on the sidewalk. someone got ahold of her and called the number on her tag and her owners are well aware she roams the neighborhood. last night i went downstairs to smoke a cigarette and i heard the little bell tinkling in time to her running. she ran up to me with a meow, rubbing against my legs, through my skirt, my skirt settled on her head like an old-fashioned scarf. a couple came walking up the street and she ran up to them. flopped down on the cement to scratch her back like my cat used to do. the girl reached down to touch her when she was scratching her back (bad idea) and the cat reached up and scratched, nipped at the offending hand. i like being a kitty auntie; having a fuzzy friend to chill with when i am standing in view of his front porch trying to convince myself i don't want to run into him. knows better than to touch a cat's belly 100831 ... a bird who knows his cats Hell, Spooky (my once scrawny beast who now weighs in at about 14 lbs) practically demands belly-rubs... she comes up to me on the bed, meows once or twice and flops down *hard* next to me then rolls over and stretches out for maximum surface area Butterscotch does this too, but she seems to have a ticklish spot which will cause her to rake you with her back feet if you rub her belly the "wrong way" or at the "wrong" time, mostly though, she's pretty amenable to belly rubs 100831 ... Doar belly rubs from a cat are a sign of trust. if you do stray from the "allowed places" be prepared for some scars. . 100831 ... bird with Butterscotch it's more about time than place, because sometimes she'll stretch out and look at you like "well, this belly's not gonna rub itself over here?" 100831 ... unhinged my last cat was a refugee. my uncle found her half dead in the alley of one of his rental properties. she never trusted humans. she despised children. she allowed scratches on and around her head and the base of her tail, pets down the back. but as soon as your hand went anywhere near her sides or belly, she bit, scratched, hissed. as she got older and she had less and less teeth from the wet food she ate, the nips were less scary and more amusing. one day, my finger went in one side of her mouth and out the other, not touching a single tooth. her pride seemed wounded that i wasn't afraid, hurt. 100831 what's it to you? who go blather from