Meet my boys.
Tim and Simon.
They let me share the house with them.
Simon and Tim.
They were born in 1999, and are brothers from the same litter. The mother
of the cats was a Siamese,
the father a
Himalayan. Kind of a strange cross, as I understand that Himalayans
began as a cross between Persians and Siamese. Simon is a longhaired
fluffy cat; Tim is a shorthaired cat. Other than that, they are identical.
The mother cat, Miss Kitty, was a very good-natured cat who belonged to a neighbour. I wanted an affectionate cat, so when Miss Kitty got pregnant, I asked for a kitten. I actually got to see the kittens from the day they were born, there were 8 of them. Four of them were longhaired and the other four had short hair. They were all adorable.
It seemed a long wait until the kittens were old enough to leave their mother. I had planned on only one cat, so I took Simon home when he was 6 weeks old. It didn't take more than a week for me to realize that he was lonely at my house. The other seven kittens were still together and, when I visited, I could see that they interacted and played together so much. I felt sorry for Simon, in my house, isolated from his sisters and brothers. So I got another kitten. This time I opted for a shorthaired cat, so that I could tell them apart. His name is Tim.
They are big boys, each weighing in at over 14 lbs, Iwas comforted when the vet said that the are only a little overweight, they are just big boned cats.
Differences
Simon
Although they appear so much alike, the cats have very
different personalities. Simon is very timid outside and prefers to be
in the house, where he fancies himself the boss.
Perhaps because Simon was the first kitten I took home, he is very clingy.
Wherever I am, there is Simon. We argue daily about this. I trip over
him all the time. He wants to be around for jobs like painting and making
miniatures, he is never helpful. He is attempting to help me type right
now. Simon opens every door on every cupboard and cabinet every single
day. If I leave a drawer open, and he dumps stuff out onto the floor.
He loves to get into my sewing desk drawers, he scoops out a spool of
thread and paws it to the top of the stairs, where he drops it down the
stairs, of course this is so that he can chase it. He hasn't yet mastered
the art of carrying the spool back upstairs, but no problem, he just goes
back to the sewing desk drawer for another.
Simon acts as if he is starved for affection, he always wants to be petted.When I am sitting at the computer he sits on my knee and positions himself so that when I move the mouse, my elbow rubs the top of his head.
Differences
Tim
Tim is a more independent cat. He loves to be outside.
He tries to catch birds and climbs into trees. He isn't all that interested
in being around me when I am working, which I really appreciate. He
likes to crawl up on my lap [if simon didn't get ther first] when I
am at the computer or watching television, but he lies so still, I am
hardly aware of him. He never whines for food, but I have noticed that,
he pays close attention when Simon is meowing for a treat, and he is
right there if something is forthcoming. He is very polite and always
lets his brother eat first.
You may find this hard to believe, but Tim is a talking cat.!
When he wants to go outside he calls me
''Mwum.''
then I say to him,
''Do you want me to open the door?''
''Mwyes' 'he says.
'' Say please.'' I reply
and I swear he says ''Mwplease''.
Both cats are extremely affectionate with me and most visitors. I have noticed that they are most attracted to people who are wearing black, I think they believe that no outfit is complete without some cat hair.
Weird Similarities
You can see from the pictures of them sleeping, that they often are
in precisely the same position. What strikes me as really odd is that
they frequently both wash the same part of their bodies at exactly the
same time. I had had them for a couple of years before I noticed. When
I began to take note of this, I was amazed to see that this happens
more often than not. I can't get a photograph to prove this, as they
never sit closely together when they perform these ablutions.
They wash each other a lot, Simon will plop his paw on Tim's head to
hold him still to wash his ears.
Weird Similarities
They both like foods, which you wouldn't think cats would like.
They like tomatoes, bananas, cantaloupes and yogurt to name a few things.
I swear that they can smell a banana upstairs in the bedroom, when I peel
it downstairs in the kitchen.
Why?!
And why is it that they both won't eat it?! I can understand the whims of one cat, but it baffles me that they have the same whims at the same time.
Like all cats, Simon and Tim spend most of their day sleeping.
They play a chasing game together everyday; they charge up and down the
stairs and go sliding across the hardwood floor crashing into walls.
Simon favors an old hair curler as a toy. Tim watches Simon play with
it, but never has a turn himself. He likes to play with small things like
buttons.
They like to be warm, so they refuse to go outside in the winter. They have never stepped in snow. The love to sit in the doorway looking at the snow, I have tried to nudge them out with my foot, but they won't budge, they will almost stand on their head before they will let one little paw step into the cold snow
They have a good life
A warm home, lots to eat and they have me.
I love them to pieces.
My friend says that, perhaps, if we are very good in this life, we get to return to the world as a house cat.
