Jasper & Rikki

 

This is republished from other blog.

        What a wonderful cat Jasper is. He is beautiful and graceful for a big cat. He is a Maine Coon cat. But his markings and fur are a different color from the regular Maine Coon. He looks like a long haired black haired cat on the outside, but when you run your hand anywhere on his body you will notice he has white fur underneath. So in between his dark hair you may see shades of grey.
        Jasper came to me in Phoenix, AZ. I had lost my previous cat to coyotes and swore I would not get another one. Pierre he was called was an indoor and outdoor cat. This is something you can't do if living in Phoenix area. Animals are lost everyday to coyotes. I even got rid of all the previous cats things. I even got rid of the cat carrier.
        I was doing a job at a high school in the summer time and kept going by this pet rescue place. As I would go by it seemed like I needed to stop. I ignored it for a couple of days, but it would call to me every-time I would go by. Then one day I said okay I will stop and see. If nothing stands out when I look around then I will leave. So I looked at all the animals. I found all the cats and low and behold Jasper looked so much like the previous cat I had lost. This cat was also a Maine Coon cat and he was the only cat out of 40 or more cats that came right up to the window and acted like he needed to get out. It was like he was greeting me. All the others would just lay there or ignore you as you looked at them. I was told that Jasper was there only two weeks. So this was about the length of time that I felt called to the animal rescue.
        As soon as he was let out of the cage he seemed so happy to be held by me and loved the new freedom he had. I could not believe someone would just get rid of this seemly well kept cat. I was told that a young family had to move to another state and could not keep the cat. Also, that his name was Jasmine. I do not know why Jasmine. Did they think this cat was a female? Or did they always want a cat named Jasmine. His name evolved to Jasper.
         Jasper is somewhat considerate. He will step his way through an obstacle course of items on a table or desk and be careful. He listens pretty good. When he is with Rikki (the other cat) he likes to play and run around with him. It seems like Rikki has more energy and is more outgoing and will run around lickity split and Jasper likes chasing him. In an RV it’s kinda funny as there is not much space for doing this.
        Rikki on the other hand is a great cat as well. He is a tiger, grey tabby. He also has a few white spots around his face and under his neck. Rikki came to me free. I was working at Dollar General for a few weeks and was talking to this lady that had a litter of cats she had to find homes for. I didn’t like Jasper staying home long hours by himself so I ended up taking a look at the litter. Rikki stood out over the litter of 5. I was glad I got him.
        Only thing I worried about was how Jasper would take to a small kitten. I was surprised, but Rikki did fine. He drove Jasper crazy at times. He would not leave Jasper alone. Rikki being the young fearless kitten that he was was able to improve his stalking skills with Jasper. He found every chance he could to jump out from behind some piece of furniture when Jasper would pass. At first it was funny to watch Jasper look at this little kitten and then kinda get up and try to ignore him like get out of my way you little pipsqeek. But then when the kitten felt to ignored he realized he could get a rise out of Jasper when he realized he had claws that he could use. Jasper didn’t have front claws. That was a good thing for this kitten.
        There were times with this kitten tearing around the living room of the apartment that seemed like he was everywhere. When you sat down he would come over and jump on your sneakers and bite and claw them. I had old sneakers on so that was alright. You would kinda ignore it and just go ahead and watch tv or reading. Then you would take a break and look around and not see the kitten around. You would wonder where he was. So you would start to get up and notice that this kitten had fallen asleep where he last was...on your sneakers. It was if he tired himself out with all the running around and then would just automatically fall asleep like a wind up toy that had just run out and stopped. It was so funny.
        How did Rikki the kitten get his name. It took a while to figure out his personality. But he is named after Rikki Ticky Tavi. I can’t remember what kind of animal RTT was. But this cat will play with something and he gets in a crazy mode. He will jump and throw it and go back and forth real quickly. He makes sudden thrusting moves. It’s so funny to watch him. That is also what the character RTT did. RTT was a squirrel like character. You have seen squirrels and how they start and stop and turn around quickly. Rikki would make fast sudden movements. So hence that is how Rikki got his name.
        I looked up Rikki Ticky Tavi and this is what I found. : Kipling's story: Rikki-Tiki-Tavi is a brave mongoose who defeats the evil cobra with a single-minded devotion to duty, persistently defending the safety of his human masters at any cost.
        There are times when both cat’s get to chasing each other and they will tear through this RV backwards from the bed area to the bathroom at the other end. They have the dining area and small kitchen to run through. This is a 25 foot Coachman travel trailer remember. Not to huge in size.
        It’s funny to watch them chase each other. They even rebound off of things. Jumping from the floor and then bounce off the back of the couch. I mean the flat front side of it. Where your back rests. Not the top. They use the back as a trampoline. Then they land on the bed. Sometimes I may be sitting on the floor or on the little couch they rebound on and instead of jumping to the bed on a rebound they will use me as their next rebound contact area. Then they land on the bed. Sometimes they surprise you. You could be reading intently then when one lands on your chest and bounces off the other since he is in hot pursuit bounces off you to. So you get a double whammy. Surprise, surprise.
        Both cats do just wonderfully in the RV. I have had good company on this trip to Odessa, Texas.