Introducing Bob the "Gentle Giant"

Bob, the neighborhood cat and gentle giant I have posted about a few times, has almost completely moved in to our home! Occasionally he stops by our neighbor's for afternoon tea around 4 o'clock. He ambles over here most days anytime after 6 p.m. It's not unusual for his large head to peek in the window just as we are sitting down to dinner, of course! He has a huge appetite but he only likes to eat after he has been sufficiently petted and loved up! After he eats he likes to clean himself. That is not a pretty site. It looks like he's attacking his body and he makes many unattractive slurping and grunting sounds while he cleans. I have tried, but been unsuccessful, at improving his manners and etiquette!

Bob likes to sleep after he eats. Sometimes it's just a nap. Sometimes it's a very long sleep complete with snoring and dreams during which his paws move and his face twitches! He likes to be comfortable and have plenty of room. We discovered that he likes large plastic shopping bags. There was one on the floor, as there often is because several of our cats enjoy sitting in them, and Bob suddenly ran to it and hopped inside! Bob will sleep in it for a quick nap or all night apparently! It's an interesting sight, seeing his big head peaking out, either spying on whatever activity is going on, or emitting near ear-splitting snores!

But, most of the time he opts to sleep on our bed, either at the foot or, recently he's taken a liking to my husband's side of the bed, right by his pillows. If Bob falls asleep here in the evening, by the time my husband wants to go to bed, Bob has usually moved to the bottom of the bed or he's gone out for the night, gallivanting and looking for some female felines...maybe!?! If it's later at night when Bob gets in our bed to sleep and he chooses to sleep on my husbands side it makes things pretty interesting. lol Being such a big boy, it's not easy to move Bob once he goes to sleep, not to mention, he doesn't much like being fussed with after laying down. I discovered that I can make him move a little bit by pushing on his lower back area when he is stretched out on his side, thereby moving him into a more up and down position along the bed rather than side to side, which makes it possible for my husband or me to sleep in the middle while the other one stretches out where I normally sleep! Yes, I know we are nuts and spoil all our cats, those who live with us as well as those who visit!

Our other cats are slower to accepting Bob than my husband and I! Bob doesn't seem to even notice their presence (he's much bigger than most of them!) unless, like Dopey, they get in Bob's face and make strange sounds. Dopey does this once in a while, I guess in some weird effort to show he's the man er, cat, of the house. Bob just sits and looks at Dopey like he's an idiot, which is...well...kind of appropriate!
Sadie dislikes Bob completely. But, let me be sure to point out here that Sadie dislikes almost all cats! Anytime Bob gets close to her - and for Sadie, that point varies from Bob standing right next to her to Bob being half the length of the room away from her - Sadie starts hissing at him and meows like I've never heard her meow before: loud, high-pitched and whiny! There's no mistaking what she's saying, "Go Away Now!" Sadie acts completely unaware of and unconcerned by the fact that Bob is a good 3x larger than her and could probably fling her across the room with one paw!

Magoo and Betsy, the cats who always sleep on our bed, only seem to mind Bob when he first gets on the bed and is settling down. Bob doesn't seem to know his own size and, like many cats, he goes where he wants to go with no concern for who or what might be in his way. Poor Betsy has almost been stepped on several times as she sits curled up cozily in the middle of out bed. Fortunately, she's small and fast and can slink away quickly. But, as a result of these close calls, she runs from the bed when Bob makes an appearance and only returns when he's settled down and laying still! Magoo is high-strung and nervous around Big Bob. Magoo's favorite spot at night is on Sam's back while he sleeps. If Sam isn't in bed yet, Magoo keeps an eye on Bob when he gets on the bed and moves strategically around, keeping out of Bob's way until he's settled down. If Sam is already in bed, Magoo will be perched on him, as far from Bob as possible! Huxley, Dopey and the other cats just stay out of Bob's way even though Bob shows no inclination to cause them any harm or unhappiness. Imagine Godzilla with no other desire than to eat, have the top of his head scritched, and then a warm place to sleep. He wouldn't even notice the little cars and residents of Tokyo hissing at him, wishing for him to leave. It's much the same with Bob and our other cats!

Bob comes and goes throughout the night. At any given time, Sam or I may wake up and he'll be snoring away at the bottom of the bed or he'll be gone. But two hours later he'll be back or he'll be gone. This past week, he started coming earlier in the day and stay until late morning. This made us very happy because, as I mentioned in another post, Bob always sounds like he has a cold. He has breathing troubles, almost like asthma or bronchitis and he periodically coughs, gags and sneezes. Bob needs to go to the vet and Sam and I are going to make sure he sees one. I'm not looking forward to trying to get him into a carrier and to our vet, but we'll make it happen. Sorry Bob, but it's for your own good!

Finally, we've come to start singing Bob's praises, literally. Sam will announce Bob's arrival by singing "Big Bad John" (substituting Bob's name for John) in a bass, or together we'll sing "Barbara Ann" but with the words "Bob Bob Bob, Bob Bob the Cat". A feline this big deserves it. And we deserve help in trying to feed him. As I mentioned, he eats A LOT! So, please send your donation to C-Town, and just put "to feed Bob the Cat" in the memo. They'll know what to do.