Cat Wrangling

Jack has recently become speedy enough (either that or Tucker has recently become dumb enough) to catch Tucker and hold on to his fur. Jack finds this utterly hilarious, and often squeals with open-mouthed delight. Tucker finds this less amusing, but tolerates it admirably.

This afternoon, Tucker was lying beside me and as I tickled his tummy, he reached his paws up to grab my arm and playfully bite my hand. Jack was playing nearby and saw his favorite kitty, so he crawled at light speed to pounce on Tucker. I was nervous: Tucker was already playing roughly with me and now his fur had been grasped by two tiny hands that pushed and pulled mercilessly. Would Tucker claw and bite Jack, playfully or otherwise, as he had just been doing to me?

I should have known better. Tucker immediately relaxed his body and lay resignedly while Jack rocked back and forth against him and crawled on top of him. It's as if he knew that Jack was delicate and needed to be handled differently than either Riley or Brian and I. We couldn't ask for a better, more patient cat for Jack to play with. (Riley, of course, wisely stays out of Jack's reach.)