Friday, March 14, 2014

Friday Felines - Vol. 11 2014 Special Birthday Edition - Riley

Riley 

I can't say any one of our cats is a favorite, I love them all equally, but Riley is my baby boy.  When I lost my other baby boy to old age and complications with lifelong asthma - it hurt, bad, and Riley filled the void ... we even called him "Ollie" accidentally for a long, long time (good thing they sound the same, he didn't notice).


He was the CUTEST little baby.  He has the most beautiful markings.  He is soft as a feather, sweet as sugar and loyal as a dog.  

He greets me at the door when I come home, galloping around the corner ... and on days when he's sound asleep and doesn't hear me ... the first thing I do is look for him.


I can't sleep without him snuggling my feet and keeping me warm.  He loves mom-hugs - and hugs right back.  He gets really concerned when the food bowl isn't full to the top and makes sure we are aware.  When the bag of food is getting low, he KNOWS and gets really frantic, until he sees a new bag of food in the house.  Then he breaks into the new bag by chewing a hole in it ... every ... single ... time


He's an angel.  He's gentle, sweet and always happy.  I remember when my dog was old and arthritic she would spend a lot of time in her bed, it was clear that she was starting the journey to leave us, Riley would snuggle up next to her and keep her company.  A goofy hulk of a Rottweiler, Riley licking her forehead, giving her comfort.  


Riley could be referred to as "high strung" - if he's sitting on the couch watching tv with and you sneeze - he'll jump 10 feet and run out of the room ... but he comes right back.  He's just a little fragile, but he recovers quickly.  He is such a good boy and never destroys anything.  A simple whispered, "Ri, stop." immediately puts an end to anything he's too interested in (because he trots/hops frantically into another room).


Riley loves looking out windows, watching birds, squirrels and falling leaves.  

One time while we were doing construction and replacing a window on a ground floor room, the other two cats escaped outside (despite our efforts to cat proof the construction site).  Riley stayed inside and pitched a fit at the window in our bedroom, waking me.

Riley never growls, so I was immediately concerned at this sound.  I woke to find the other two missing from the house and checking outside, finding them sitting in the sun on the walkway.  I'm sure they told Riley it would be fun - look what we found!  I'm sure that Riley replied, "No, no!  We're not supposed to go outside, mommy said its dangerous, there are wild animals and cars on the road."


I'm sure they had only been outside a short time, when my husband and I ran towards them from opposite sides of the house, they ran right back into the hole from which they escaped.

We're lucky Riley was so concerned, if they had been out much longer we may not have found them before they wandered too far and met a car on the street or got lost forever.  
  

  He supplies us with endless laughter and amusement ... all without trying ...  he's just being Ri. 


Ri loves to watch TV!  One of his favs - Ocean's 11!

3 comments:

elns said...

Sign me up for the Riley Fan Club! He's adorable and I loved his birthday story. I like how he ratted out his siblings when they escaped hehe. I'm a little fragile at times too. I can definitely relate. have a good weekend.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

What a sweetie! I love his little white toes.

Bets said...

Love hearing wonderful stories like this! What a sweet, clever boy :)