This story made me laugh. I have a cat who is getting up there in age. He’s a cranky old man, but when he wants to be he’s very affectionate with me. He’s definitely a one-person cat. He’s also the boss, and I basically exist to cater to all of his whims. So, I could identify with so much of what Angela Kinsey of The Office told Us about her two cats who similarly rule her house:
“I tend to buy them things that I don’t know that they always need,” she explained to Us. “I have a Christmas stocking for them. They get presents, and … I’m like, ‘Here’s your present, try to open it, you’re going to love it.’ So I think I do stuff like that.”
[Kinsey] also noted that she will “talk to them like I’m having a conversation.”
In honor of National Bring Your Cat to the Vet day on August 22, Kinsey stressed to Us the importance of getting a cat properly checked out. “It’s harder to get our cats to the vet. It’s easier to get dogs to the vet,” she said. “I think because cats are loners, it’s hard to know how they’re doing, how’s their health.”
In the video interview, Angela says that she lets her cats sleep in her bed because “There’s no choice!” I can confirm this. My cat spends a lot of his time on my bed, and it would be impossible for me to keep him off it or out of my bedroom.
Angela also spoke with Parade about her cats, Snickers and Oreo. They are bigger than her two dogs! She also talked about her work with Royal Canin to encourage people to take their cats to the vet regularly. She started working with the pet food brand after attending CatCon:
Cats should see a vet at least once a year, though some may need to go more often. This can help identify problems before they become serious, and prevent ailments completely, Kinsey says. Some cats may not show symptoms of a medical issue, which is why regular check-ups are so vital. Also, cat owners may not think cats kept indoors need professional care because they are not exposed to rougher elements as cats who go outdoors.
“I think as cat owners, we do sometimes think that our cats are very self-sufficient—we love that about them, ” she says. “We also need to remember that we might not see signs when they’re not feeling well. Just be mindful of it.”
This is such an important reminder. I’ve had both dogs and cats, and Angela’s right, I bet many cat owners tend to think of their cats as more self-sufficient than dogs. And, if you happen to have a cat that is more standoffish and doesn’t want the same amount of human interaction that is more typical of dogs, it’s easy to forget that cats need regular checkups. If I go away for a few days, when I get home, my cat is extra-affectionate for a couple of days and then he remembers that he’s mad because I left. Sometimes I try to butter him up with presents, though I’ve never gotten him a stocking. He loves yarn and small fabric fish that have shiny tails. Mostly though, he stretches out on furniture and spends time surveying his empire.
Photos credit: WENN and via Instagram
We have an old dog (16 year old kelpie) and he’s so smoochy, funny and cute. We love to cuddle each other except my husband won’t allow him on the bed.
So when hubby’s away, I bring him into bed and we cuddle all night. Oh I love him so. Is it weird I love him more than hubby and kids? 😉
Nope – perfectly normal response. Pets are much nicer than people!
No it’s not weird 🙂
We have three dogs, and our bed is basically the “dog bed” and they just allow us to sleep in it. I love it, I love their warm furry bodies, they are like soft fire logs.
Last year, we adopted a tiny, nine year old chihuahua who was living on borrowed time at the shelter. He needed $1,200 worth of dental work….(which they neglected to tell us). We adopted him and when we realized he needed the dental work, we winced a bit but just went and had it done. It was worth every penny….he is the best boy, full of fun and the most loving little guy. I hope he lives for many years….he doesn’t sleep on the bed because he’s just too tiny and his legs could easily break.
No it is not weird!
We try to keep our 3 cats out of our bed but it is a daily struggle lol
You can’t keep them off the bed but you can set rules as to where they can be while you’re in the bed. I had one who was allowed the foot of the bed, which had a great view out of the second floor window. This worked fine until I got a second cat who had not learned the rules yet. The first cat would tr to enforce the “not beyond the knees” rule on the second cat. I would wake up in the middle of the night to the two of them fighting on top of me.
Current cat is allowed the foot of the bed and the right side. The pillow is forbidden. As is chewing my hair.
Yeah I tried ‘not in the bedroom at night’ when my cat moved in and that lasted one (sleepless) night, even though he’d never been allowed in when he lived with my grandma. Now the rule is not beyond the top of the duvet/on the pillows and that does work.
Yup. My first cat threw such a fit when I tried to keep her out of my room on the night I adopted her. She was this tiny little kitten and when I gave in, she marched in, got on the bed, and that was it. She was such a cuddler too.
I now have 2 who aren’t quite as cuddly, but are always on my bed – though rarely at the same time.
Aw, lol. Mine will only sleep on my legs so I don’t have to worry about her in my face or on my pillow. She seemed to make that rule herself and I go with it.
I like having her sleep on me and actually miss her when she decides to sleep somewhere else or when my son is home and takes her to his room.
Two of ours sleep at the bottom of the bed but one of the girls always slept in her bed.
We tried to keep them out of the bedroom at night but it is a constant meowing and scratching at the door. Neighbours were not happy, of course…
For the first 4-6months that we’ve had our youngest cats she would only sleep across my neck. It was like having a furry scarf clinging to you constantly. I could move her, and seconds later she’d slump back where she had been before I moved her. She is very much a people-cat, and wants to be doing whatever you’re doing. And we both are big fans of sleep, so I guess she was happy to nap/sleep with me whenever she had a chance.
Thankfully she no longer sleeps on my neck for the most part. She’s gotten huge (large, not fat) and it would really put an awful kink into my neck if she did. But she still wants to be nestled up against us in some way or another more nights than not.
I just freaking love cats. They get such a bad rap from some people – but barring any physical attacks that have scarred someone, if you hate cats you probably just haven’t met the right one. There’s a difference between a cat owned by someone who’s just like “we have a cat now” and doesn’t bother with it, and a cat that’s been well socialized and incorporated into your life.
Today is the one year anniversary of my sweet old lady cats passing, so it was really nice seeing this article, Quimby – I personally really appreciated it.
@Erinn
Hugs to you <3
Our 3 are all very socialised and one of them is so gentle that he rarely scratched us and never attempted to bite even as a kitten.
I don't understand how someone cannot like a cat… mine are all trained and seem more like dogs than cats.
We used to have a dog before having kitties, so it's not like we are cat people, more pet people.
My cat is signed up for this deal at his vets where you pay monthly to cover the cost of annual vaccinations and the regular flea/worming treatment and as part of that he gets a health check with them every six months and it’s so reassuring. I have taken him in between checks when there’s something clearly wrong (although suspected fungus in his nose turned out to be ear wax…) but I do worry that I just won’t notice if something is off but he’s still eating and doing his business as normal. He’s 11 and I have informed him that he’s got at least another ten years in him but I’m not sure how well he listens to me.
It’s really hard as they get older because they start to get so quirky and it’s easy to see quirky as indicative of a problem.
My oldest is an 11 year old girl and she can be peppy, playful and vibrant to the point where she acts like a little kitten and then she can be like she was this morning: quiet, unmoving..seemingly despondent.
It can be alarming. But as long as she’s eating and drinking normally, playing etc. I assume that she’s ok. She IS a senior and I think she just gets very tired at times. She caterwauls with her toys in her mouth at night and she plays on the patio during the day so she gets a decent amount of exercise but she doesn’t bounce back as quickly as she used to.
Good luck with your baby. It’s difficult when you begin to recognize that they won’t be around forever 🙁
My cats sleep almost anywhere they want. I have one that sleeps on my pillows next to my head and the other one likes to sleep on me (I’m a heavy sleeper and it doesn’t bother me). My two behave more like dogs than cats. They’ll follow me around the house and if I sit they are all over my business. If I’m working on the computer the male is laying across my arms making it difficult to work.
We have two white Maine Coons. Tino (short for Valentino) and Sachi (short for Versace). The Designer Kitties!!! They are absolutely delightful and they rule the roost. They sleep and go wherever they want. In some ways they kind of behave like dogs, can’t really explain it. They survived a house fire with us last year and at the time we were standing outside our burning house, we were more concerned about finding them than saving our house. The firemen put the fire out then went inside and found both of them hiding in my closet. Smokey, but fine. I’ve never been so relieved in my entire life. We take them to the vet twice a year and they get their teeth cleaned once a year. They are 11 years old and I’m hoping they have a good many years left.
I think that’s my biggest fear. I don’t care about objects – though some would be really upsetting to lose. But I worry so much about what would happen to the pets if we had a fire. I’m so glad yours made it through! Maine Coons are delightful giant puppy cats haha.
Maine Coons are super-smart. Beautiful kitties too.
I worry about housefires as well. I’d be a mess if I lost my cats. I’m glad yours were intelligent enough to seek shelter in the closet.
I have one that turned out to be part Maine Coon – let’s just say he got the floof but not the brains…
Adorable names! I’m so glad they survived the fire, that must’ve been so traumatic. My cat is basically a dog too. I’m a dog person but got Kiki when I was in college and working full-time, so I absolutely could not care for a dog. But I just treated her like all the dogs I’ve had. She fetches, she ALWAYS greets me at the door when I come home, she’s very vocal. She even drinks out of the toilet but I have no idea where she learned that one!
My cats do that too! I come home from work and I have two cats and a dog just staring at the kitchen door haha. It’s super cute. One of ours doesn’t REALLY fetch, but she brings me stuff, so almost as good, really. I’ll wake up to toys or something she’s stolen that she shouldn’t have been able to get into on the bed next to me. For a while she was finding like… hinges and screws and bolts. No idea where they came from.
The firemen said that pets hide and that’s why their first objective is to quickly get the fire out, then go in and start looking for the animals. One of them asked me where I thought they’d be and I said I was 99% sure they’d be in my closet. That’s where they were.
We hadn’t ‘chipped’ them because they never strayed from our yard. But right after we experienced this situation one of the first things we did was to take them to the vet and have them chipped.
When I called 911, the guy was yelling at me to NOT GO BACK IN THE HOUSE TO TRY TO FIND OUR CATS. That was a hard thing to resist doing, but I see now how people die from smoke inhalation doing exactly that. Thank god we were home when this happened.
I have a half Maine Coon/half Russian Blue “Smitty the Kitty” – not floofy but HUGE. Fifteen pounds of goofy, adolescent attitude and still growing at 16 months (vet says he’ll keep growing until about 2 yrs old) but very affectionate. He sleeps curled up by my legs…when he does sleep. He’s still rampaging around at night which means he gets turfed out of the bedroom and hubby has to sleep on the couch because I have insomnia.
Our 3 cats and one dog sleep where they want.
I would like to argue that we are all looking at the is wrong way! The pets, especially the cats, let us sleep on their bed.
Dogs have masters, cats have ‘help’. No joke.
Yep.
We have two cats. We have a king sized bed. I have one cat that sleeps on my feet, while the other sleeps on my head. Lol husband is free and I’m trapped in fluff!
This is the same at my house. We just bought a king size bed because the hubby said he needed more room. I am not sure why because the cats are on me! I would not have it any other way though!
Love this!!
I love the painting over her fireplace. It’s great to see celebs who hang art because they like it, and not because a designer picked it out to match their sofa.
Omg you just hit a nerve for me – my apartment is being shown tomorrow, and I’m a little nervous to be judged for one piece. It’s called “The Swim” by Suzy Q, it’s got nudity and is a little sexual. I wouldn’t care, but I’m a local news anchor and people know who I am, I don’t want them to judge my ass painting 😂
The cats do what they want and we are powerless to stop them. *shrugs*
We have two cats and the rule the roost. They sleep where ever they want as long as there is no face/ear licking. My orange tabby Molly is on the bathroom counter every morning watching me get ready for the day while my big tabby Cosmo checks out the morning bird gatherings from his perch at the window. I love my kitties and they bring me such joy now that I am an empty-nester. And I can honestly say that I follow WAY TO MANY cats in Instagram….
My cat Kiki is the love of my life and she sleeps in bed with me every night. In the morning she loves to spoon. She’s an “only child” and she likes it that way – she gets ALL the attention, does whatever she wants. My boyfriend and I are moving in together next month and honestly combining our cats is the most stressful part. I’m terrified that making Kiki suddenly one of three will dampen her personality. He has two two-year-olds, a boy and a girl who have always had each other. They’re playful and enjoy not being alone. I’m a little worried Kiki won’t know how to distinguish play from aggression, and she tends to get growly and standoffish when she’s scared. We plan to do all the stuff you’re supposed to do – keep them separate, introduce each other’s scents, slowly get them together but supervised, etc. Any advice?!
Yes, I have introduced adult cats several times. Bring the new one(s) straight into a closed room with food/water/litter and leave them in there to sniff it out. This will be their safe space. Don’t introduce the cats yet.
Once the cat(s) that are new to the household get used to their room and to you, which might be a day or two, you can open the door and start to introduce the cats. Give them food or toys as a distraction during the intro. They will hiss and growl, it’s normal. If they physically fight, put them in separate rooms again, or separate them after 5-15 minutes, whichever comes first. Bring them out together for longer and longer amounts of time.
It usually takes about a week before you can fully integrate the cats, and maybe 4-6 weeks for them to really get used to each other, so don’t give up if it’s not immediate. Good luck!
Haha I apologize as I am typing this my cat is on top of me trying to knock the phone out of my hand. She usually sleeps in our bed, I put a little cat bed at the foot of the bed in the middle so she stays in that spot at least. That works about 50% of the time. The rest of the time is aggressive cuddling
My little fluff monster cat doesn’t like being outside so she’s an indoor cat now. She can sleep on my face if she wants, she’s my baby.
So of course she can sleep in the bed with me. I usually go get her and put her in my bed if she doesn’t come in at night. I need that little chonk close and purring.
Yes. I will wake up and get my old man. His purr is the sound of my dreams. I love to listen to him purr with my ear on his belly.
Lol as if I can tell my cat where he can and can’t sleep. Thankfully, he prefers the foot of the bed as opposed to my face, since I found out I’m allergic to cats after I got him (and already loved him). An option is also to get a little beddy somewhere else in the house just for him – he loves his.
I have 2 cats and they sleep where they want, usually one at the foot of the bed and the other within petting distance. When I got to take a nap or go to bed, they both follow me in, curl up with me for a minute, then go to their respective spots on the bed.
They can both sit, stay, come when they’re called, and play soccer in my house. As kittens, I’d play with them and a ball and play keep away and we chase each other around the house. No one scores any goals but they’ve got some good footwork!
Cats don’t like/allow closed doors.
I have never had a cat but my best friends did growing up! I remember I would wake up with my blankets being attacked by a friends cat! It was terrifying! LOL I also would hear it running around like a crazy cat at night time! Ha!
My late cat loved sleeping with me. But I toss and turn in my sleep and there were times I nearly crushed him with my legs. It got so bad I ended up sleeping on the floor. I didn’t have the heart to throw my cat off the bed. So I made up a fluffy, crunchy little bed for him at the foot of my bed. And that’s where he slept most of the time. But I know he preferred sleeping with me. I miss the little guy. 🙁