The Moustachio Report

Back in December I reported that since we are soon to be moving, Moustachio, who appeared out of nowhere eight years ago and took up residence on our front porch, will be going with us. Because we will be farther out from town and the woods will be quite close to our house, making it likely that coyotes will be coming around more often, we decided that Moustachio, a stalwart barn cat if ever there was one, will become in his advancing years An Inside Cat.

He wasn’t too keen on the idea at first. And neither was Jo.

Pontoufle, on the other hand, was very amenable, and it didn’t take long before he was engaging Moustachio in rousing games of Batting the Crumpled Bit of Paper, and You Can’t See Me But I’m Right Under Your Chair.

The one playtime activity that Moustachio doesn’t quite get is wrestling with the fake squeaky mouse. At first he was very intrigued when Pontoufle would start playing with the mouse and there was all this squeaking going on. Moustachio would go over to investigate, Pontoufle would proudly present the toy mouse, and M would delicately sniff at the thing and then give Pontoufle a look, as if to say: “You mean I walked all the way over here for this? What’s wrong with you? Hey, man, it’s not even REAL.” Then he’d just turn and walk back to his chair. I guess he just can’t see expending all that energy on a fake mouse that isn’t even causing any trouble to begin with.

Anyway, I’m happy to say that Moustachio’s transition has been a relatively smooth one. Both he and Pontoufle have such laid-back personalities it didn’t take long for them to become napping buds.

Jo, however, was a tougher nut to crack, and she still puts a premium on her personal space. But she’s slowly coming around. They’re not exactly cuddling yet, but maybe it won’t be long now.

After all, who could resist these rugged good looks?