Smoking Buddy

Always nice to have a smoking buddy. My dogs usually keep me company when I'm sitting on the patio or sitting in my shop.

She's beautiful! My cat and dog hang around when I'm in my recliner with a pipe or book. More faithful companions I'll never find.

The colouring on your cat look vaguely like blended tobacco ribbons as well.

Here's mine waiting for coffee to finish so we can wake up in the recliner. :mrgreen:

We have a trio: Two rescues out of a drainpipe who matured into what look like pedigree Maine Coons, the boys, and a little female domestic shorthair who moved down here from Long Island when my wife and I married. I think they're attracted to the relaxed and pleasant mood that accompanies the pipe, and they like to watch the smoke. I grew up with a mythic water dog, Springer/Cocker mix, insisted on swimming in the river through the ice. Many stories about him. But my first household animal was a small gray female cat who had kittens, and somewhat raised me with them, and taught me all the proper cat etiquette so cats have always accepted and gravitated to me, a cat magnet as family says. At a dinner party recently, the less sociable of two household cats boarded my lap and commenced to kiss me and nibble my ear. The hosts and guests were quite surprised (as was I frankly); none of us knew I was quite that attractive.

Torties are gorgeous cats. I might look for another if I can't find a direct replacement for coal-black Max. Like yours too, Duane; tabbies are just smart, usually. Neither of ours accompany me for smokes, since I always do it outside & they're not allowed out.
(Not that that stops the Maine Coon; she's ALways trying to get out. During one of our snows a couple of years ago I said, "OK, brain-damage. You want out, here's out." & picked her up & dropped her in 4" of the white stuff. She didn't think much of it. And yes, she still tries to get out whenever the door opens or the bell rings.)

Cats are strange. We have a 16 year old Himalayan whose feet have never touched a blade of grass and a 3 year old male tabby who is an outside cat except during rain or real cold weather. The only thing they agree on is they don't like each other. Every once in a while they will jump on your lap for a few minutes. The Himalayan likes being near you but not on you. The outside guy much care what we do as long as we feed him four times a day. He's usually gone otherwise.

Cats are inscrutable. We wish we'd gotten our little female here before the boys, so they would have been kittens and she would have brought them up. She was a teenage mom and is exceedingly smart. But they got here first and gained full size, so she was the interloper. Fortunately she's very tough, and I like to think the adversarial aspect keeps her sharp, but it is not how I would have it. If I bonded with people as well as I do with cats, there's no telling where I would have gotten in life. Cats I don't know will come up and rub my trousers cuff in the dark. My sister sent me a headline (actually from the sports page) "Tom Is Still A Cat," or so it seems. Love dogs too.