...as in "Giles". Google it.

The kitty has officially been name Rupert. He's not stuffy and British, but I think the name fits him well. He just may grow into a very dignified cat, but right now he's going through his "Ripper" phase of rebellion.

Here are a couple facts about Rupert that might interest you, especially if you've ever dealt with "normal" cats. [note: there is no such thing as a normal cat.] Rupert loves hiding toys inside of shoes. He likes dry food just as much as wet. He could care less about catnip.

This is one of the clumsiest cats I've seen. He barrels across the house and almost seems to enjoy ramming his head against solid objects to slow him down. He falls off of everything he climbs on. He wants to play with computer screens. He likes climbing around on the bars between the kitchen chair legs. Being squirted with water (for discipline) perplexes him. He doesn't like treats, and does not respond at all to praise. He likes to play with the trash inside small trash cans. He doesn't play with his claws out, so even his feather toy is still completely intact. This one may change as he gets older, and he'll probably bite through it eventually since he likes to chew on fuzzy things.

He successfully used the litter box this morning! Sean found him pawing at the tub and meowing, so he put Rupert in the litter box, which he used. I found him doing the same thing later, so I took the top of the box and put him in. Success! Maybe he just doesn't like the lid. He used it again on his own a little later, which is very exciting. Maybe not to any of you, but I'm thrilled! If he keeps it up, we may even be able to leave him in the house alone without coming home to a mess. If the litter box is the only thing he's picky about, I can certainly live with that.

We read the article about toilet training your cat (thanks, Jean!), but it sounds a little intense. Since I'm not sure yet how to reward him, I don't know how to make him excited about using the toilet. Also, he has to already know how to use the litter box, and I'm still waiting to make sure he completely gets that first. He tried to jump on the toilet while I was cleaning his litter box into it this morning, and that was almost a huge disaster!

I'm in the process of knitting him a bunch of toys to play with, since they get lost so easily. I still can't find one of his fuzzy mice from the first night! He likes to attack the ball of yarn while I'm knitting though, so it's a little bit of a slow process. It's really rewarding to watch him play with the ball I made yesterday. He's really good at dribbling it across the floor.

I tried taking photos of him playing, but he moves too fast! You also can't really tell how rough he's playing from a photo. He likes to jump into the air and twist himself around so that he always lands on his back, a shoulder, or on his face. Last night he dove for a toy and flung himself belly-first into the side of the couch, arms raised above his head. Luckily, he's bouncy and never appears injured or embarrassed.

Here's the tower I ordered for him this morning. It's going to be in the same color, too. Pretty fancy. There's one sisal rope post, one carpeted post, and three cedar posts. I don't know if he'll like the cedar, but we're giving him options. If he doesn't like them, we could always put our own carpet or rope on them. He's going to be so excited to have something to climb on! Nothing in our apartment is all that tall, but he's always climbing up whatever we have.