Hi, I’m Christopher! Read my introduction to learn more about me and my silly Russian Blue cat, Olga.
Carrying your cat is hard when they don’t want to be held or picked up, and when I adopted a Russian Blue kitten, he used up my blood supply for months before I was allowed to hold him on my shoulder. Sometimes, I can’t pick him up because, like a hedgehog, he curls up in a ball and attacks my hands with claws and teeth.
Olga’s Tolerance of Me
I’m glad she doesn’t have quills, but that’s the only thing that differentiates Olga from Spiny Norman when she was young. I can carry her on my shoulder now, but I don’t attempt to when her eyes are dilated and she looks psychotic. If he is energetic and ready to play or running scared from a trip to the vet, he will attack if I try to pick him up.
Even though I make him look crazy sometimes, he has a pretty good attitude on the shoulders if he’s calm. He rests his front paws on my right shoulder while I support his hind paws with my arm, but he doesn’t lie down on my soldiers like my Siamese cat. I encouraged Olga to try, but she responded by rubbing my neck.
Shoulder Rides With My Siamese
Fripp the Siamese is more like a sentient stuffed animal than a cat; when I picked him up, he purred, which was good because it silenced his yowling. Traveling on my back calmed him down and definitely relaxed him since he sometimes falls asleep. He is an agile cat who rarely loses his balance or scratches my shoulders when I walk.
Olga does not struggle to maintain balance, but her tolerance for shoulder trips and handling is less. He’s not that happy when traveling on my shoulder unless it’s almost dinner time. I try not to feed him until I’m done working, but he starts begging hours early, and if I look at him instead of ignoring him, he’ll curse and try to jump on my lap.
Shoulder Rides to Kitchen
When he’s hungry, he tries to convince me to feed him early by rubbing his head under my chin and licking me, which is unusual because he’s generally not a very affectionate cat. If I give him and carry him into the kitchen for dinner, he burps the whole time, and now he just looks content on my shoulder.
However, I was amazed at how much he matured and learned to handle. As a kitten and young adult, she is always in attack mode when I try to pick her up, and I worry that I need a butterfly net to catch her when she needs to visit the vet. Eventually he calmed down, and I didn’t have to buy hydrogen peroxide as often to treat my wounds.
Some cats fall in love with you quickly, and others, like Olga, prefer to bite and scratch you for months or years before showing affection. Caring for a stubborn cat isn’t for everyone, but it’s not difficult if you’re patient and have a sense of humor.
