#she is a fully indoor cat btw we just live in an old house in the woods so there are mice in the basement

[it-is-the-hannah]

My pet peeve is when I complain to people that my cat brought me a mouse and they go "It's because she loves you! 🥰"

Like dude I know she loves me. She's a predator with sharp claws and teeth and she lets me hold her like a baby. That doesn't mean she needs to leave dead mice on my bedroom floor

[pinklemonwitch]

✨ I'm gonna talk about my wonderful familiar Delilah, because she's currently asleep on me. ✨ This cat is amazing to me. She hardly gets along with others, even used to scratch the family members as a kitten. She's 13 years old!! This cat is older than my younger sister. She's had a history of being a wild outdoor kitty, even used to bring home "trophies" like dead birds and rodents. No idea how long she's been an indoor cat but, you'd never guess by her behavior that she's older than 5. She loves to play, but she doesn't trust easily. The type of relationship you have to have with this cat, is one of extreme respect. She doesn't show trust towards anything or anyone that doesn't show hesitation and respect for her boundaries, and she has very little tolerance of any crossing of those boundaries. She and I are incredibly close by everyone's standards, the family is shocked we're so close, but it's because we have a similar personality. She's a very anxious cat, she can't sit in a room with the door closed cuz she'll try to open it, she hates feeling trapped. Her head is always on a swivel, she's always looking for an escape in case something bad happens. This is something I related to upon first meeting her cuz before I really settled in that's how I felt in the house. When we moved upstairs (which is entirely HER territory btw, she doesn't go downstairs at all cuz of the dog), she was so afraid of all the commotion of moving that she didn't come out of hiding for almost a week. But when she did, we were able to start bonding immediately (since we're both kinda trapped up here by the dog), and we keep each other safe and alert. I keep the male cat away from her, and if she's within my sight I know when someone's coming based off her behavior. She waits outside the bathroom door for me every morning and lets out a medium volume "mrrrrrow!!" when I open it, she even came in while I was showering and despite the noise and water she came over and let me pet her once (didn't like the water so she just guarded the door after that). Out of everyone, I'm the only person she hasn't scratched; she swatted my hand ONCE, just basically slapped it with her paw around the time we initially met, she didn't even trust me fully at this point, and hasn't swatted at me since. Something amazing to me is how trusting she is with me in particular, because I defend her territory and her being from what she sees as threats (the male cat has never tried to harm her, he's actually the nicest animal in the house, the two are just both too dominant independently to get along), and she comes to me no matter what when I call her. Example one; she hopped out the window once and wouldn't come back for my boyfriend when he tried reaching for her, (she went out of sight actually) so he ran downstairs and outside to catch her if she fell off the roof. I went up to the window and said "Dee-Dee?? Delilah??" at my normal speaking volume and out of nowhere, she comes scurrying back and HOPPED BACK IN THE WINDOW. May I remind you she is 13 years old? Example two; she truly trusted me enough to actually attempt to JUMP OVER the other cat between the banisters to get to me (a position which exposed her stomach to the other cat since he was a stair below her), only reason she hesitated was because the other cat meowed (he meows loud af so it's frightening for everyone), but when she realized she had an opportunity she jumped over him to get to me, all because I asked her "Trust Me, please". She technically exposed herself to potential danger because she trusted me and sees me as a safe person to be around. Example 3: The baby came upstairs the other day. I thought she'd scratch the baby, since she has a tendency to scratch the older sister, and I could tell she was nervous having the baby upstairs. And the baby (3 years old), doesn't listen for shit and doesn't quite get animal boundaries so I was very hesitant to let her pet her especially after the incident with the dog, but if I didn't mediate the situation I knew this dumbass kid would just try to reach for her anyway and get scratched, so I mediated. I held the baby's arm so she couldn't just suddenly reach at Delilah, and let Delilah smell me and the baby. And sure enough, she came up and brushed against both of us. This cat, who the downstairs family members fear and my boyfriend to an extent doesn't fully trust, is able to be so loving and compassionate when given the respect for her boundaries that she needs and honestly deserves. Trust is something that can take years for animals to build, especially older, more anxious and feral-leaning ones; and she opened up to me in ways she hasn't towards others in a matter of months. I accidentally startled her when I was yelling at the other cat to go downstairs, she ran off but when I followed shortly after, got on her level and gave her a few feet of space, I tapped on the ground and she came practically running back to me, and that really touched me as well cuz it signified this to me: Even if she's afraid of something I'm personally doing in the moment she really does trust that I'll never hurt her, and to have any living entity put that much trust in me, like literally trusting me with her life in her eyes, is an incredible feeling that's just hard to explain in words. This is just how I feel towards my familiar and I know it's long, if anyone wants to send in asks about reasons why they love their familiar or experiences they've had with them, I'd love to know! Familiars are a blessing to us all.

[pinklemonwitch]

✨ I'm gonna talk about my wonderful familiar Delilah, because she's currently asleep on me. ✨ This cat is amazing to me. She hardly gets along with others, even used to scratch the family members as a kitten. She's 13 years old!! This cat is older than my younger sister. She's had a history of being a wild outdoor kitty, even used to bring home "trophies" like dead birds and rodents. No idea how long she's been an indoor cat but, you'd never guess by her behavior that she's older than 5. She loves to play, but she doesn't trust easily. The type of relationship you have to have with this cat, is one of extreme respect. She doesn't show trust towards anything or anyone that doesn't show hesitation and respect for her boundaries, and she has very little tolerance of any crossing of those boundaries. She and I are incredibly close by everyone's standards, the family is shocked we're so close, but it's because we have a similar personality. She's a very anxious cat, she can't sit in a room with the door closed cuz she'll try to open it, she hates feeling trapped. Her head is always on a swivel, she's always looking for an escape in case something bad happens. This is something I related to upon first meeting her cuz before I really settled in that's how I felt in the house. When we moved upstairs (which is entirely HER territory btw, she doesn't go downstairs at all cuz of the dog), she was so afraid of all the commotion of moving that she didn't come out of hiding for almost a week. But when she did, we were able to start bonding immediately (since we're both kinda trapped up here by the dog), and we keep each other safe and alert. I keep the male cat away from her, and if she's within my sight I know when someone's coming based off her behavior. She waits outside the bathroom door for me every morning and lets out a medium volume "mrrrrrow!!" when I open it, she even came in while I was showering and despite the noise and water she came over and let me pet her once (didn't like the water so she just guarded the door after that). Out of everyone, I'm the only person she hasn't scratched; she swatted my hand ONCE, just basically slapped it with her paw around the time we initially met, she didn't even trust me fully at this point, and hasn't swatted at me since. Something amazing to me is how trusting she is with me in particular, because I defend her territory and her being from what she sees as threats (the male cat has never tried to harm her, he's actually the nicest animal in the house, the two are just both too dominant independently to get along), and she comes to me no matter what when I call her. Example one; she hopped out the window once and wouldn't come back for my boyfriend when he tried reaching for her, (she went out of sight actually) so he ran downstairs and outside to catch her if she fell off the roof. I went up to the window and said "Dee-Dee?? Delilah??" at my normal speaking volume and out of nowhere, she comes scurrying back and HOPPED BACK IN THE WINDOW. May I remind you she is 13 years old? Example two; she truly trusted me enough to actually attempt to JUMP OVER the other cat between the banisters to get to me (a position which exposed her stomach to the other cat since he was a stair below her), only reason she hesitated was because the other cat meowed (he meows loud af so it's frightening for everyone), but when she realized she had an opportunity she jumped over him to get to me, all because I asked her "Trust Me, please". She technically exposed herself to potential danger because she trusted me and sees me as a safe person to be around. Example 3: The baby came upstairs the other day. I thought she'd scratch the baby, since she has a tendency to scratch the older sister, and I could tell she was nervous having the baby upstairs. And the baby (3 years old), doesn't listen for shit and doesn't quite get animal boundaries so I was very hesitant to let her pet her especially after the incident with the dog, but if I didn't mediate the situation I knew this dumbass kid would just try to reach for her anyway and get scratched, so I mediated. I held the baby's arm so she couldn't just suddenly reach at Delilah, and let Delilah smell me and the baby. And sure enough, she came up and brushed against both of us. This cat, who the downstairs family members fear and my boyfriend to an extent doesn't fully trust, is able to be so loving and compassionate when given the respect for her boundaries that she needs and honestly deserves. Trust is something that can take years for animals to build, especially older, more anxious and feral-leaning ones; and she opened up to me in ways she hasn't towards others in a matter of months. I accidentally startled her when I was yelling at the other cat to go downstairs, she ran off but when I followed shortly after, got on her level and gave her a few feet of space, I tapped on the ground and she came practically running back to me, and that really touched me as well cuz it signified this to me: Even if she's afraid of something I'm personally doing in the moment she really does trust that I'll never hurt her, and to have any living entity put that much trust in me, like literally trusting me with her life in her eyes, is an incredible feeling that's just hard to explain in words. This is just how I feel towards my familiar and I know it's long, if anyone wants to send in asks about reasons why they love their familiar or experiences they've had with them, I'd love to know! Familiars are a blessing to us all.