We’ve been all moved into our new place for a few weeks now, and the cats are also getting settled in. They spent a while staying in one spot and hiding inside and under things, but lately, they’ve been coming out into the open a bit more to explore the rest of the condo.

My roommate bought some mats to put in front of the litter box. These mats are designed to catch and hold any leftover litter from the cats’ feet after they’re done using the litter box. They apparently also serve the purpose of being a mat that the cats lay on, because for whatever reason, they seem to love laying on these litter mats.

Both Pumpkin and Pudding recently got their orchiectomies. We were under the impression that they would be getting an Elizabethian collar (better known as a “pet cone”) so they wouldn’t lick and irritate the incision area, so instead, my roommate bought a toast version that goes around their necks.

Well apparently, orchiectomies for cats are so non-intrusive nowadays that they didn’t even need a cone. So instead of the toast collar serving any utilitarian purpose… it ended up just being a prop for a photo shoot with Pumpkin.

(This is part three of a series about Pumpkin, the Highland Fold. In the first part, I reveal that I’m moving and explain how I ended up with Pumpkin, and in the second part, I share more photos of Pumpkin from our time together.)

My future roommate came back to Las Vegas and completed her move in late November. Our two-bedroom unit wasn’t going to be ready until mid-December, so she be stayed with me in my studio until then. Pumpkin seemed very happy that his owner was back (at least, as excited as cats are able to get). He plopped himself on top of her luggage after she arrived.

Before Pumpkin arrived a few weeks ago, I prepared by getting some cat supplies, including a scratching arch. What I didn’t know is that Pumpkin ap­par­ently prefers flat scratching blocks over vertical ones, so he ended up not really using the one I got for him. After a while, he seemed to be more in­ter­ested in it, though, and it helped that I myself started scratching at it to demonstrate to Pumpkin how to use it.

Eventually, we got Pumpkin a flat scratching block, which he seemed to appreciate more. Pumpkin started jumping up on my desk and laying on my keyboard, so I put the scratching block beside my keyboard to convince him to lay on it instead of my keyboard… and it somehow worked.

Our landlords were kind enough to let us start moving some of our stuff in early, but yesterday was our official move-in day. Pumpkin decided to help pack, and by help pack, I mean lay on top of sealed air bags.

This is Pumpkin the guard cat. He discovered that my safe might not be secure enough, so he laid on top of it to provide an extra layer of protection to its contents.

Pumpkin discovered the shower curtain and seemed incredibly impressed, partially because apparently the outside ruffled portion of the shower curtain was incredibly soft, and partially because he found out that he can walk between the curtain and the vinyl protective sheet and enter a seemingly new dimension of existence.

Knock knock … ah yes henlo, how may I help you?

In this following photograph, I present something that I found on my kitchen countertop. I am unable to determine whether it is a pumpkin or a loaf of bread. … Or both?

In my previous blog post where I already posted a handful of Pumpkin photos, I explained how I ended up with Pumpkin already—his owner is going to be my new roommate, and she dropped him off early to avoid having to juggle three cats at once when she makes the final move. Of course, Pumpkin misses his owner, so I pulled her pajama pants out of the laundry hamper and laid it out for him on his favorite sleeping spot (on top of my gym bag back in a dark corner of the closet), and he seems very happy.

That is, very happy until I wake him up.

I moved to my current condo in March 2019 and vowed to actually stay long-term. Since leaving my hometown of the Chicagoland suburbs in late 2016, I’ve been constantly on the move, clocking in at seven relocations over the span of two and a half years.

I ended up staying at my current high-rise condominium for a bit over a year and eight months. Since leaving Illinois, that’s the longest I’ve spent in a single location. I originally planned on staying longer, but an opportunity came up that I didn’t want to pass on, so now I’m moving again.

Yes, of course I am staying in Las Vegas. I’m not moving too far away—I’m moving into a different high-rise condominium in a different area of the Strip with comparable luxurious amenities and a comparable high-floor view.

So why move then, if it’s basically going to be the same? Well, I’m moving from a studio to a two-bedroom unit with a roommate. And my roommate has three cats.

 
If you follow my blog religiously, you may remember that I went to visit New York City back in July and posted some cat photos of three different cats: Mochi the Scottish Fold, Pudding the Persian, and Pumpkin the Highland Fold. Well, as you may have guessed by now, the owner of those three cats is my new roommate, and she is moving in with me from New York City to Las Vegas.

She’s obviously made a few trips to Las Vegas to visit me prior to committing to the move. During her most recent trip, she brought Pumpkin with her and moved him into Las Vegas early so she wouldn’t have to juggle three cats at once when she makes the final move. So, not only am I going to be a cat dad to three cats in the near future, but I am actually already a cat dad to Pumpkin.