Jasper

BACKGROUND
Jasper will be ten years old this August!  He has lived with us since he was about four weeks old. He and his siblings were left in a cardboard box at the administration building of the college at which I taught at that time.  They put out a plea for homes for the kittens and said that anyone who wasn't claimed by the end of the day would go to the Humane Society.  I waited until the end of the day, intending to take whoever was left. At that time, our only cat was Ivan, who was just a few months old. I wanted him to have a friend, because I'm vehemently opposed to singletons and believe strongly that animals can never be truly happy without others of their own species present.


Jasper was an adorable little daredevil, and we lived in constant terror that he would kill himself with his crazy antics.  Ivan was not an adventurous, curious cat like that, so he didn't get into the dangerous and scary situations that Jasper did. They became buddies immediately, and enjoyed cuddling, napping, and playing together.

Jasper's wild side got him into trouble when he was a few months old and he climbed a to the top of a fake tree in our bathroom, tried to launch himself by pushing off the wall which pushed the tree over with him still holding on to the top. We heard a loud thump and went running in to find him on the floor, still clutching the top of the tree with blood coming out of his eye and ear. It was one of the scariest, most horrible moments we've experienced.  It was a Sunday night, and we rushed him to the vet, where he was immediately given an injection to stop the brain swelling.  He was hooked up to an IV bag and spent the next four days in a coma. I insisted on taking him home rather than leaving him there in a cage with strangers. I took off work and Jasper spent the next several days lying on my chest, while I cried and hoped that my heartbeat and the love and massages would help him come back to us. At that point, our vet wasn't incredibly optimistic about him coming out of the coma or having any hope of being normal.  Sometimes my stubbornness pays off. I chose not to euthanize and said on that Monday morning, that there was no change by Thursday, I would give up.  Thursday morning, he woke for the first time. We went to his scheduled vet appointment and everyone was shocked that he seemed fairly normal--weak and shaky for sure, but he made an amazing recovery and was back to his normal, fearless self after a few weeks.


He also had repeated problems with urinary blockages, so he had PU surgery (basically removing the penis and stretching the urethra) many years ago. He has been very healthy since then.


DISPOSITION
Jasper is a pretty laid back little guy.  We've had many cats come into the house since Jasper, and he's always fairly nice to the newcomers. He is open to forming new relationships, providing the other cats have decent manners and respect his territory.  These days, his main territory is our bedroom. He allows other cats to share his territory, but occasionally needs to remind them that he's in charge by randomly chasing them off the bed (his bed, which he shares with us).  Carrie has staked a secondary claim on our bedroom, so he especially likes to keep a watch on her and remind her from time to time that though he generously shares, he was there first.


FRIENDS
Jasper->Ivan:  He and Ivan lost the close, sweet relationship they once had. We've never really figured out what happened, but as Ivan became increasingly mentally ill, their relationship seemed to degrade. Ivan's paranoia extended to Jasper, and I'm still really sad about that. Jaspy has many other friends, but Ivan isn't close to any of the other cats.
Jasper->Oliver:  They are very close friends. They cuddle together, play together, and groom each other. Jasper never reminds Oliver that he is the owner of the bedroom.
Jasper->Petey:  They get along quite well. They play and cuddle, but I don't recall seeing them groom one another.
Jasper->Lila:  They get along well, but Lila does not like Jasper's occasional reminders that he's king of the room. She doesn't come into our bedroom as much as she used to, which bums me out a little.
Jasper->Tica:  They tolerate each other, but she very much respects his territory. She has made her own claim in certain areas of our bedroom (under the bed, right below my head), under the chaise lounge, and up on the high cat shelves sometimes. She always does a check to see where he is and if it's okay if she comes in to one of her areas.

Jasper->Basil & Charlie:  This is not a good relationship. They are capable of getting along, because they all sleep on the bed together when I'm in there. These guys (the twins) like to play rough and they tag team and corner the other cats. It's all play to them, but the other cats don't tend to enjoy it.  Jasper does not like them and avoids them and takes cheap shots (stealth smack in the head is his favorite move) in whenever he can.
Jasper->Mimosa & Alexa:   Jasper plays chase with both girls on occasion. Neither of the girls cuddle with other cats, and both respect his territory, so they have a fairly harmonious relationship.

He doesn't mind the dogs but is especially fond of Jezebel.

HOBBIES & INTERESTS
Jasper gives the best hugs in the world! He wraps his little arms around your neck and squeezes and purrs into your ear. It's very special, and none of our other cats do anything like this.

One of his favorite pass times is to climb into drawers and armoires and kick all of the clothing out. If he wants to get into a drawer/cabinet and it's not open, he will scratch and cry until someone comes to open it for him, then he starts rearranging the clothing or towels or whatever is in his area.  He also loves to nap in any luggage or bags he comes across and never misses a chance to camp out in Mark's luggage when he packs for one of his many trips.

He enjoys chewing and eating string/ribbon, so we have to always be very careful to not leave anything like that around.  He also enjoys chewing tulle and any fabrics that are similar, so the beautiful tulle that I used to use to decorate the stair rail for Xmas stays in the container now.  I gave up on it, because it was constantly full of his (smelly) saliva and then it got crunchy and gross looking.

Jasper loves both cat food/treats and human food.  His favorite foods are tortilla chips and mandarin oranges. He will help himself to any open bags or containers of chips. He turns into a little crack addict when he sees mandarin oranges. I'm embarrassed for him and the shameless way he begs and cries for the oranges. Mimosa also enjoys mandarin oranges, but isn't quite as much of a pathetic addict as Jaspy is.

He also very skilled at determining when we are doing floor work during our workouts. We try to be very quiet, so he doesn't come in, but he ALWAYS shows up the minute we hit the floor. He loves to smear his furry little body across our sweaty faces repeatedly while we are trying to do push-ups, planks, etc., and have no way to defend our faces. It's really annoying, and he's lucky he's so cute!