11 months old
I got him when he was 6 weeks old
The story of how Remington came to live with us is a bit convoluted. Long story short...I wanted a kitten. I eventually got a kitten. It was when Will & I were still together & he was sorta supposed to be Will's cat. End game...I won. He's my cat.
When I went to pick Remington up Will's only instructions was "don't get a white cat!" Remington was the last kitten, as all his brothers & sisters had already been taken. Will was lucky he wasn't white because he was all cute, tiny and alone. Anyone who knows me knows that if I go to get a cat and there is one there it's coming home with me. Who can say no to a poor homeless cat, especially a kitten. The moment I picked Remington up he nuzzled in close to me & settled in.
Since the moment Remington learned to claw his way up the bed he's slept on my pillow. In my hair. It was cute when he was so tiny. It's still cute now but not as much so considering he's about 5 times larger than he was and about 10 lbs fatter. He takes up most of my pillow space & for a time thought that it was something he was not going to have to share. He learned quickly that if he wanted to be near my hair he had to give me pillow space! He buries his head into my hair, usually with his nose behind my ear, and purrs us both to sleep. When he's restless I just have to throw my hair over his head and he settles down. When I pick him up & hold him like a baby, which he is growing to hate now that he's almost too big to hold like that anymore, he paws my hair to his face and covers it. I'm not sure what it is about my hair but he loves it.
Remington probably has the most nick-names of any cat I've ever owned. Which tends to be a lot. Here are his names: Remington, Remi, Rem, Remi Rue, Dude, Ruby, Ruby Rue, Rue, Rueber, Turdy, Turdy McTurdison (of Turdisonville), and there are more but they aren't as PG as those listed.
Remington pants like a dog. When he plays, he pants. When he gets excited, he pants. When he gets scared, he pants. It's the weirdest thing. He is also the loudest, most vocal cat I've ever met. He purrs on an octave that can be heard when you are in a different room. He is constantly making noises, which is where Rue comes from. It sounds like he's rueing sometimes. He also makes noises that sound like the the noises the velociraptors in Jurassic Park made. It's usually when he's looking for or is getting into trouble.
He's extremely stubborn & does not like the word no. He will do something just because you tell him not to. If he gets scolded he gets mad and goes and takes his frustration out on one of the other cats.
If you are close to him or pass by him he has to reach out and touch you. He does it to people and the cats. It's like he just can't help himself. He's extremely friendly and loves attention. He will play with you at a drop of a hat. He's constantly on the move.
He has a very distinct M marking on his forehead. I've heard that it is the sign on a tabby but I think it's his emblem. It stand for Menace. Which is a term he takes very seriously.
He's totally a tabby cat but I swear he's a "mutt". He looks part bobcat (head), squirrel (tail), skunk (tail markings), rabbit (feet). He flies through the air & leaps on things while looking like a flying squirrel.
He's deathly afraid of closets. Which in no way keeps him from staying out of closets. He's constantly wandering into one when I have the door open but when I go to chase him out he FREAKS out if I touch him. It's like he goes in & looses his hearing & if I touch him it startles him and he wigs out. When he was younger he freaked out & ended up cutting my hand up so badly from it one of his claws detached when it embedded itself into my palm. It looked like Freddy Kruger took a swipe at my hand. I'm not sure what scares him about being in the closet but something does.
Remi is obsessed with the laundry basket. Not the normal laundry basket of old (like Cyrus) but the tube kind that folds up. Will had one when he lived with us and Remington would fold the side down, jump in and sit there as content as could be. It got to the point where we'd have to make sure the basket was put in the closed closet so he'd stay out of it. Otherwise he'd end up knocking it over & making a mess. He would even enjoy when it was empty & you'd put it over him upside down. My only wish was that it was made of stronger material so it was a cage instead of a bendable play toy for him. Joking! Well, sort of. He was so unhappy that the basket was gone when Will moved out that I went and bought one.
Remington is very territorial of the litter box. Has been since the day we brought him home. He tries to climb in, even if someone is already in it. He has to go in & inspect after someone has come out of it. He is practically in the box when I am cleaning it to insure he is the first to use it. He even follows us (humans) into the bathroom to insure we aren't messing with or using HIS box. It's funny but I don't think Parker & Cyrus think so.
When Remington was about 4 or 5 months old he attacked a mirror I had hanging over the couch. It's a fairly heavy mirror and looks like a shuttered window (with the shutters open) and is hung on two heavy duty nails. I had all sorts of little nick-knacks like birdhouses, birds & cats setting on the two ledges & hanging from the shutters. At least I did until Remi attacked it while I was at work one day. He knocked everything off it. After the 3rd day of fixing everything on it and having him knock it all down again I decided enough was enough. Now the mirror is bare save for 2 ceramic birds & 1 wooden cat I have slowly added to insure Remi doesn't knock the whole thing down again. I think they are big enough to not peak his interest as toys. The last time he knocked everything off the mirror he had the actual mirror knocked down & only hanging by one nail. He's so lucky it didn't come completely down because had it fallen on him it would have killed him. Now if he knocked it off the wall and onto himself I don't think it's heavy enough to kill him anymore but I do think it would do some damage.
Remington has only been outside on the back patio a few time but he LOVES it. I usually don't let the cats out in the Summer because it's so blasted hot but when I have to go out here I do leave the door open so they can venture out if they want. Rem hasn't learned that it is TOO HOT to wander around and not stay in the shady areas. He paces in the sun and I end up having to make him go in so he doesn't over heat. He pants & drools like a dog when he does that. He loves all the dust & dirt on the cement & the swishing of his tail sweeps clean fan spots on the cement. I'm not sure if I can continue to let him go out because he can leap onto the wall (about chest high for me). He almost took off the last time he was out there after a hummingbird. I have no idea what he'd do if he got out. He would probably book it and not look back until it was too late.
Remington is a total character & I wouldn't have it any other way. Even if I want to kill him most days.
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