This is the page about my cats, Lyra and Thunder. I have taken many pictures of them, and I'll construct little stories based on the pictures. Have fun reading!
First of all, you should know more about my cats. Thunder is a lively grey tabby who is very vocal, and cute! He is all grey and black, except for a white patch underneath his chin, and a white spot on one of his back right toes. Thunder has paper-thin ears, and a grayish brown nose. He like to go outside, and demands you let him out. He weighs almost 12 pounds. He is very funny, with his wide green eyes and quirky tail. He has caught four snakes, a couple voles, and even a baby squirrel! But don't worry, he didn't kill the squirrel. Instead, he mothered it, grooming it's fur. Thunder is the hunter of our family.
Lyra, on the other hand, is the beautiful one. She is usually calm and regal, but can also be very jumpy. She has a flame-colored pelt with a white muzzle and white paws. She has an orange spot on the inside of her back left leg, and a pink nose. Her ears are slightly shorter, and thicker than Thunder's. Lyra has hazel brown eyes and purrs a lot. Lyra weighs 11 pounds. She also likes to go outside, but isn't as loud as Thunder about it. She likes to sunbathe on the table in the backyard, and has caught three mice.
Both cats can climb trees, but while Thunder can come right down, Lyra hasn't mastered the art of getting out of the tree! Often, after she chases Thunder up a tree, we need to bring her down. Oh well. At least she has fun!
We didn't get both cats at the same time. We invited Lyra into the family as a present for my birthday. I named her Lyra because in the Avalon book, there was an orange, flying cat named Lyra! One of my teachers thought we named her Lyra after the girl in the Golden Compass, but now you know the truth! Strangely, the Avalon books have disappeared from the Metropolitan library system. If you search them them up on Google, you can find them, but at the library, they're gone! And they aren't that old either... I just really want to read the books from which I got Lyra's name, but I can't! Hmph! Back to cats:
Thunder however, was my brother's birthday present. We named him Thunder, because at the time, my brother was afraid of thunder. Now, with a cat named Thunder, admitting he is afraid of "Thunder" has a double meaning, so he only says he's afraid of lightning now. And Thunder truly lives up to his name, since sometimes he is loud and threatening, and his green eyes seem to see right through you. But usually, he's our little lively cat!
At first, the two cats didn't get along. Before Lyra met Thunder, the only time I heard her hiss was when a dog nipped her on the tail. But when Thunder came home, it was all out hissing and fighting. Well, Thunder didn't really want to fight. He was just curious. But to cats, hisses are threatening, so usually, they fight. You can usually tell who's winning. If you can hear a bunch of growls and hisses, it means Thunder's got Lyra pinned down and is biting her scruff. If you can hear a struggle but there isn't any growling, Lyra's got Thunder pinned down and is grooming him. Thunder doesn't like it when Lyra grooms him, and usually fights his way out from under Lyra and chases her through the house. When they do this, they sound like horses: Badoomp, badoomp, badoomp, badoomp. But now they are both friendly, only occasionally fighting. But this is good, as they exercise while running.
Speaking of grooming, Lyra likes to lick my brother's hair. She won't lick my dad or my mom's hair, and when she tries to lick my hair, she chokes on it. It's like Lyra's meowing to my brother, "Your hair is too dirty! Let me clean it!" Because after my brother washed his hair, Lyra wouldn't touch it, except to examine it and pronounce it clean.
Both cats are music cats. Lyra likes the piano, cello, and clarinet, while Thunder likes the flute, clarinet, and cello. I guess the flute is just too high for Lyra, and Thunder doesn't have the patience to sit at the piano and listen to my brother and I play.
Lyra claims the chair beside the piano whenever me and my brother play it. She's usually spends a looonnggg time grooming, and when she finally thinks every hair is in place, we're about done practicing.
Thunder likes to sit on a chair under the table I practice flute next to. He listens quietly, but never runs away, which I take as a good sign.
Both cats like the cello and clarinet. Mainly, for cello, they like to curl up in the empty case and sleep while I play cello. And they come and sit beside me when when I play clarinet, although this usually resolves in chasing each other away.
Thunder doesn't like to be carried, except sometimes by my mom. Thunder's favorite person is my mom, and he follows her everywhere, but sometimes, when my mom is working, he will curl up next to me or my brother, rubbing against our faces and purring. Thunder doesn't purr as much as Lyra, but when he's does, it's very loud. As I said, he's vocal. But make sure you don't touch his belly or hind legs. Those claws are sharp!
Lyra, however, likes to be picked up, especially by my dad. When he picks her up, she just goes limp and lays there, purring, as she is carried to where ever my dad feels like going. But you need to avoid her hind legs as well. Don't touch them, much less grab them! Also, she will hit you. If you see Lyra with her ears back, hissing, or with her mouth slightly open, avoid her front paws. Remember, she has claws! Once, when we returned from China after a three-week vacation, Lyra padded up to my mom, and hit her. She lashed out with her front paws, as if mewing, "Why did you leave me alone for so long? I was lonely!" That was before Thunder came to our home.
It's true, we go to China for the summer, but don't worry, we don't starve the cats. A friend comes over every few days to check on them, and feed them. We keep the Skype video running, so we can see the cats if they walk in front of the computer. But our friend is moving to Taiwan, so if anyone is willing to catsit, feel free to tell me!
That's all for now, and when I get my iPhone from my dad's office, I'll upload some pictures!
