Owning pets is a constant source of joy. It appears in the form of companionship, unconditional love, and an abundance of delightful moments. For those who share their lives with animals, the experience transcends routine care – it’s a profound connection with beings that bring immeasurable happiness.
Allow me to introduce you to a couple of stars in my life: Festo and Theodore. These remarkable cats not only share my living space, but also inhabit a special place in my heart, enriching my life in ways only pet owners can truly understand.
FESTO
Festo was born on 29th January 2018, and is a tabby domestic shorthair cat, but we swear we see a little Bengal in him! He’s a very solid ‘unit’ of a cat, weighing in at 7.6kg!
We got him from Pet Centre in Lower Hutt in April 2018, when my husband wanted to go Harvey Norman nearby. I suggested we just go in and have a look, and that’s when we saw Mr Festo, and we fell in love!
Festo has a beautiful striped brown and black striped body, and he has a caramel spotty tummy, which has stayed the same during growth. He had beautiful blue eyes, which have developed into a lovely pistachio green colour.
ADHD Cat?!
For sure, Festo is the high maintenance and demanding one out of our cats.
At around 8am, he starts this routine to get me out of bed to feed him. He jumps in one of our shelving unit cubes, where my makeup is kept. And one at a time, knock items off with his paw!
Such an intelligent cat, he knows what my reaction will be (annoyed), and then the result (being fed). He absolutely has me wrapped around his little paw!
If that doesn’t work, then he ‘levels up’ to items on my bedside table, or swinging the artwork above our headboard. If I’ve tried ignoring him, then he resorts to putting his claws into the curtains – bad cat! I think I see him smirking at me after these actions! Please note: nothing’s done to Jono’s side!
He also has a restless and anxious energy sometimes. So for that reason, he’s the cat I teach tricks to, to help spend that energy. Theodore never seems very interested – only for the treat part anyway! I’ve taught him the bell trick, where Festo paws on a bell for the sound, then he gets a Temptation.
Festo is the most cuddliest, especially in the evenings, and we love to give him head buts, slow blinks, and low grunts that mimic his ones, as he doesn’t really purr. If he has restless anxiety at nighttime, we pop him into a Thundershirt. It calms him almost immediately, and then he loves to snuggle with us in our bed.
THEODORE
More commonly called Theo, was born on the 9th January 2019. We got him from up in Auckland, when Jono was buying a car up there in late February 2019.
I mentioned to Jono that I had seen a Maine Coon mix on Trade Me (like eBay), and should we have a look..
We drove to the house which was a Chinese Acupunturists! They were two other kittens available, when Theo came out and smelled Jonathan, that was it! We suddenly had another cat bound into our lives, and accompany us on our drive back home to Wellington.
On that trip, we took him to Lake Taupo, and he loved running to us on the pebble beach. So funny and cute to see this tiny kitten running after us.
Theodore is currently weighing in at 6.6kg and still growing, and still has an adorable kitten look to his face. The Maine Coon cat breed can grow for 3 years, and reach weights of around 10-12kgs. While we know he’s not pure-bred, we think he’ll get up to around 8kg, in a year or two’s time.
Theodore has such a beautiful mostly grey marble coat with hints of tan. And white paws like he’s walked in white paint.
Plume like, and hypnotising
He walks with a swagger, like he is wearing baggy pants, and his tail is insanely fluffy like a squirrels. We also adore his paw fur tufts then are under his toe beans.. very fluffy toe jam lol.
Theo like Festo, was born with blue eyes, and now they are an olive, khaki green colour.
He has a very mellow and low key personality. An absolute sweetheart, and he never bites – he smells you and then licks you. Theodore doesn’t really like to be picked up, but he will come to you for pats in the morning. And he likes to be in the room where his humans are.
Not so openly affectionate like Festo, Theo does like firm pats, slow blinks, and watching us from our bedside table. Or from tv console table, like a cat-alogue model! He also sleeps a lot – a nod to the growth he is still going through I think.
Theodore also likes to hang out by doors, which cues to a song we made up: “Theodore by the door, and Festo is the besto” 😂. Please note, they are both the best equal, but we don’t have a lot of rhyming things for Festo lol.
COMMON TRAITS
As they are both indoor only cats, they love it when pigeons come and rest on the outside railing (we have glass windows), which they fervently love to watch or go after.
They hate their claws clipped – especially Festo who goes into flight or fight mode. To help keep them at a good length, we have two huge 2m cat trees in our apartment that they love scratching. Those, and the apartment carpet too!
They have both been raised up with us taking them on excursions to the beach and secluded areas. They love sniffing out new areas, but I keep the carrier with us, incase they get scared, or cold.
Festo and Theodore are always hanging out together. It is tricky to introduce new cats to shared living, but fortunately, after around 6 weeks of split living, they got on, mostly harmoniously, in the shared space. We have our bedroom, mainly as ‘their bedroom’ with the cat towers, and plenty of space to both be in different areas, and hide from the other, if they need.
Lore & Tempo is where motherhood meets adventure. I’m Ren – storyteller, explorer, and single mum in Wellington, New Zealand. I’ve been lucky enough to wander through 45 countries. 15 of them with my +1, Kaydes, either strapped to my front, on my hip, or running ahead on her own adventures. I created this space to share single parent life, travel tips, and the joy of exploring the world.
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