Envious Cats

My cat Kaya has been living with me for quite a few years now, and he has always been what you might call a rather reserved cat. He's never been much for playing, or running, or cuddling, or showing any emotion at all besides annoyance (I swear I think he must be a distant relative of Grumpy Cat). However, since Impala moved in with us, I have begun to notice some odd changes in Kaya. He always seems to be watching Impala, studying his behavior, and he frequently gets a look of intrigue and jealousy on his face. As if he sees Impala enjoying himself and thinks "Why can't I do those things?"

I think I mentioned to you all a while back how Impala sometimes likes to attack his own tail while screaming at the top of his lungs? Well, shortly after Impala started doing this, I caught Kaya attack his own tail. He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic about it, and when he realized I had seen him he looked embarrassed and immediately stopped. He apparently decided this game was just not for him.

Impala also loves to have his belly rubbed, whereas Kaya has always seemed to find the idea of rolling onto his back highly degrading. Then, a couple of weeks ago, he decided to give it a try and it turns out that he really likes it. Now most of the time when I go to pet him, he rolls over and stretches out so I can get to his belly.

Here's the weirdest one though. Impala's favorite pastime is wrestling with my hand. He likes me to scratch his belly/neck/face and he will grab/bite/kick my hand (I know it's probably a really bad idea to let him do that, but it's just so fucking cute!) Anyway, Kaya hasn't done anything remotely like that since he was a kitten, and he didn't even really like it then. A couple of days ago, I reached out to pet Kaya and he suddenly flipped over, grabbed my hand and started rolling back and forth while kicking me with his back feet. It was the most physical activity I have seen him do in years.

He still isn't particularly fond of having his picture taken though.