On Sat, 11 Mar 2017 16:49:15 -0800, Joy wrote:

It sounds as though you're making great progress. While Pickles will
roll over on her back so I can rub her tummy, Koala doesn't let me touch
his tummy. Of course Pickles only does that when she's on the floor and
I'm standing up. The day is coming when I won't be able to bend over to
rub her tummy, and then she'll either have to do without tummy rubs or
let me do it when she's on the bed or in my lap.

Minnie's tummy is definitely off limits. I can get away with rubbing her when
she's on her back as long as I don't go any lower than a spot just above the
area between her front paws, or stay up under her chin. Any lower than those
front paws, though, and she'll definitely let me know I'm out of bounds.

A few months ago Koala started lying on my legs when I'm in my recliner.
Sometimes he'd do it when Pickles was in my lap, and sometimes it was
just Koala. Then he finally started lying in my lap. Then he finally
reached the point where he demands attention when he's on my lap. It's
a long, slow process, but it really makes it more satisfying than if
they were ready to cuddle when we got them, right?

I guess I'll have to let you know if and when I ever get to that point, because
all the cats I've had before (plus one who belonged to a friend of mine) liked
to set up shop on my lap and just lay there purring and being stroked for as
long as I was willing to remain seated there. That cat that belonged to a friend
probably established the world record in that regard. I was installing Windows 7
and variousd other software on my friend's brand new computer that I'd just
finished building from parts we ordered online. I sat down to start formatting
and partitioning the hard drives, and the cat jumped up on my lap and parked
herself comfortably...and three hours later I had to put her down on the floor
so I could get up and go evacuate the half a pot of coffee I'd consumed while
installing Windows and 10 or 12 other things.

FWIW, Minnie, my current feline companion, was once briefly owned by the same
friend. Technically, I'm her fourth owner - but that's another story entirely.

John D. Kasupski
Niagara Falls, NY