Meet Figaro
Professional Belly Presenter • Certified Cool Cat • Easily Alarmed Aristocrat
Figaro came home during what should have been a very simple mission:
Take my oldest daughter to pick out a kitten to snuggle with Romeo.
This was, in hindsight, an obviously doomed plan.
My oldest daughter desperately wanted a white cat, but unfortunately the only fully white kitten at the shelter was feral and likely would never become comfortable around people. While trying to make sensible choices, we found two partially white kittens sharing a cage together.
Those kittens were Cleopatra and Figaro.
This was also the moment I discovered that I apparently cannot emotionally handle separating kittens that seem even vaguely attached to each other.
So home they came.
Figaro grew into an extremely handsome black-and-white cat with dramatically formal coloring. He looks like he should either be hosting a fancy dinner party or silently judging people from across a Victorian ballroom.
Underneath this elegant exterior, however, is an absolute attention addict.
Figaro is unusual because he genuinely loves belly rubs.
Now, experienced cat owners know that for most cats, exposing the belly is a trap. The soft fluffy stomach is bait designed to lure humans into making terrible decisions that end with claws embedded in their arm.
Not Fig.
Figaro wants you to rub the belly.
Aggressively.
If you walk past him and he flops onto the floor exposing his stomach, this is not a test. This is an invitation. In fact, it is more of a demand.
You are expected to rub his belly like you are attempting to summon a genie from a lamp. Gentle petting is insufficient. Fig requires enthusiastic commitment to the process.
And remarkably, he will tolerate this for an absurdly long amount of time before finally deciding he has received adequate worship.
Despite acting far too sophisticated for household nonsense, Figaro is also one of the jumpiest cats in the house. Sudden movements, unexpected noises, or another cat entering a room too quickly can send him fleeing dramatically as though he has narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
Despite living in a household filled with chaos creatures, Figaro himself is actually fairly mellow. He likes affection, comfortable places to nap, and being admired for his exceptional fluff distribution.
Honestly, Figaro has the energy of someone who would absolutely own a smoking jacket if cats had access to online shopping.
Adopted: October 2019
Special Skills:
- Aggressive belly-rub solicitation
- Silent judgment from elevated surfaces
- Panicking under extremely mild pressure