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Friday, December 17, 2004

Feline Friday XI: The nose knows 

Sergei's nose is as black as his coat. Given his striking white whiskers and chin, his nose does not stand out in his face, but reads as part of the field of black. His nose is most noticeable when he is deeply asleep, because our sweet Sergei snores. Sometimes I mistake the sounds of his breathing at night for Paul's.



Lyra pushes her nose into the hand of almost anyone within reach. If I hold my hand a few inches above her head, she will stand on hind legs to butt her nose against my outstretched palm. If you want to make Lyra quite happy, stroke her along the bridge of her nose, from its soft gray tip up to the inside corners of her eyes. She may respond with open-mouthed purring, a lovely full-throated sound.

Even more than either Lyra or Sergei, Sasha gets to know the world around him through his pretty pink nose. We suspect that this may be in part because his eyesight is not so good. He wants to smell everything, and while the others may be content with a sniff, Sasha wants several drags on any new odor in the house. It is not surprising that Sasha is the catnip fiend in the McKitten family.