New Visitor Mustachio – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

Today is Hug Your Cat Day. We think that’s a given (and if you don’t, what’s up with that??) We think it should also be Hug Your Visiting Cat Day or maybe Hug Your Visiting Visitors Day or something like that. But only up to a point, a point we’ll… um, point out in a moment.

We have a new neighborhood cat we’d like to hug if we got the chance. He’s white with dark Tabby stripes along his body and a thick, dark mustache. For now, we’ve named him Mustachio (like Pistachio). He’s a neutered male (Definitely neutered. Whew!) and once a day, we hear him calling as he wanders through our yard toward Geoffrey’s house and feeding station. Although we haven’t gotten a good, clear photo yet, Quint has worked his charm.

Friendly Quint and Mustachio – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

Or maybe Quint’s looking for a way to get out there to kick some butt. “I see you out there looking in at my baby sister! You stop that or else!”

Visitor Cocoa – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

Then we have Cocoa. Do you see him/her? Cocoa hides very well but mom has seen Cocoa many times. Can’t get within ten feet of Cocoa but mom has hope, and lots of patience.

There’s Cocoa – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

There’s Cocoa! Beautiful coat and the prettiest blue eyes. We bet they would love a good brushing. We bet Cocoa would be a regular visitor if they knew how much we enjoy brushing kitties!

Momo looking good – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

And then there’s Momo. You probably remember him. He’s a regular visitor. He loves walks in the garden and brushies and long quiet conversations.

Handsome Momo – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

Momo, the perfect garden companion cat.

Colehaus is a Raccoon Crossing – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

Other visitors we like but don’t recommend hugging…

Happy the raccoon – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

This is Happy, we think one of the three babies Sunny brought to us last summer. Happy is a good, happy-going raccoon who doesn’t cause much trouble, even though she is out during daylight hours which can get her into trouble if the fraidy-cat neighbors see her. Luckily for her, she lives under a patio down the hill and the home owners love raccoons. Happy is checking out Geoffrey’s house and food station and probably found a scrap or two of food left out for Momo, Cocoa, Mustachio and whomever else happened to wander by. As happy as Happy seems to be, we don’t recommend hugs for her today.

Trouble the raccoon – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

Someone else we’re not going to recommend for a hug today is Trouble. We believe Trouble is Happy’s sibling. We’ve seen them wandering up the hill from the neighbor’s safe house to our yard together and while Happy bumbles along just fine, Trouble tends to hang back just a bit. Trouble is visibly smaller than Happy and scruffier-looking and for a while, we thought she might not be thriving as well as she could be.

Then we figured out why. Trouble is either pregnant or has just given birth. Mom got within three feet of her and when Trouble stood up on her back feet, Mom got a good, full-on view of swollen breasts and big nipples. Now we don’t complain when we see Trouble raiding the squirrel’s nut box. Fats are probably exactly what she needs right now and we look forward to hopefully meeting Trouble’s babies later this summer… just as Sunny brought her babies to meet us last year.

Mo and Trouble get along fine – 2014 © Colehaus Cats

As for all the kitty visitors and now the raccoons, Momo’s good with sharing. Just save all the hugs for him!