we got her in the first place because she was at the shelter a couple blocks from our apartment, we had to put my previous cat down in february of 2020 but arin had a Big Test coming in mid march and she wanted to wait until after that to get a new cat. we went down to the shelter, and there was one room with a bunch of cats, and a second room with only two. one of those cats was already spoken for, and the other one was jackabean, who shoved her whole head right into arin's hand to ask for pets when she reached out to her. so arin was immediately sold. we named her by just saying words at her until there was a series of syllables she seemed to respond to (water), and then we picked a name that sounded similar to that. she also went by various combinations of football, potato, and bean, as well as little beepo. jackabean, miss baby, miss football, sweet bean, etc.
she thought the ferrets were fascinating but she did not like it when they were free to chase her back, I've got a video on my phone of her batting investigatively at nixon when he was under a blanket on the couch in the next apartment.
she taught herself how to get up into the old smaller lofted bed, but I don't think she could manage the bigger one. when we got her to california, she didn't want to explore at all unless I was following her, and if I was she was completely fine. arin was her favorite though.
she used to love when one of us would lay on the floor (sit-ups, spine correction, anything really) and she would want to groom our heads and rub her face all over us. she would eat ants for me, and she found a scorpion once when we were in california and very much wanted to eat it for me but she was not allowed. she would go out with me at the apartment in california in a harness, and she would get very startled by cars sometimes but she never pulled out of the harness because she trusted me. she did not seem to mind if it was raining, and she saw a lizard one time. once there was a stray on our porch in california and she had Very Many Emotions at me about it.
she liked to roll around in the sun on the porch when we were in the kennedy. she knew how to open accordion doors and cabinet doors and she nearly figured out screen doors before she got too sick. she used to be shaped like a football. she liked to hide under the bed, one time she hid under the bathroom sink when she was unhappy about maintenance workers. she used to jump on top of the mouse cages occasionally, or up on top of the cabinets in our current apartment.
she loved to "help" with my crocheting, even more than josie, but it's been a year or two now. not just the yarn, but also the result and sometimes even my working hands. I'd make her miniature blankets from scraps after projects so she could have her own. she loved high pile fabrics especially. she used to know how to get herself under the blankets so sometimes if she was "missing" she was just cozy. she loves kneading blankets but she does Not want to be touched while she is kneading. she had a cat bed that she used for a little while but then she forgot about it. vet techs always comment about how very friendly and pretty she is.
she's impossible to medicate, it took 3 people and multiple attempts just to give her one pill. she had a cold and worms when we first got her, but there was a vet just down the block so I could just carry her over. we trimmed her nails for a little while because she started having trouble getting stuck on things in california, but we stopped when we moved back here because we thought minerva was going to be a bully. (instead minerva was scared of her.)
they did get a little while to be on the same page with each other, playing chase around the apartment. minerva still tries to play with her now, but she is not cooperative at all.
she loved the cheap toy mice, and she loved string. she would grab it in her mouth and trot away proudly. she never got the hang of scratching posts, but she'd scratch the sides of the couch and she loved the flat cardboard scratchers. even recently when she's been too sick for much she'd come paw at it gently when she'd follow me into my room.
she liked to sleep on top of or next to me, but she also really liked when I made a space in the stuffed animals that was protected so she could sleep there undisturbed, especially when she was starting to struggle.
she loved to be up high, I had to pile a bunch of stuff on my vanity to get her to stop using it as a stepping stone to the dresser from which she would often eye the shelf inside the closet awfully close.
she did not trust suspended blankets, and was often suspicious of blankets if she couldn't tell there was something solid underneath them.
at least in this apartment she always wanted to come with me into the bathroom, if I did let her she would get bored quickly and start slamming the cabinet doors unless I opened them to let her explore, and if I didn't I often had to watch for her on the way back out lest she dart in and get trapped.
she stayed with matt for a couple days then he put her on a plane to us when we moved to california, so we had time to drive down but she didn't need to ride in the truck. to get her back, matt flew down and rented a minivan to drive her and me both home. she did terribly at matt's without us, but she did surprisingly well on the drive.
I had a bunch of blankets piled up on my chair for a while and she loved to sleep on top of the whole stack. she found a stack of pillows at the vet to clamber up onto too.
minerva would like to be under the blanket on my lap, but jackie would clamber over top of her and just stand directly on top of her (with a blanket between them) with absolute impunity.
she was bright and smart-dumb and very very very social and friendly, and she was very talkative even before she got sick. she was very unruffled when minerva was struggling to figure out how or if she wanted to be friends, and I think she was good for mirva. she loved treats and she always wanted people food although she used to be much more polite about it, begging without snatching unless it was completely unattended. she seemed to fancy herself a service cat, she would often insert herself into the situation if someone was crying even though neither of us ever really reacted well to it. she liked watching cat videos on tv sometimes.
