Monday Mario

One of Mario's favorite "toys" is a magazine.  I started giving them to him to try to persuade him to leave the newspaper at the bottom of his litter box intact.  He loves to shove it around, rip, and shred!  Recently I've given him US News and a Pottery Barn catalog.  Whenever I clean his cage I sweep up the ripped bits and pull off pages that have been ravaged.  The other day I felt the current magazine was looking a little worse for wear so I gave him a brand new one.

I threw in a Victoria's Secret catalog.

I noticed something peculiar the next two days.  There was no ripping.  There was no shredding!  In fact, he seemed to love to spend time WITH the magazine.  He usually takes his mid-day naps at the end of his pen farthest from his litter box.  But for two days he napped away right in front of the box were he usually keeps his magazine.

Upon closer inspection I saw this:

I could draw only one conclusion.  After flipping the magazine open, Mario promptly fell in love with the Lady in Yellow.  In the above photo, I am convinced he is spooning with her.

I tried to get more photos of them, but he got defensive and tried to shield her from my photography attempts!

For much of the day he kept vigilant watch taking his cat naps right next to her.  When I got too investigative he nibbled a bit at the edges of the page as if to throw me off the trail!  Oh, but I know what REAL Mario shredding and ripping looks like and I was not fooled in the least!

The above is a pathetic attempt to make me think he was treating this like his typical Pottery Barn catalog!

The next day he arranged his bowl and toys to prop her up so that he could get a better look at her while he napped.

I cleaned his pen again since these pictures were taken.  The catalog was of course in pristine condition (less those little nibbles).  I closed it up (like I always do) and put it back in the pen.  I guess Mario was unable to locate the Lady in Yellow because he has since been giving the catalog the usual Mario rip and shred routine.

Men.