The cats who run my house

Three cats piled on a human's legs on a couch. Farthest from the camera, a white cat is looking directly at you. Next to him, a grey cat is looking to the left. Nearest to the camera, a black cat is lying between the human's shins and is looking down; her face is not visible.

I am sharing my place with three cats.

A black cat is curled up and looking directly at the camera with bright yellow eyes, from her position on the very soft couch back cushion.

Ananda is the oldest. She was adopted as a pair with her son Kefi from the shelter in summer 2017. She's a tiny wiry bundle of energy, with strong opinions and a love of cheek scritches. She enjoys her nest in the softest pillow in the house. She also likes to scamper around and bluff charge her son, the roomba, and various toys.

A grey cat is relaxing on the floor looking directly at the camera. He has yellow-green eyes and his front paw is curled under him.

Kefi is the middle cat. He was adopted as a pair with his mom Ananda from the shelter in summer 2017. He's a big muscular lovebug, with lots of opinions that he tells me about at length, and a love of forehead kisses so enthusiastic it's sometimes like being affectionately punched in the teeth. He loves zooming and wrestling and jumping, and is made entirely of love and enthusiasm.

A white cat with grey forehead markings and tail is lying on his side holding a toy between his front paws. His attention is on the toy and he is licking it.

Iduni is the youngest. He was adopted in winter 2018 as a 7-month old just-barely-not-a-kitten-anymore, because Kefi needed a wrestling buddy—Ananda only wanted to wrestle once a day, not five. He's very quiet and although I was told he was fearful, it turned out he was actually only afraid of humans, and he's taking a lot of his healing into his own paws. If I was sitting quietly and well out of reach, he was very bold and curious right from the start. The past few years he's started letting his opinions be known, and he's less scared of me (but still very easily spooked). He loves zooming and wrestling and jumping and has a few favourite sprint routes through the living room. He also loves salmon skin chews and licking catnip toys until they're soaking wet.

They also know a few tricks! Training them is fun and useful.

Three cats, one black, one grey, and one white with grey forehead markings are sitting in a row in a long narrow planter on a balcony, all three looking intently up and to the left.