Our girl loves to pound on the cat. She also enjoys pinching his ears and pressing her face into his back. I don't know what's behind that last one. Fat Kitty will let her abuse him most of the time--out of the goodness of his heart, or perhaps he's just too lazy to extricate himself from the situation.

We've been teaching her the word "gentle." When she starts pounding on the poor guy we'll say, "Gentle," while we stroke him lightly on the back. She will usually imitate us.

Recently while I was playing with her she started pounding me just like she does with Fat Cat. When I said, "Gentle," she looked right over at him. So I think she's decided his name is Gentle. It's not a bad way to get through life, really. What if we decided to call everyone Gentle and to give them soft pats rather than harsh blows?