Ptah Streetz
Ptah is a cute, runtish little cat that is the treasured pet of Jason and Carole Streetz.
Lately, he's had to prove himself against a much younger, tougher "little" buddy, brought in to keep him company while Jason and Carole are out at work all day: another cat, "Thor".
Ptah's about 8 years old now, but still resembles a kitten in many ways, not the least of which is his need for constant attention, affection, and play!
Jason and Carole picked Ptah from the litter when he was just 4 weeks old. A mutual affection was stuck immediately between cat and keepers. Sometimes it seems Ptah treats Carole and Jason as if they were his mother and father. Similarly, they are known to treat him as if he were their child.
Better than a dog!
Most people dislike cats because of their stereotyped bad attitude and defiance.
Many of those same people prefer dogs because of a similar belief in stereotypical canine loyalty and intelligence.
Well, Ptah seems to demonstrate the best of both worlds.
He clearly responds to his name, learns and remembers tricks and patterns, and is very affectionate and protective.
To the ancient Egyptians of Memphis, Ptah was the god of creation. Ptah was believed to have created the world, all that thrives upon it, and perhaps even all the other Egyptian gods. Overall, those in Memphis believed Ptah was the master craftsman of all that exists. In other regions of ancient Egypt, Ptah was associated with artisans, craftsman and other skilled professions of creation.
Ptah the cat shares personality traits of the god after which he was named: aloof, wise and kind.
Jason chose the name because "Ptah" also happens to be a chief entity in his fictional universe, Paradoxia. "Ptah" is also a nickname/codename Jason uses from time to time.
Getting Attention
By meowing, Ptah lets people know whats on his mind. In many cases, this involves an opening "hey you" meow to get someone's attention. He then meows out a few distinctive kinds of noises that indicate anything from "follow me" to "I require general attention, now." If he wants you to follow him, he'll meow and then start walking, with the occasional check over his shoulder to make sure you're still on track. If he just wants attention, he'll blink at you and possibly follow-up with a leg-rub.
Conversation
Particularly entertaining is his "conversational meow". If he meows at someone and that person responds vocally with either his name or a phrase directed at him, Ptah will begin meowing back in response, as if in conversation. This could go on for many back-and-forth rounds of discussion, until Ptah ultimately moves to visit the person for closer attention, or he demonstrates his desire for the person to visit him by way of blinking or rolling onto his back.
"Hey, I'm friendly!"
If Ptah wants to let someone know he's a friendly cat, even if he's afraid of the person, he demures at a distance and looks at them while repeatedly blinking slowly (breaking direct eye contact seems to mean "I mean no harm" in cat communication). Assuming he's not directly antagonized, Ptah will warm up to the stranger in no time.
Bad Moods
It used to be pretty rare to see Ptah in an agry mood.
Prior to the arrival of Thor, only vaccuum cleaners and dogs would really get him upset.
Yeah, the vaccuum used to get quite a stir out of this otherwise mild-mannered cat. And yet, Ptah no longer dive-tackles the vaccuum in an otherwise completely uncharacteristic fury of growls and hisses. He's got Thor for that now.
For over a year, poor Ptah was subjected to endless physical contests against a cat half his age and twice his size. Thor was just playing as kittens play, but Ptah was playing for keeps, it seemed! Jason and Carole learned that Ptah was in fact capapable of all manner of unpleasant reactions. And yet, somewhere in there, Ptah toughened up. Thor yielded the title of Alpha-Cat, and Ptah returned to normal.
And now once more, a growl or hiss from Ptah is a thing of the past.
