My cat Boris was born in Austin, TX. He’s also an orangie who’s very doglike. Until we got another kitty to keep him company, he hardly behaved like a cat, so much so that friends would remark on how puppy-like he was. Now that my two have lived with each other for 2 years, they’re rubbing off on one another: Boris has picked up some catlike habits like scratching furniture and meowing at bird noises outside, but Gracie has also picked up some of his “dog-like” ways . He’s still the kind of cat who likes to chew on rubber toys, though (given how small his jaws are, it’s hard to find size appropriate toys like that).

I’ve wondered if there is/was a huge puppy-like tom cat out there in Central Texas propagating his friendly-dog-substitute genes more than once (Boris is by choice neutered, and now lives halfway across the country).