The Gabbercats: Mario, Trenta, & Twinsies

Mario von Peebles of the Gabbercats. Prince of the Marmalade Skies. First of His Mind. Lord of Kisses. Big brother elder kitten to his twin sisterkins, Trenta & Twinsies.

My rather large little guy is at least a third again their size, but he’s a gentle and patient big brother. He’s coming up on fourteen soon. Still clear-eyed, hale, and hefty, if not quite as active as he used to be. Once upon a time, he was the tangerine terror of the apartment.

Mario has had a few other siblings during his lifetime. While he didn’t get to meet my longest lived cat, Oscar, he was the little brother with my other boys, Impy and Critter. Sadly, Impy passed away four years ago, and Critter a year ago.

Trent’s and Twinsies came to live with us last Christmas. They immediately reinvigorated Mario! Kitten energy will do that, of course, but I was still surprised to see how much more energetic he got. Critter’s passing away affected him pretty deeply, even though they never laid together, licked each other, or otherwise were anything but hissy nap mates.

You may have seen Mario on here before.

Thirteen years ago, Mario came to me from Brooklyn Animal Action. He was a skinny little jackrabbit. Already a long kitten. Now he is 15 pounds of pure purrs and pugnaciousness.

He was not the bold soul I came to know upon arrival.

His personality quickly expanded with his size.

“Hello? Yes, this is Mario.”

He’s a handsome fellow who knows how to strut.

He was originally named for Mario Batali, being an outgoing ginger with a big personality. I changed his namesake after Batali turned out to be a creep.

My Mario is still a world-class biscuit maker.

I’m very lucky in that I get to see this loving mug every morning when I wake up. Then come the kisses. He is so very polite about breakfast. Kisses first!

When you are this fabulous, grace and poise try to emulate YOU.

He’s taught the Twins how best to wake up Dad.

He is the cat’s meow.

He is tolerant of dress-up time, though I hold back on it nowadays. Pictured here in his Flash Gordon stage with his dearly departed brothers Critter (top right) and Impy (bottom).

Then, in December of 2023, our lonely little flat was set a-flutter with the arrival of the Twins, Trenta and Twinsies. This and the next picture are from when I had just opened the cat carrier and put them on the couch in their new home.

Trenta on the left, Twinsies on the right.

The Orca Sisters here have a few titles, of course. (I call them the Orca Sisters because they will sinuously pursue the Dread Red Dot in tandem.)

Trenta is the slightly bigger and fluffier of the two. She is referred to as the Gremlin Princess for her propensity to break things, like their cat tree. She will climb my bookshelves and knock the (valuable) art toys off whenever she can.

Twinsies is the Goblin Princess. She is the slightly scrawnier of the Twins. She’s also got a loud squawk compared to her sister’s demure squeak. She is the Goblin Princess because she chews up anything cardboard she can find. She chewed a scratch pad up!

Most of my past cats have been rescues at least one year or older. I hadn’t had kittens since my 23 year-old cat Oscar’s (d. 2009) mother and aunt, going all the way back to the late 80s! Also, after Oscar‘s mother and auntie passed away (Mother Chaos and Auntie Tempest), by dent of circumstance and happenstance I have not had female cats in my homes since then, either.

Mario has adjusted to life with these little Unseelie princesses. Being so much bigger doesn’t seem to be the advantage you would think. However, they adore him. Trenta picks friendly play fights and Twinsies tries her best to snuggle up to him at every opportunity.

His Marmalade Majesty in repose.

Twinsies began her campaign for snuggles with her big brother early on.

Eventually, she succeeded and he has many a pleasant nap upon the library couch with her these days!

Though sometimes it looks like he’s reconsidering. They have different play styles and will try to play with him at the same time.

Trenta, left, andTwinsies,right, on their cat tree about three weeks before they broke the top platform off. Rocket Zoomies are a thing. I believe they’re pretty much fully grown into their size now. This was from early March.

The Goblin Princess Twinsies. She’s developing an expressive and oft-used vocal range. She slightly shyer than her sister. She hates to be picked up, though she’s starting to get used to very brief little hugs and kisses and will even sometimes curl up right beside my head when I’m laying down. For about three minutes. Unless she’s making biscuits under supervision from Mario.

Right now we’re going through one of those magical times in raising a cat where they figure out for the third or fourth time they really like you. She’s my little shadow!

The Gremlin Princess Trenta. She is bolder than her sister and has no fucks to give. She is also going through a little reassessment of our relationship, starting to enjoy being picked up, kissed, and will pretend that she’s not following me from room to room. She has a tiny squeak of a meow that I’ve learned to try to listen for. A challenge during this New York summer when there are two fans and an AC running nearly constantly.

Two mischievous little peas in an Orca pod. They adore each other and if they aren’t trying to harass Mario, they’re bathing each other or chasing each other. Purr-kour Zoomies is about every two-three hours.

Twinsies usually has the upper hand with the grooming. But she also seeks out cuddles galore from Trenta.

Trenta always places one paw forward and does the biscuits squeeze motion toward you to indicate affection. Twinsies usually just looks at you, and then rolls off of something.

I believe this may be the first time they realized I can go outside the apartment. They were very perplexed as to just what I was doing on Brooklyn’s own Bird TV.

His Majesty in the Gabbertoons Library. I took this picture mainly because he insisted on sitting on the book I was reading, which naturally was about cat science.

Sometimes His Grace isn’t sure about the members of His Court.

As they say, though, when you have goblins, make goblin biscuits. Or at least enjoy them with some butter and cream.

Poor Twinsies all pooped, waiting on Mario’s chair for his return from the Crap Castle.

Twinsies preparing Trenta for her close-up.

Sometimes one or more of them will sit just opposite of me from the couch in the library, willing me to open the treats box. Sometimes I get a little show!

Usually, at least two are on the couch with me while I’m reading or working. It’s a privilege and a delight, all day, every day! I love you three!