So I put a cat tree in my office, right next to my chair. Bit of a splurge but our cats have been getting clingier. They both like to come in for what I call "office hours", which involves climbing into my arms.
Tony, who is in most respects the Gallant to Tommy's Goofus (excepting those involving valuable personal property), nestles herself against my chest and tucks her paws under her head on my shoulder and purrs while I tell her she's a "very nice baby" and mostly keep working.
Tommy, who is slightly larger and more attached to me personally, has a slightly different approach: she stomps all over my torso, screaming, and tries to eat my watch, then eventually settles down in a series of 17 different positions that are not comfortable for either of us.
So I got and assembled the cat tree in the hopes that if there was a more comfortable option for hanging out with me while I work, Tommy would settle down some... and it's taken several days for her to settle into it, but it's working well!
I redirected her to the tree's platform when she started climbing over me by moving my pettin' hand that-a-way and she eventually got the hint.
Now she still climbs up to snuggle in my arms but is surprisingly more chill about it...
Now she still climbs up to snuggle in my arms but is surprisingly more chill about it...
...and when I start adjusting my position to use the keyboard again, she shifts over to the cat tree platform and curls up for a bit.
People who don't understand cats will tell you that cats are asocial or antisocial but a cat that is acclimated to humans will frequently just want a way to hang out with you and do (as near as it can tell) the same thing you're doing.
I've given Tommy a way to very distinctly hang out with me while I'm working but in her own space, and we're both better off for it.
