CT Treibel, Amber Hurst Martin, & Jeremy
Jeremy is a ginger prince kitty from Los Angeles. He was saved from a local shelter with his whole litter by a fantastic rescue organization called The Rescue Train. A client of mine knew I was secretly longing for a cat even though I'd never had a pet in my life. Growing up, we weren't allowed to get a cat or a dog and I really believed what our parents had told us about how "dirty" animals were. I know this sounds insane, but I was blown away one day in my early twenties when I saw a friend's cat giving himself a bath. "They clean themselves!" I thought. "How bad can it be?!" When my ex partner Sally took me to go see the litter, Jeremy wouldn't leave me alone. Whatever kitten I was petting, he'd climb on top of to get in my face. It was clear that he was going home with us.Jerry and all the kittens in his litter had weepy eyes and the sneezes. I just assumed that was "kitten stuff" but when I took him to his first vet appointment, I learned he had herpes. Our vet explained that it was a very common strain that was almost always contracted when cats are in shelters and that all he'd need to manage it is regular doses of lysine. They sell it at every pet store and it comes in Jer's favorite flavor, maple syrup. Nobody knows why but cats apparently love pancakes? He was 5 months old when he came home with me. He started sleeping on my head on night one and we were in love. That was ten years ago. 
I met Amber three years ago and we also fell in love at first sight. Well, I did but it took me a couple of dates to convince her. When we first started dating, she treated Jeremy very cordially with a hello and a paw shake. She explained awhile later that she'd had two cats she absolutely loved growing up. Watching them both pass away after so many years together made her afraid of getting too close again. Secretly I knew there was no way that Jerry wouldn't win her heart anyway and we'd only been living together a couple of weeks when I noticed that Jer would always curl up under Amber's arm at bedtime. I was like, "I get it man, she's soft and she smells a lot better than me."[gallery ids="2983,2982" type="rectangular"]
Jeremy is a simple man. He loves string, men, sun spots and salmon. He can be dead asleep but if you take off your belt or untie your robe or untie a shoelace, he will be UP and trying to eat it. When he was 7 he had to have invasive surgery to get out the strings he ate. The surgeon saved me an incredibly smelly freezer bag with the 3 ft long sweatpants drawstring and the 2 hair bands he'd scarfed in one night. We joke that he has a string addiction and will score whatever the cost. Jeremy is incredibly social and loves all people that come visit, but he really really loves dudes. I knew when I met him that Jeremy was a homosexual. I actually wanted to name him Dandy but I was overruled. If a cis man comes in our apartment, Jerry will literally hop into his lap the second he sits down.
Being the delicate dandy that he is, Jeremy takes relaxing to a whole new level. He's VERY particular about where and how he finds his nap spots. He'll look around, poke and prod and sniff to find the perfect spot for ages before he commits to curling his front paws under for a sit. Once he's found his spot, he's very unhappy if he's disturbed and will let you know with a plaintiff moan. If he's in the mood though, Jerry will let you do anything to him. Belly pets, flying around the room and kitty dances are all things he'll sit through. His mom Amber is a professional singer so we like to put on shows where she sings behind him and makes his paws move like he's the one singing show tunes. He always puts up with it.
Jerry has a very tight schedule he keeps himself on. 6am is breakfast and he'll bite any face he has to to get it. I usually keep pushing him off the bed until 7am on principle of "training him" but he's ten now and I think I lost that battle. After taking about 3 bites of breakfast he's ready to come back for cuddles. He always gives me a kiss after he's eaten. He follows me around while I get ready for work and then about 9am it's day nap time. He sits in the same spot at the foot off the bed next to the window and SLEEPS for hours. At around 3pm or 4pm, he's ready for lunch and will scream bloody murder if you're working from home until he gets it. He doesn't want to just be given food for any of his meals, he wants you to serve him and then sit down with him and pet him while he eats. He only licks his food instead of biting it off the plate so he really appreciates/expects you to continually push the wet food together in chunks so he can get more off the plate. (I know that I am an enabler). When I get home from work around 7pm it's scream city until he gets dinner. Couch time is until 10pm and then it's time for the night crazies. He runs around the apartment chasing nothing and making the weirdest yowl sounds until we go to bed. If it's really bad, I'll bring out the mouse on a string for him to chase for awhile. 
Jerry loves his new life in New York. He is fascinated with all the city life he sees out the window and will watch cautiously for hours. He's never lived in a building with hallways before and he's become the mayor of the 3rd floor here in Brooklyn where he walks up and down the hall smelling everyone's door. He begs us to let him out every night for his patrol.
Jeremy lives with CT Treibel (they/them), a queer non-binary filmmaker and Amber Hurst Martin (she/her), a professional singer. CT and Amber met 3 years ago appearing in LA's smash hit performance salon SORORITY. Together they produce Amber's cabaret, You Can't Act A Color in LA and NYC. Secretly, all they really want to do is watch baseball and make pasta.